The Brooklyn Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
111630813
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022
Location
Brooklyn, NY, USA
Phone
7182302165
Rating
54
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Historical Societies, Related Historical Activities

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,349,746
Expenses
$1,349,746
Assets
$0
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • KAREN SHEEHAN - UNTIL 61323 (CFO): $336,770 total reported compensation
  • HEATHER MALIN - UNTIL 61323 (DIRECTOR): $236,384 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Housed in a magnificent landmark building in brooklyn heights designed by george post in 1878 and completed in 1881, brooklyn historical society (bhs) maintains an important collection of archival documents, photographs, maps, books, artifacts and paintings relating to national and local history we draw from these holdings to create interpretive exhibitions that prompt visitors to reconsider the fundamental facts of history in light of primary source documents and artifacts.

What it reported doing in 2022

Collections: brooklyn historical society houses a world-renowned archives and special collections library on the second floor of its landmark building. The othmer library's magnificent reading room, with its stained-glass windows and carved wooden columns, transports the visitor to an earlier era. Brooklyn historical society is the only cultural institution in brooklyn that maintains a permanent oral history program. Begun in 1973, brooklyn historical society's oral history collections now include over 1,200 interviews. Through an integrated description program with the library & archives, these oral histories bring the voices of history to broad audiences. The collections provide a wealth of historical evidence about the lives of twentieth and twenty-first-century brooklyn residents and reveal how diverse individuals and communities have sought to preserve vital social, political, religious, and cultural traditions as brooklynites, new yorkers, and americans. The collections contain interviews conducted in english, spanish, cantonese, and mandarin, with narrators born as early as 1880.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 90% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The program-spending lines do not add up, so the filing cannot show reliably whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

MIXED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 68
  • Accountability: 37
  • Sustainability: 22
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 69.7%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 69.6%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: Limited
  • Governance controls: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0; rating input score 0; 0th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.2%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -13.3% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.9% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -11% per year; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 69.7% of revenue deployed · 69.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $939K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $337K · 5 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $220K reported
  • Consistency: 20 of 21 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 9 filing years from 2014 to 2022
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 43/100.