National Inventors Hall of Fame

Legal name: National Inventors Hall of Fame Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
341580038
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
North Canton, OH, USA
Phone
800-968-4332
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard
Sector
Science and Technology Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$49,516,391
Expenses
$44,153,465
Assets
$82,538,577
Liabilities
$11,010,535

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • HANNAH PAULIN (VICE PRESIDENT/CSO)
  • MICHAEL OISTER (CEO TO 9/7, EXEC CHAIRMAN AT 9/8)
  • MONICA JONES (COO TO 9/7, CEO AT 9/8)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL OISTER (CEO TO 9/7, EXEC CHAIRMAN AT 9/8): $880,256 total reported compensation
  • MONICA JONES (COO TO 9/7, CEO AT 9/8): $362,937 total reported compensation
  • KATIE DUFFY (SECRETARY/ GENERAL COUNSEL): $268,061 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To inspire innovation in America, one innovator at a time.

What it reported doing in 2025

Children's education - programs and initiatives to create public awareness of the major role that invention, inventors and patents, trademarks and copyrights play in america's economic and cultural success and to nurture the creative and inventive spirit of american children and to inspire them to enter the exciting fields of science and math in an effort to continue america's dominance in the future.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 69% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

STRONG - 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 56
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 75.8%; rating input score 76
  • Program expense ratio: 83%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $8.67 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 6 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 10.8%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.87; rating input score 50; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.13; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.5%; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.7% per year; rating input score 100; 56th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 11.8% per year; rating input score 100; 74th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 9 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 75.8% of revenue deployed · 83% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $36.7M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $880K · 25 people listed · 6 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 29/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 50/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 46/100.