Humboldt County Historical Society

Legal name: Humboldt Historical Society DBA Humboldt County Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237335930
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2019, Form 990-T 2022
Location
Eureka, CA, US
Phone
(707) 445-4342
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$186,671
Expenses
$211,516
Assets
$330,937
Liabilities
$4,909

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • James Garrison (President)
  • Mark Castro (Vice President)
  • Dr Alexandra Service (Past President)

People named in this filing

  • Jack Irvine (Treasurer)
  • James Garrison (President)
  • Alyssa Ellis (Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Our purpose is to further an understanding and appreciation of all peoples, places, events, and activities of Humboldt County and related areas. Toward this end, we focus on acquiring, preserving, interpreting, creating, and sharing historical information, and by educating and assisting others to do the same.

What it reported doing in 2024

Create, Publish, and distribute a quarterly magazine, "The Humboldt County Historian", etc. This magazine includes articles that are based on and describe Northern California and Humboldt County History. It is sent to approximately 4,000 members.Collect, sort, index, and store archival documents and photos wich are viewed, studied, and researched by members, journalist, students, and the general public.To promote and publicize the functions and services of the society to schools, historical groups and the general public. This is accomplished through school visits, articles in the local paper, monthly programs and maintenance of a website.

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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 38
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 94.2%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 75.2%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -13.3%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.56; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 94.2% of revenue deployed · 75.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $159K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 19/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 53/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 42/100.