Western Sonoma County Historical Society

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
942457091
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2024–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Sebastopol, CA, USA
Phone
7072062484
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$61,256
Expenses
$47,932
Assets
$104,875

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Teresa Ramondo (President)
  • Alex Douglas (Vice President)
  • Steve Stedman (Past President)

People named in this filing

  • Teresa Ramondo (President)
  • Alex Douglas (Vice President)
  • Linda Collins (Secretary)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990-EZ. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The purpose of the Western Sonoma County Historical Society (WSCHS) is to preserve the history of Western Sonoma County by archiving photographs, artifacts, oral histories, and by the preservation of historic buildings. WSCHS also operates a Museum located in a 1917 Railroad Station in Sebastopol. WSCHS also maintains and operates the remaining 2/12 acres of Luther Burbanks Experiment Farm in Sebastopol. The Farm includes Burbank's restored Cottage, Burbank's reconstructed barn, plus many of Burbank's original plants.

What it reported doing in 2025

The WSCHS operates the West County Museum in Sebastopol. The Museum is housed in a Railroad Station built in 1917. The building was restored by WSCHS volunteers in 1993. The Museum offers exhibits which are rotated regularly and are open to the public. There is also a permanent section of the Museum which provides a history of the area. Under the direction of the Museum Director volunteers perform many functions, including: creation of exhibits; archiving of photos, artifacts, documents; recording oral histories; maintenance of the property. The Museum has digitized more than 6,000 photos, artifacts, and newspaper articles, and maintains the images in a software program designed for museums. The Museum also reaches out to the community to provide information to service groups, schools etc. in the form of oral, photographic or video presentations. The Museum also serves as a reference resource for people researching personal or general history of the area.

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 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

SUPPORTED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 48
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 44%; rating input score 44
  • Program expense ratio: 55.6%; rating input score 56

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 21.8%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.19; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -35.7% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.4% per year; rating input score 0; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 14.8% per year; rating input score 100; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 44% of revenue deployed · 55.6% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $27K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 7 of 7 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 2 filing years from 2024 to 2025
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 44/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 56/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.