Sacred Heart Area Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411856993
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2018, Form 990-N 2017
Location
Sacred Heart, MN, USA
Phone
3207658868
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
History Museums

Reported finances

Revenue
$58,600
Expenses
$16,813
Assets
$1,488,527
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Liz Lanning (Vice President)
  • Michael Johnson (President)

People named in this filing

  • Marjorie Flaata (Social Director)
  • Sonja Thune (Executive and Publicity Director)
  • Gretchen Eliason (Treasurer)

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 collect, preserve, and disseminate knowledge about the history of the sacred heart area.

What it reported doing in 2025

Restoration of hotel sacred heart. In 2013, the sacred heart area historical society (shahs) purchased the historic 1914 building once known as the best little hotel between the twin cities and aberdeen, South Dakota, along the milwaukee railroad. Grants are being obtained and work is being performeed to restore the building and repurpose for assisted senior living with shared community amenities. Hotel sacred heart is listed on the national register of historical places. Operation and maintenance of the sacred heart area museum. The society collects, preserves, and shares history of the sacred heart area since incorporating in 1997. The museum is located in a former church building in sacred heart, western renville county. It is highly visible along highway 212, the yellowstone trail. The society serves approximately 400 members from across the united states. Museum visitors include genealogists, historians, tourists, and students of all age groups. Approximately 3,000 people benefit at the museum and off-site outreach. The shahs strives io include diversity, equity, and inclusion practices in the workplace and community.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 73% 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 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: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 87
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 28.4%; rating input score 28
  • Program expense ratio: 97.2%; rating input score 97
  • 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: 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: 71.3%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 88.53; rating input score 95; 95th 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: 3.2% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -2.6% per year; rating input score 0; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19.3% per year; rating input score 100; 88th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 28.4% of revenue deployed · 97.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $16K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 11 people listed
  • Consistency: 17 of 18 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 28/100.
  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.