The Postal History Foundation Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
860358137
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone
5206236652
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Standard

Reported finances

Revenue
$195,647
Expenses
$245,809
Assets
$1,987,902
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

People named in this filing

  • BOB R DAVIS (CHAIRMAN)
  • THEODORE W MAYNARD (TREASURER)
  • STEVE HAMANN (DIRECTOR)

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 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of the postal history foundation is to connect people to postal history, philately, and the world of stamps to inspire curiosity and encourage the enjoyment of life long learning.

What it reported doing in 2024

The stamp discovery program : the youth education program of the postal history foundation is unique in the country. In the early 1960s the phf started teaching a dozen students from the school for asthmatic children in the tucson mountains about philately. The program today reaches more than 13,000 students and teachers annually. Community members experience the world of stamps when the phf participates in special events for youth that include scout groups, libraries, stamp shows, and museums. Children become fasinated with stamp collecting and adults renew their childhood passion for philately. The teaching program currently distributes over 500,000 stamps annually across the country and overseas. In addition, requested stamps have been provided to stamp shows, stamp clubs, libraries, the smithsonian, the aps, and various outreach organizations. To meet these needs, our volunteers continually sort, soak, file and prepare sets for classroom use.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 61% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 92
  • Transparency & Controls: 91
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 48
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 86.8%; rating input score 87
  • Fundraising efficiency: $29.48 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 13th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 57
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -25.6%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 8.09; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -1.3% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 86.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 4 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $213K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 26 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.