Looking for Lincoln Heritage Coalition

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
300040831
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Springfield, IL, USA
Phone
2174928366
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$685,870
Expenses
$581,513
Assets
$1,001,703
Liabilities
$4,069

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • SARAH WATSON (EX-OFFICIO-EXECUTIVE DIREC): $120,981 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The looking for lincoln heritage coalition is a not for profit organization dedicated to working collaboratively with local, state and national partners across the abraham lincoln national heritage area to tell the quality stories of abraham lincoln's life and times to provide high-quality experiences for visitors, economic opportunities for communities, and to improve quality of life for residents.

What it reported doing in 2025

The looking for lincoln heritage coalition is a not for profit organization dedicated to working collaboratively with local, state and national partners across the abraham lincoln national heritage area to tell the quality stories of abraham lincoln's life and times to provide high-quality experiences to visitors, economic opportunities for communities and to improve the quality of life for residents.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 91% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 95% 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. The filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 75
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 58
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.9%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 77.3%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $27.14 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 41.5%; rating input score 41; 31st 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: 15.2%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.72; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 20.8%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -3% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.3% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.9% of revenue deployed · 77.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $449K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $121K · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 29 of 30 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 41/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.