Historical Society of Long Beach
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 956111591
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2011
- Location
- Long Beach, CA, USA
- Phone
- 5624242220
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $782,882
- Expenses
- $511,900
- Assets
- $1,056,079
- Liabilities
- $5,668
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
16 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MICHAEL SOUTAR (PRESIDENT)
- BRANDON WERTS (VICE PRESIDENT)
- JULIE BARTOLOTTO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- JULIE BARTOLOTTO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CEO): $96,717 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The historical society of long beach (hslb) collects, preserves, and presents local history. Through historical collections, exhibits, and programs we connect people to the past and to the place they live. We help create greater understanding of our neighborhoods, the city and its place in the larger world. We operate a museum, archive, and research center.
What it reported doing in 2024
Historical collections hslb actively acquires historical materials for preservation, and access. The collections are used through our research center, in educational exhibitions and events. Over one million historical documents, artifacts, photographic images, books, ephemera, and other items are collected cataloged and preserved for the benefit of the public. Major collections include documentary photographic images, office holder files, the long beach lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, newspapers, cambodian community, the city manager files, rda, north long beach, and others. Our historical research center is open tuesday-saturday. We make collections available to community members, academic researchers, professionals, students, and other visitors. There is a research fee for those who are not yet members. Among other things, collections were used to develop the state-wide cambodian american history curriculum for California k-12 schools. Members have free access to research and viewing collection items.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Donor-supported. 78% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
- 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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 57
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 79
- Sustainability: 71
- Growth: 60
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 47.6%; rating input score 48
- Program expense ratio: 70%; rating input score 70
- Fundraising efficiency: $25.63 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: Limited
- 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: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- 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: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 34.6%; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.06; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 18.9%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -1.7% per year; rating input score 0; 13th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 5.5% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 13.6% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 47.6% of revenue deployed · 70% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $358K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $97K · 16 people listed
- Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 3 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 48/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 7 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.