The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
133795391
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
New York, NY, USA
Phone
6463669666
Rating
81
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Scholarships, Student Financial Aid Services, Awards

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$11,711,351
Expenses
$11,868,119
Assets
$79,839,580
Liabilities
$1,055,884

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

Leadership & pay

46 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • BASKER JAMES G (PRESIDENT & CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • BASKER JAMES G (PRESIDENT & CEO): $269,746 total reported compensation
  • MOTT KATHRINE (COO): $255,624 total reported compensation
  • CANNER BRYN (DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT): $215,579 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 gilder lehrman institute of american history was founded in 1994 by richard gilder and lewis e. Lehrman, visionaries and lifelong supporters of american history. The institute is the leading nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to k-12 history education.

What it reported doing in 2024

Museum collections, exhibitions and primary source document educational resources: the gilder lehrman collection is central to our mission of integrating primary sources into the educational process. It includes over 87,000 items relating to american history from 1493 to twentieth century. The digital collection currently has over 70,000 items allowing online access to the documents. Pop-up panel exhibitions on major topics in american history are in circulation and visited schools and libraries across the country. A new exhibition was released this year titled declaration 1776: the big bang of modern democracy as part of the institute's efforts to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the declaration of independence. Gilder lehrman collection's primary sources are also on display in physical exhibition spaces such as george Washington's mount vernon, gettysburg national military park, museum of the city of New York, national constitution center, museum of the american revolution, charleston museum and the morgan library & museum. The live, online program inside the vault: highlights from the gilder lehrman collection, has been viewed by nearly 50,000 teachers, students, scholars, and history enthusiasts and a total of 83 past episodes are archived and available for free on the gilder lehrman website.

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 98% 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. Fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised and revenue has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 80
  • Transparency & Controls: 79
  • Accountability: 98
  • Sustainability: 50
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 90.7%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 79.6%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: $6.08 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 62nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 97.4%; rating input score 97; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.3%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.73; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.5%; rating input score 13; 13th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.8% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.2% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 90.7% of revenue deployed · 79.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 38 of 39 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $9.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $270K · 46 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $352K reported
  • Consistency: 38 of 38 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 25/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 25/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 13/100.