Humanities Iowa

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237374180
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2023
Forms available
Form 990 2023
Location
Ames, IA, USA
Phone
3193354153
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Humanities Organizations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$114,597
Expenses
$357,078
Assets
$438,282
Liabilities
$10,680

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • LINDA SHENK (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • HEATHER PLUCAR (EXECUTIVE DI): $105,824 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2023. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of humanities Iowa is to promote understanding and appreciation of the people, communities, culture, and stories of importance to Iowa and the nation. Humanities Iowa (hi) is committed to bringing the humanities to the public through grant making, publications, interactive programming and events. Founded in 1971. We provide grants and partnerships to other non-profit organizations that further the humanities in the state, and we conduct our own programs that support the humanities across Iowa. Each year we serve over 250,000 iowans with programming and projects like our speakers bureau. We have a strong commitment to sharing and supporting the humanities with all iowans, and to bringing the humanities to life.

What it reported doing in 2023

Humanities Iowa sponsored over 210 public history programs across the state in 2023-programs that showcased Iowa's wealth of home grown knowledge and talent to over 250,000 people. Programs included presentations on the lifework of "first lady of the farm" ruth buxton sayre and hot tamale louie, the story of zarif khan. Humanities Iowa remains committed to making extraordinary programming available to all iowans. During 2023 we: - awarded over 56,000 in grants to 32 Iowa non-profits; - funded public programs at university of northern Iowa, drake university, university, and other higher educational institutions around the state; - supported exhibits in sioux city, des moines, and cedar rapids; - partnered with siouxland public media, pomeroy historical society, dubuque arts council, pathfinders resource conservation and development and numerous historical societies; - partnered with the Iowa student poet ambassador (ispa) program in 2023 to support incoming ambassador lola nakashima-brooke during her year of service.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 84% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 83% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 20
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 82.3%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $14.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 70%; rating input score 70; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -211.6%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.23; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.02; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 29.6%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -6.5% per year; rating input score 0; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 82.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $294K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $106K · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 to 2023
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 4 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 50/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 46/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 40/100.