New Hampshire Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
020233250
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2020
Location
Concord, NH, USA
Phone
6038560602
Rating
70
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,784,592
Expenses
$2,337,895
Assets
$31,509,969
Liabilities
$281,386

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

Leadership & pay

26 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • William Dunlap (President & CEO)
  • Joan Desmarais (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • William Dunlap (President & CEO): $173,299 total reported compensation
  • Joan Desmarais (Vice President): $119,197 total reported compensation
  • Michael Marr (Director of Finance): $105,599 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To educate a diverse public about the significance of New Hampshire's past and its relationship to our lives today. To this end, the Society collects, preserves, and interprets material pertaining to New Hampshire history.

What it reported doing in 2024

Education: the Society offers a diverse range of educational programs, including research services, exhibitions, publications, school programs, public programs, technical services, and support of local historical societies. The Society's website and online collections catalog provide broad access to information on library, archival, and museum collections. The Society also offers the New Hampshire History Network (NHHN), a digital gateway that provides centralized access to New Hampshire's history and historical collections through partnerships with local historical societies and other collecting institutions. In 2017, the Society launched "The Democracy Project: Renewing History and Civics Education in New Hampshire Schools," an initiative to address the growing knowledge deficit in history and civics.

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 - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and the filing does not identify recipients for some grant dollars.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 54
  • Accountability: 97
  • Sustainability: 84
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.9%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 67.8%; rating input score 68
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.85 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 95%; rating input score 95; 25th 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: 59.6%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 13.48; rating input score 93; 93rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.9% of revenue deployed · 67.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 19 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $1.6M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $173K · 26 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 2 contractors listed · $930K reported
  • Consistency: 34 of 34 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 9 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Grant itemization coverage scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 16/100.