Pierce County Historical Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237418876
IRS 990 coverage
2025–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-N 2024
Location
Ellsworth, WI, USA
Phone
7158082033
Rating
77
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Human Service Organizations

Reported finances

Revenue
$66,593
Expenses
$56,599
Assets
$604,183
Liabilities
$770

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • John Norquist (President)
  • Pat Mory (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • John Norquist (President)
  • Pat Mory (Vice President)
  • Julie Huebel (Secretary)

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 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To Discover Collect Preserve and Share the heritage of Pierce County.

What it reported doing in 2025

The organization operates several historic locations that are regularly open to the public. The Bay City location is open on Tuesdays and the first Sunday of each month the Prescott location is open most Saturdays and Sundays and the Elmwood location is open on Thursdays. We also participate in special events during local village and city summer festivals and operate the historic Freier School House for four days during the annual Pierce County Fair. The one-room schoolhouse is furnished to represent a typical school of the 1890s. In addition the organization publishes a high-quality quarterly newsletter featuring local history and provides research assistance to individuals interested in family history and genealogy.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 62% 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: NotEnoughData

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.4%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 79%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $62.97 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 82; 82nd 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: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15%; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 10.67; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: Limited
  • Asset growth: Limited

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.4% of revenue deployed · 79% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $45K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 30 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.