Ridge Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237222417
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Chicago, IL, USA
Phone
7738811675
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$86,186
Expenses
$84,228
Assets
$1,050,302
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Debra Nemeth (President)
  • Michael Wilk (Vice-President)

People named in this filing

  • Debra Nemeth (President)
  • Michael Wilk (Vice-President)
  • David Perry (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

Ridge Historical Society collects, preserves, interprets, and makes available to the public a collection of artifacts and documents of historic interest to the Chicago neighborhoods of Beverly, Morgan Park, Washington Heights, and Mt. Greenwood.

What it reported doing in 2025

Preservation Advocacy: RHS is located in the Ridge Historic District, and the Society was involved in the application for historic district recognition some 50 years ago. Since then its Historic Buildings Committee has advocated for preservation and recognition of historic buildings. It takes applications for and arbitrates the award of bronze historic building plaques. It also seeks out buildings of historic distinction, issuing award certificates for a handful of winners annually. Public Events: Ridge Historical Society participated in several local events, including the community's Memorial Day Parade, Beverly Arts Alliance's Annual Art Walk, and Chicago Architectural Center's "Open House Chicago". RHS timed its exhibit opening in conjunction with the fall events.Historic Research: Research of local history involving people, places, events, buildings and artifacts is a significant activity of the Society. Research may be undertaken in the planning of exhibits or programs; to support the organization's participation in local initiatives and observances; or to document the organization's collection. The Society also routinely responds to questions and requests from local residents, often concerning their residences or other buildings. Research services are provided by volunteers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Investment-supported. 62% of the money available for current operations came from recurring investment income.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 80.8%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

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: Limited
  • 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: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: 2.3%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 12.47; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 14.4% per year; rating input score 100; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.5% per year; rating input score 0; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 80.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $68K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2019 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 54/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.