Salem Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
541088887
IRS 990 coverage
2019–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Salem, VA, USA
Phone
5403896760
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$204,817
Expenses
$296,787
Assets
$3,537,512
Liabilities
$2,345

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

Leadership & pay

19 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • GARRETT CHANNELL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • HUNTER HASKINS (ASST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • SUSAN MINI (PRESIDENT)
  • JIM LAUB (PRESIDENT ELECT)
  • ROY SMITH (PAST PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • GARRETT CHANNELL (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $58,910 total reported compensation
  • HUNTER HASKINS (ASST EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $39,219 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide historical education and preservation programs

What it reported doing in 2024

To operate a museum and the preston place house, provide lectures, educational programs, and interpretive tours of local historical sites, and identification of historical sites.

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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 76.9%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: $11.47 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 43; 43rd 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • 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: -44.9%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 11.92; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 57; 57th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 33.1%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -1.1% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.2% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.5% per year; rating input score 0; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 76.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 17 of 17 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $228K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $59K · 19 people listed
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 6 filing years from 2019 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 43/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 6/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 57/100.