Historic Savannah Foundation Inc
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 580838253
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Savannah, GA, USA
- Phone
- 9122337787
- Rating
- 76
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,372,514
- Expenses
- $1,281,066
- Assets
- $12,005,234
- Liabilities
- $1,555,325
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
18 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SUE ADLER (PRESIDENT AND CEO - FORMER)
- F COLLIER NEELEY (PRESIDENT AND CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- SUE ADLER (PRESIDENT AND CEO - FORMER): $71,250 total reported compensation
- F COLLIER NEELEY (PRESIDENT AND CEO): $14,161 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To save buildings, places and stories that define savannah's past, present and future.
What it reported doing in 2024
Revolving fund - preservation and restoration of historic properties - historic savannah foundation (hsf) is the only non-profit preservation organization in savannah and chatham county. With more than 1,000 supporters, hsf is the recognized leader of the local preservation movement. Hsf advocates, educates, and gets directly involved in preserving and protecting savannah's heritage. Through its revolving fund, hsf acquires, by raising private captial, endangered historic, blighted buildings for restoration. Through this program hsf has saved scores of buildings in the landmark district and has gone on to save nearly 420 historic buildings throughout multiple historic districts across savannah. While doing so, hsf helped the city earn an international reputation as a well-preserved city and tourist destination.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 75
- Transparency & Controls: 70
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 62
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 94.5%; rating input score 95
- Program expense ratio: 62.2%; rating input score 62
- Fundraising efficiency: $3.33 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Limited
- Grant itemization coverage: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 6.7%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.37; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -0.6% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 6.3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 94.5% of revenue deployed · 62.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 16 of 16 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $797K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $71K · 18 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed
- Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
- Filing history: 15 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 10/100.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Whistleblower policy not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 48/100.