National Council for History Education Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
341651020
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
University Heights, OH, USA
Phone
2408884105
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,046,122
Expenses
$3,114,315
Assets
$710,812
Liabilities
$270,365

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JESSICA ELLISON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JESSICA ELLISON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $116,502 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 national council for history education is a nonprofit professional organization that elevates the teaching and learning of history through professional learning, community building, and advocacy.

What it reported doing in 2024

National council for history education (nche) champions history education and uplifts history education professionals. As a national nonprofit organization, nche elevates the teaching and learning of history through professional learning, community building, and advocacy. Since 2019, nche has been awarded five grants from the us department of education (american history and civics academies) to support teachers in Florida, Michigan, Missouri, and Kansas. Nche has also received several national endowment for the humanities grants, which are open to teacher participants from around the country. After several years of receiving grants from the library of congress teaching with primary sources program, in 2025 nche was named one of the tps's six regional programs; this grant allows nche to subgrant funds to educational organizations in five great plains states (Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Oklahoma). Nche continues to serve teachers from prior tps grants, including teachers in rural Maine.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 91% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 74% for direct work, and 26% for grants.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 88
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 25
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91.2%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 89.2%; rating input score 89
  • Fundraising efficiency: $60.75 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 27th 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; 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: -2.2%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.23; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.7%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91.2% of revenue deployed · 89.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 21 of 21 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $2.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $117K · 22 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $121K reported
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 7/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.