Western Reserve Historical Society

What it reported doing in 2024

Cleveland history center the cleveland history center houses the history museum, research library/archives & genealogical center, crawford auto aviation museum, kidzibits family education center, and the institution's administrative offices. The cleveland history center includes two early 20th century mansions, the hay mckinney and bingham-hanna mansions, along with galleries that connect the historic mansions. The collections and archives are among the most extensive of any regional history center in the united states, a reflection of over 150 years of collecting. Wrhs was founded in 1867 to preserve the history of the Connecticut western reserve, the name for the land on the western edge of the Connecticut territory which is now northeast Ohio. Today, wrhs collects, preserves, and presents the history of northeast Ohio to connect with people, inspiring them to discover themselves, their families and communities by exploring the past and imagining the future. This is achieved through a combination of exhibits, programs, and events for all ages and interests. The wrhs collections are vast and varied. The library/archives hold millions of items including books, photographs, manuscripts, and documents, making it a premier research institute for scholars, the general public, and genealogists. Highlights of the collection include civil war materials, various ethnic and community collections such as those of the african-american, jewish, italian, and irish histories of the region, and extensive business, industrial, philanthropic, entrepreneurial, and political records. The wrhs historic costume and textile collection is one of the largest in the united states. The institution's collections of items related to the shaker communities is, in fact, the largest in the u.s. The decorative arts collection includes about 3,500 artifacts owned by early residents of the western reserve, and approximately 800 paintings reflecting the history of the region. The crawford auto aviation museum contains more than 157 cars, 10 airplanes, and numerous motorcycles, bicycles, and other automotive-related items. Along with the library's automotive marque files, the crawford collection tells the story of the automotive industry, particularly in northeast Ohio. In november, 2014, the iconic euclid beach park grand carousel opened to the public after restoration, housed in a spectacular glass pavilion. This was made possible through collaboration between wrhs, the cleveland ebpn carousel society, and euclid beach park now. The cleveland starts here exhibit opened in 2017 that tells the story of the last 200 years of cleveland and western reserve history.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 88.4%; rating input score 88
• Program expense ratio: 81.6%; rating input score 82
• Fundraising efficiency: $10.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• 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: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • 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: -1.4%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.65; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 7.2%; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 2.3% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings