Living History Studies Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
760148524
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
7135408670
Rating
68
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$16,903
Expenses
$61,109
Assets
$116,880
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

3 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JAMES P ARNOLD (PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • JAMES P ARNOLD (PRESIDENT)
  • CHRISTOPHER ECHEBIRI (SECRETARY)
  • CAROLYN WARREN (TREASURER)

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 mission is to make history "come alive" for people by means of programs in period costume, music, speeches, and research for the purpose of educating amercicans about their country, especially students and specially challenged persons through the internet and personal monitoring. We support educators, performers, counselors and organizations that provide these services.

What it reported doing in 2024

Educational outreach: provided to Texas school children and specially challenged youth and persons. We supported education programs for students and for specially challenged persons, empowering them to gain knowledge and appreciation of the american experience, historically and culturally. Activities included historical education, mentoring, historical festivals and events, computer online resources, library access, as well as health and welfare needs enabling such individuals to prepare for tulelage. This outreach included supporting individuals and organizations equipped to advance this cause. A Texas historian presented research on native americans to thousands of Texas students on the site "Texas indians" supported by living history studies. There were 1,000 persons served.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 79% of its reported program spending out as grants.

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 filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 84
  • Accountability: 6
  • Sustainability: 30
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 98.7%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90%; rating input score 90; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 89.6%; rating input score 90; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 14
    • 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: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -261.5%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.91; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 27.7% per year; rating input score 100; 94th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 98.7% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 3 board members independent · 1 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $60K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 3 people listed
  • Consistency: 16 of 17 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 3 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 33/100.