National Civil War Museum
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 251855915
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2012–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2022
- Location
- Harrisburg, PA, USA
- Phone
- 7172601861
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- History Museums
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,165,904
- Expenses
- $1,236,549
- Assets
- $12,014,248
- Liabilities
- $1,503,393
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
13 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Wayne Motts (Current CEO)
- Jeffrey L Nichols (Previous CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- Wayne Motts (Current CEO): $64,690 total reported compensation
- Jeffrey L Nichols (Previous CEO): $61,946 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The mission of the National Civil War Museum is to serve as a national center to inspire lifelong learning of the American Civil War through the preservation and balanced presentation of the American peoples struggles for survival and healing. The Museum is dedicated to the preservation of material, culture and information related to the the American Civil War during the period of 1861 through 1865, and to offer exhibits, publications, educational programs and research activities to that period of American history.
What it reported doing in 2024
The Museum is dedicated to the preservation of material, culture and information related to the the American Civil War during the period of 1861 through 1865, and to offer exhibits, publications, educational programs and research activities to that period of American history. And to acquire various artifacts related to that period for display and to operate a facility for the exhibit of such artifacts including a storage facility to preserve these artifacts for future generations.
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.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 65
- Transparency & Controls: 87
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 46
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 75.1%; rating input score 75
- Program expense ratio: 68.2%; rating input score 68
- Fundraising efficiency: $2.38 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 25th 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; 63rd 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: Pass
- 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: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: -6.1%; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 9.72; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 10.2%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 22.1% per year; rating input score 100; 84th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 75.1% of revenue deployed · 68.2% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $844K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $65K · 13 people listed
- Consistency: 46 of 47 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2012 to 2024
- 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.
- High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 7/100.
- High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 22/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 39/100.