Kern River Valley Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
953702689
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2015, Form 990-N 2011
Location
Kernville, CA, USA
Phone
7603766683
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$111,487
Expenses
$90,981
Assets
$677,445
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOHN NEWMAN (PRESIDENT)
  • LINDA KUBISIAK (PAST PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • CHARLANN GREGORY (CURATOR)
  • GENE VERBEET (ASST ARCHIVIST AND FINANCE CHAIR)
  • CHIG FOLEY (HISTORIAN FIELD TRIPS)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

See schedule o

What it reported doing in 2025

The purpose of the kern river valley historical society is to preserve and communicate the history of the kern river valley and the surrounding local southern sierra communities of the kern river valley by: 1. Providing suitable facilities for the retention and display of artifacts of significance to the history being preserved. 2. Acquiring artifacts of historical significance to the local area. 3. Publishing documents to fill voids in research material or for sale to the public. 4. Encouraging the production of written, oral or digital records by persons who have knowledge of the history of the area. 5. Encouraging and coordinating participation in community celebrations related to the history of the area. 6. Providing classroom learning opportunities for students and residents of all ages. 7. Providing field trips to places of historical or recreational interest. 8. Publishing a periodic newsletter to inform members of activities and historical knowledge. 9. Providing social activities to encourage and maintain an active, participating memebership. 10. Providing meeting programs of historical significance and interest to the membership. 11. Providing assistance for youth and community programs as approved by the board. 12. Digitizing research library data to preserve documents.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 74% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 93% 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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some filed totals do not add up.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 36
  • Sustainability: 75
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.5%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 96.2%; rating input score 96
  • Fundraising efficiency: $87.02 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 20th 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: 0%; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.4%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.45; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.5% of revenue deployed · 96.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 19 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $87K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 19 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.