NC History Center on the Civil War, Emancipation & Reconstruction

Legal name: Nc History Center on the Civil War Emancipation & Reconstruction Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463062871
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2013
Location
Fayetteville, NC, US
Phone
910-824-7360
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$7,201,637
Expenses
$1,889,436
Assets
$82,894,395
Liabilities
$874,520

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

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

People named in this filing

  • MR JOHN M MAC HEALY (CHAIR)
  • MS MARY LYNN BRYAN (VICE CHAIR)
  • MR TIM RICHARDSON (TREASURER)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To portray the stories of the lives of 'real' North Carolinians: rich and poor, black, white and American Indian, free and enslaved, Unionist and Secessionist, young and old, Republicans, Whigs, Know-Nothings and Democrats, men, women, and children. To record the experiences of individuals, families, and communities throughout North Carolina... To portray the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects of life in North Carolina during the Civil War Era. To illuminate the economy of slavery and its end. To preserve and interpret the history of the Fayetteville Arsenal and the history of the region. To convey North Carolina’s sacrifice, hardship, and degradation during the Civil War Era. To allow North Carolina to be the first state to tell its own home-front, Civil War Era story.

What it reported doing in 2024

Gather, vet, edit, ghostwrite and/or transcribe, and publish submissions to add to the "100 story" project, communicating with submitters and networking with those with the potential to be future submitters; raise awareness of the initiative by giving presentations, interacting with the members of 250+ genealogical groups/historical societies, and working information tables at various locations in the state; use social media platforms to engage with individuals through posts, stories, and pictures; process, label, shelve, and maintain an inventory of all the donated books received; work with universities to develop internships that will fulfill program requirements; coordinate intern/volunteer schedules; train interns on how to vet story submissions and transcribe/read primary documents; assign tasks to individuals with their capabilities and interests in mind; discuss their progress with their professors as needed.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 69% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 41% for direct work, and 59% for grants.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 58
  • Transparency & Controls: 94
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 95
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 37.3%; rating input score 37
  • Program expense ratio: 83.3%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $80.31 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 84; 84th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd 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: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 73.8%; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 43.87; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 25.6% per year; rating input score 100; 90th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 25.4% per year; rating input score 100; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 34.4% per year; rating input score 100; 95th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 5 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
  • Where the money goes: 37.3% of revenue deployed · 83.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 12 of 12 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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 — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 37/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 7 not reported.