Indiana Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
350876384
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Indianapolis, IN, USA
Phone
3172321882
Rating
72
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$17,453,605
Expenses
$9,588,336
Assets
$144,036,840
Liabilities
$9,579,160

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

Leadership & pay

30 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JODY BLANKENSHIP (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • JODY BLANKENSHIP (PRESIDENT & CEO): $335,635 total reported compensation
  • JEFFERY MATSUOKA (VP-BUSINESS & OPERATIONS): $155,490 total reported compensation
  • ANDREW HALTER (VP-DEVELOPMENT): $148,596 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Since 1831, the Indiana historical society has been Indiana's storyteller, connecting people to the past by collecting, preserving, interpreting, and disseminating the state's history. A nonprofit membership organization, the ihs also publishes books and periodicals; sponsors teacher workshops; provides youth, adult, and family programming; provides support and assistance to local museums and historical groups; and maintains the nation's premier research library and archives on the history of Indiana and the old northwest.

What it reported doing in 2024

Libraryat the heart of the Indiana historical society is its archives and library collections, which feeds all the other activity areas of ihs. Without our substantial collection of photographs, documents, personal papers and other records from the past, we would not be able to tell the stories of our rich hoosier heritage. Often, that storytelling becomes very personal as our staff assists both novice family history seekers and more scholarly researchers in their quest for knowledge. The library assisted 2,556 visitors and answered 3,077 remote requests for information. The most popular subjects included families, communities, african-american history, notable hoosiers, architecture, and businesses. 1,727 images were added to the images in ihs's digital online collection, bringing the number of images available to more than 91,248. 23,655 collections/items were cataloged, processed, and made accessible to the public. 193 new manuscript, visual and printed items were added to the collection. Conservation lab conservators and volunteers treated 236 collection items. The historic document preservation program provided consultations to 24 small museums and non-for-profit organizations across the state. In addition to individual reference requests, collections and library staff wrote articles for both ihs and external publications, contributed content to ihs and external exhibitions, and continued the development of the destination Indiana high technology exhibit, adding 2 journey, as part of the new Indiana experience programs, bringing the number of journeys available to 340 containing more than 4,220 images.

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 98% 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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 84
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 65.6%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 74.7%; rating input score 75
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 20%; rating input score 20; 9th 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 45.1%; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 15.02; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.07; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.8%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.9% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 65.6% of revenue deployed · 74.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $7.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $336K · 30 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.2M reported
  • Consistency: 39 of 40 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 4 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.