Rice County Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411432857
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Faribault, MN, USA
Phone
5073322121
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Reported finances

Revenue
$316,661
Expenses
$250,245
Assets
$1,005,532
Liabilities
$14,521

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

Leadership & pay

20 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOAN MILLER (PRESIDENT)
  • MARIE TUMA (1ST VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DON HORA (2ND VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • JOAN MILLER (PRESIDENT)
  • MARIE TUMA (1ST VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DON HORA (2ND VICE PRESIDENT)

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

The rice county historical society manages 8 historic buildings and a collection of over 120,000 items. We are dedicate to helping preserve and educate on the history and culture of the peoples of rice county.

What it reported doing in 2025

The museum provides guided and self-guided public tours that interpret the history, architecture, and daily life associated with several historic site buildings. These tours are open to the general public and offer educational experiences for visitors of all ages, including families, students, local residents, and tourists. Featured tour locations include the log cabin, which helps illustrate early settler life and the challenges of frontier living; the one-room schoolhouse, which demonstrates historic rural education practices and the experience of students and teachers in an earlier era; the alexander faribault house, which highlights the life, influence, and historical significance of alexander faribault and his role in the community's development; and the agriculture and industrial building, which presents exhibits and interpretation related to the area's agricultural heritage, local industry, tools, equipment, and the economic activities that shaped the region.through these public tours, the museum preserves and shares local history, provides historical context for the community's development, and increases public understanding of the cultural, educational, agricultural, and industrial foundations of the area. Tours are designed to make regional history accessible and engaging by connecting visitors directly with historic structures, artifacts, and stories from the past.

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.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 59
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 68
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 56.9%; rating input score 57
  • Program expense ratio: 70.3%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: $10.82 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 39; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 21%; rating input score 72; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.02; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 6.8% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.1% per year; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 53rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 56.9% of revenue deployed · 70.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 20 of 20 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $176K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 20 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 28 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 57/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 39/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 37/100.