President Lincoln's Cottage at the Soldiers Home

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
471453864
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-N 2014
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2028290436
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,038,984
Expenses
$1,948,299
Assets
$1,558,641
Liabilities
$231,383

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

Leadership & pay

17 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEAN BADERSCHNEIDER (BOARD PRESIDENT (VICE CHAIR))
  • CALLIE HAWKINS (CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CALLIE HAWKINS (CEO & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $191,118 total reported compensation
  • HANNAH URREY (DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT): $143,145 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

We preserve president lincoln's cottage (plc) to connect people to the true spirit of the lincolns, build empathy, and inspire them to act upon their own brave ideas for justice.

What it reported doing in 2024

The authentic historic place, the legacy of what abraham lincoln accomplished while in residence, and new perspectives on lincoln's public and private life. Plc accomplishes this through a wide variety of compelling programs and events including: signature guided tours of the cottage and self-guided experiences of exhibits and the landscape; annual programs for the public including scholar sessions, our q&abe podcast, lincoln ideas forum, and the students opposing slavery international summit. Additionally, plc hosts a variety of responsive public programs and special events to best serve the community and provides both digital and in-person educational opportunities for school groups that directly link the past and present, especially as it relates to historical enslavement (continued on schedule o) and lincoln's work on the emancipation proclamation.special initiatives include plc's 'empathy and connection: america at 250' program. The cottage has been working to leverage the unique opportunity of the nation's semiquincentennial, or 250th anniversary, on july 4, 2026, to bring people together to gain a fuller understanding of our nation's past and their vision and responsibilities for its future. Our america at 250 program focuses on 3 areas: integrating america at 250 themes into our own programming (both new and existing), providing professional development and resources for museum professionals, and leveraging the anniversary to expand the cottage's reach and sustainability beyond 2026

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 64% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - 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 revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 72
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 79%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 78.5%; rating input score 79
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th 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: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 63rd 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: 4.4%; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.8; rating input score 30; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.15; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 17.2%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.4% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -3.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 79% of revenue deployed · 78.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.5M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $191K · 17 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 36 of 36 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 18/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 30/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.