Rhode Island Council for the Humanities

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
050376246
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Providence, RI, USA
Phone
4012732250
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$989,225
Expenses
$929,057
Assets
$468,055
Liabilities
$26,200

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

Leadership & pay

22 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIZABETH FRANCIS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • ELIZABETH FRANCIS (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $149,010 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Rhode Island council for the humanities seeds, supports, and strengthens public history, cultural heritage, civic education, and community engagement by and for all rhode islanders.

What it reported doing in 2024

The Rhode Island council for the humanities (ri humanities) marked several significant accomplishments during the 2025 fiscal year, continuing to fulfill its mission to seed, support, and strengthen public history, cultural heritage, civic education, and community engagement by and for all rhode islanders. Ri humanities was supported through federal and state funds, foundation grants, individual gifts, and corporate sponsorships. Ri humanities' grantmaking programs awarded $125,665 through 22 state-funded thrive general operating grants for cultural heritage organizations and local historical and preservation societies, as well as eight federally-funded mini grants. In april 2025, we hosted a thrive award announcement event at the Rhode Island state house library, celebrating current and past grantees. Staff members also activated the 50+ year old grants catalogue by adding searchable thematic labels to individual projects, informing the newly launched "humanities in action" monthly feature of past grantees.through a partnership with the Rhode Island historical society, ri humanities continued to produce rhode tour, a website and smartphone app for stories about Rhode Island culture and history. The app and website hosted 38,000 annual users and now features over 377 stories and 40 individual tours. Ri humanities continued to circulate its biweekly electronic newsletter, humanities in context, to 4,500 recipients, providing engaging articles, information, and event schedules related to the humanities.as a key partner of the ri250 commission, ri humanities co-hosted a cultural convening and facilitated workshop sparking connections across the cultural sector and opportunities for collaboration ahead of commemorating the 250th anniversary of the declaration of independence. At the beginning of fiscal year 2025, ri humanities officially served as local host of the 2024 national humanities conference held in providence in november, 2024. The conference attracted nearly 900 participants from across the country the most ever for this annual conference and showcased the depth and innovative qualities of public humanities in our state.

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 81% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 65
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 40
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 67.4%; rating input score 67
  • Program expense ratio: 71%; rating input score 71
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.88 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • 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: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.1%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.5; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 16%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 67.4% of revenue deployed · 71% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 18 of 18 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $659K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $149K · 22 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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: Fundraising efficiency scored 37/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 23/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 53/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 21/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 51/100.