The Heritage Society operates ten historic buildings, maintains a collection of historic artifacts, presents exhibitions, and offers educational tours, lectures, programs, and activities that demonstrate the history of the Houston region.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
53¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 25 volunteers and 13 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

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FY2024 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
4 of 4
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $364K a year · 44% of revenue · last 4 filings
Looks good: a surplus in 4 of the last 4 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 4 filings
Spent on programs
53%
of spending
Worth a look: 53% of spending went to programs; under 65%.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$100K
to officers and key staff · 27% of spending
Worth a look: pay to officers and key staff is 27% of spending; over 20%.
Pt VII · Sec A
19 mo
of spending, in cash
Plus $1.0M in investments, Pt X · Ln 11–13
Looks good: 18.8 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
1
named funder · $5K
Fine: 1 funder names it on their filings; under 3.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$28K
1% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 1% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
25
of 25 voting members
Looks good: 25 of 25 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$216K
-81% vs prior year
Spent
$367K
To programs
53%
Net assets
$1.9M
By yearFY2021–FY2024
Revenue
$216K
FY2024▼ -81%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2021$464K
FY2022$740K
FY2023$989K
FY2024$1.1M
FY2024$216K
Expenses
$367K
FY2024▼ -36%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2021$399K
FY2022$466K
FY2023$437K
FY2024$571K
FY2024$367K
Net assets
$1.9M
FY2024▼ -6%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2021$682K
FY2022$879K
FY2023$1.4M
FY2024$2.0M
FY2024$1.9M

From the FY2024 Form 990 · see the original

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Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Aug 1956.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

53 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 53% · $195K Management & general 27% · $100K Fundraising 20% · $72K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

27 people listed on the 990; $100K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Executive Director
$77,510Pt VII · Sec A
Finance Director
$22,432Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 3 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021
Alison Bell$77,510$71,865$71,000$70,000$65,351
Belinda Woo$22,432————
Libby S Sims—$15,626$13,314——

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2Yes
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Preserves and shares Houston's history through historic buildings, artifacts, and educational programs.

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Provided by the organization

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3 programs · $195K · in their own filed words · FY2024
01

The Heritage Society provides tours of historic buildings that demonstrate how and why people settled in the Houston area, lectures regarding important people and events in Houston's and Texas's history, and educational programs for children and families on-site and off-site.

$92Kprogram expense
02

Other program activities include membership and volunteer coordination, communications, marketing, gift shop operations, museum gallery, and meeting space maintenance and usage.

$71Kprogram expense
03

The Heritage Society cares for and operates historic buildings to demonstrate Houston's and Texas's history and to educate the public about the lifestyles of the area's early residents. Curators work diligently to maintain, preserve, and restore historic buildings and collections for the education and enjoyment of the public.The Heritage…

$32Kprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2025
Total grants receivedfrom 1 funder$5K

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$216K
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$153K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$34K
Investment incomeLn 3$20K
Money outPt IX
$367K
Ln 25
Programscol B$195K
Managementcol C$100K
Fundraisingcol D$72K
Owns and owesPt X
$1.9M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$574K
Total assetsLn 16$2.0M
LiabilitiesLn 26$28K
PeoplePt VI, VII
27
listed · VII A
PaidVII A2
Voting boardVI 1a25
IndependentVI 1b25
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$153K
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$28K
Fees for servicesLn 2g$34K
Investment incomeLn 3$20K
Other incomeLn 4–11$9K
Gains on assetsLn 7−$1K
Total revenueLn 12$216K
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$49K
SavingsLn 2$525K
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$574K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$1.0M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$220K
Total assetsLn 16$2.0M
LiabilitiesLn 26$28K
Net assetsLn 32$1.9M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 513
VolunteersI 625
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$786K$574K
InvestmentsLn 11–13$876K$1.0M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$239K$220K
Total assetsLn 16$2.1M$2.0M
LiabilitiesLn 26$19K$28K
Net assetsLn 32$2.0M$1.9M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$100K$54K$28K$18K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$115K$62K$33K$21K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$740$398$209$133
Payroll taxesLn 10$16K$8K$4K$3K
Accounting feesLn 11c$12K$12K
Investment management feesLn 11f$5K$5K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$33K$16K$8K$9K
Office expensesLn 13$11K$7K$3K$1K
Information technologyLn 14$24K$9K$5K$9K
OccupancyLn 16$7K$7K$238$238
TravelLn 17$2K$2K
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$18K$18K
InsuranceLn 23$6K$4K$1K$1K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$17K$7K$485$9K
Total functional expensesLn 25$367K$195K$100K$72K

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 $1.1M$571K$565K$2.0M 990 PDF
FY2023 $989K$437K$551K$1.4M 990 PDF
FY2022 $740K$466K$274K$879K 990 PDF
FY2021 $464K$399K$65K$682K 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support O · Explanations
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $216,194 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $1,012,407$153,230
I-9 Program service revenuePrior year $47,482$34,046
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $35,180$19,561
I-11 Other revenuePrior year $40,229$9,357
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $1,135,298$216,194
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $0$0
I-14 Benefits paid to membersPrior year $0$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $346,332$231,498
I-16a Professional fundraising feesPrior year $0$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $224,301$135,390
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $570,633$366,888
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $564,665−$150,694
Part VI · Governance 25 of 25 board members independent, 1 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body25
VI-1b Independent voting members25
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsYes
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyYes
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyYes
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyYes
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payYes
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $216,194 across 9 lines filed
Lines not itemized here account for $2,832 of total revenue; see the IRS return.
VIII-1c Fundraising events$27,530
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$125,700
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$153,230
VIII-2a-f Program service revenue, itemized rows (sum of 2a–2f as filed)Related to mission $34,046$34,046
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $20,851$20,851
VIII-6 Net rental income or lossExcluded from tax $14,035$14,035
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax −$1,290−$1,290
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising eventsExcluded from tax −$7,510−$7,510
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $36,878 · Unrelated business $0 · Excluded from tax $26,086$216,194
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $366,888 across 14 lines filed
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $53,740 · Management $28,249 · Fundraising $17,953$99,942
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $61,875 · Management $32,526 · Fundraising $20,671$115,072
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $398 · Management $209 · Fundraising $133$740
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $8,466 · Management $4,450 · Fundraising $2,828$15,744
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $12,500$12,500
IX-11f Investment management feesManagement $4,674$4,674
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $16,297 · Management $7,827 · Fundraising $9,236$33,360
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $7,017 · Management $2,581 · Fundraising $1,166$10,764
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $9,494 · Management $4,746 · Fundraising $9,494$23,734
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $6,708 · Management $238 · Fundraising $238$7,184
IX-17 TravelPrograms $1,757$1,757
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $18,214$18,214
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $3,829 · Management $1,277 · Fundraising $1,277$6,383
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $7,418 · Management $485 · Fundraising $8,917$16,820
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $195,213 · Management $99,762 · Fundraising $71,913$366,888
Part X · Balance sheet $1,954,745 assets, 14 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $148,597$48,757
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $637,697$524,910
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $140,695$115,340
X-8 Inventories for sale or useStart of year $13,253$12,236
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $7,707$7,806
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $238,600$220,386
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $875,750$1,025,310
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $2,062,299$1,954,745
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $16,567$27,997
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $19,067$27,997
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $345,994$583,276
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $1,697,238$1,343,472
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $2,043,232$1,926,748
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $2,062,299$1,954,745
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $1,926,748 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$216,194
XI-2 Total expenses$366,888
XI-3 Revenue less expenses−$150,694
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$2,043,232
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$34,210
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$0
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$1,926,748

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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