Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
246021192
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Easton, PA, USA
Phone
6102531222
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$619,358
Expenses
$1,022,144
Assets
$7,959,555
Liabilities
$1,690

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELLEN SHAUGHNESSY (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • MEGAN VAN RAVENSWAAY (EXECUTIVE DI): $78,653 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Nchgs shares the stories of northampton county's past to encourage personal reflection, community dialogue, and an understanding of history's impact on our lives.

What it reported doing in 2025

Collection and storage of genealogical material, archival records, artifacts and books related to the economic, social and political history of northampton county for exhibition to the public in both a state-of-the art museum as well as three historic house museums. Over 60,000 pieces of art, furnishings, clothing, dolls, weapons and native american artifacts are included in the collections, and their public exhibition is rotated within the museums. Additional public programs include history lectures, dinner theatre productions of local historical events, temporary exhibits of regional and national historic, cultural and artistic merit, newsletters and outreach programs to area school children and the public at large.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 69% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 75.8%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.07 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 16; 16th 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: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • 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: -65%; rating input score 1; 1st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.79; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.7%; rating input score 44; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -4.9% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.2% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 75.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $775K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $79K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 16/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 1/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 44/100.