Stearns County Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411315033
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
St Cloud, MN, USA
Phone
3202538424
Rating
82
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies & Historic Preservation

Reported finances

Revenue
$992,813
Expenses
$953,518
Assets
$1,390,888
Liabilities
$187,922

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

Leadership & pay

15 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AMY DEGERSTROM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • AMY DEGERSTROM (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $77,319 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The stearns history museum connects people to the power of history and culture by collecting, preserving, and interpreting our historical and cultural resources. The stearns history museum will be a place where citizens of central Minnesota can honor their diverse history and recognize that the past is what built the present and is a road map to the future. In 2024 programs service accomplishments reflected four key areas that relate directly to the museum's mission.a.) educational servicesb.) museum exhibitions and collectionsc.) archival and research servicesd.) museum operations

What it reported doing in 2024

Educational services. The stearns history museum conducts public programming that interprets the history of stearns county and Minnesota. Schools, families, and individuals use the museum to better understand and appreciate local & state history and their place in it. School tours and summer programming: - shm provides tours and program for k-university students. Programs include archeology, environmental studies, and subsistence farming. Family programming: - harvest festival a celebration of fall in central Minnesota with games and activities for family members of all ages. - at war and at home: a world war ii living history experience. A weekend full of activities for kids of all ages to discover the history of world war ii and its impact on minnesotans through presentations, demonstrations, activities and interacting with reenactors.adult programming:- breakfast club - monthly speaker series, averaging 80 attendees per month, that brings both contemporary and historic issues that have or are facing stearns county and Minnesota residents. Topics such as refugess, historic preservation, and farming are discussed.- century farm program - stearns county has the largest recognized century farms in Minnesota. The program began in 1975. There are over 495 century farms that have been recognized by the stearns history museum in stearns county.- memory writers - a group of writers share and critique stories they have written about their family history. Memory writers meets twice a month.- quilters group - area quilters gather september - may at the museum to work on quilt restoration projects. - hops & history - a celebration of brewing in stearns county. Bi-monthly program focused on a different historical topic with the incentive of a cold beverage. Shm partners with the local brewers to provide a social and historical experience for adults 21+.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 73% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.7%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 83.3%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $9.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 94.4%; rating input score 94; 26th 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: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: 4%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.46; rating input score 55; 55th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.14; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.1%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.3% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 1.8% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.7% of revenue deployed · 83.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 14 of 14 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $794K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $77K · 15 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2012 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 35/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 55/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 38/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.