Madison County Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
376049395
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-T 2025
Location
Edwardsville, IL, USA
Phone
6186567562
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$244,726
Expenses
$238,030
Assets
$668,426
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ROBERT CLOUSE (Vice President)
  • FRED FAUST (President)

People named in this filing

  • LESLIE BEDNAR (director)
  • ROBERT CLOUSE (Vice President)
  • STEVE HANSEN (director)

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

Our mission is "Opening Doors to Madison County History". MCHS preserves the history of Madison County, Illinois, by gathering artifacts and records of life and people in Madison, County, IL.

What it reported doing in 2025

All revenue is used to support the operation, maintenance and educational outreach of the Madison County museum & archival library. The facilities are open to the public at no charge. Special exhibits are displayed from time to time and scheduled tours for groups, school children, families, etc are conducted. Educational programs, i.e. history camp, speaker series, history days festival, teacher develop- ment workshops, are offered frequently. The archival library is a collection of historical records primarily related to Madison County businesses, industry, and its residents. No grants are made to others.

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: 86
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 76.9%; rating input score 77
  • Program expense ratio: 76.6%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $50.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • 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: 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: 2.7%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.81; rating input score 67; 67th 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: 32.3% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 76.9% of revenue deployed · 76.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $182K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 17 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.