SAN FRANCISCO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
San Francisco's history has a great future.
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
EIN: 68-0104888
as of November 2023
as of November 13, 2023
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
San Francisco History Programs
SFHS provides a broad spectrum of programs celebrating the culture and diversity of San Francisco. Our monthly presentations investigate the history, diversity and unique characters of San Francisco’s past. We also offer a series of historical walking tours for adults. We have a walking tour for fourth graders, supporting grade 4 social studies standards, focused on the Gold Rush. We offer an architecture workshop for middle school students and an essay contest, with cash prizes, for high school students. We also offer free field trips to our museum at 608 Commercial Street. In addition, we publish two history journals per year (The Argonaut) and four newsletters (Panorama). Our museum is free to the public.
Public programs offered by SFHS create opportunities for collaboration in sharing the cultural heritage of
San Francisco with new audiences. In exploring diverse pockets of the city, the
SFHS has forged new partnerships with a wide variety of organizations.
.
Barbary Coast Trail
The Barbary Coast Trail is
a 3.8-mile historic walking tour highlighting many of the most important
locations in San Francisco history. The walk visits the birthplace of the Gold
Rush, the oldest Asian temple in North America, the western terminus of the
Pony Express, and the largest collection of historic ships in the United
States. The trail is marked with a series of bronze medallions set in the
sidewalks to point the way and connects 20 historic sites.
SFHS Walking Tours
The San Francisco Historical Society hosts a myriad of guided historical walking tours. Currently, we have 7 in our roster: 1 for adults over the age of 21, Unspeakable Vice, which provides a walk through queer history in North Beach, the beloved gay neighborhood before The Castro became SF's LBGTQ+ destination, 5 for individuals of all ages, and 1 for schoolchildren, which teaches the history and impact of the gold rush on San Francisco. Our 5 tours available for all ages are: a Fisherman's Wharf tour that goes deep into the history of the wharf and the importance of fishing in early San Francisco, a tour of Chinatown that discusses the impact of the 1906 Earthquake and Fire in the area and how the Chinese community persevered, a gold rush and sunken ships walk, a walk that discusses the history of the Financial District pre-tech boom, and a deep-dive into San Francisco's rowdy past as a town without rules.
Where we work
External reviews

Photos
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently
Financials
Revenue vs. expenses: breakdown
Liquidity in 2021 info
5.33
Months of cash in 2021 info
3.5
Fringe rate in 2021 info
0%
Funding sources info
Assets & liabilities info
Financial data
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Revenue & expensesFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Balance sheetFiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
The balance sheet gives a snapshot of the financial health of an organization at a particular point in time. An organization's total assets should generally exceed its total liabilities, or it cannot survive long, but the types of assets and liabilities must also be considered. For instance, an organization's current assets (cash, receivables, securities, etc.) should be sufficient to cover its current liabilities (payables, deferred revenue, current year loan, and note payments). Otherwise, the organization may face solvency problems. On the other hand, an organization whose cash and equivalents greatly exceed its current liabilities might not be putting its money to best use.
Fiscal Year: Jan 01 - Dec 31
This snapshot of SAN FRANCISCO HISTORICAL SOCIETY’s financial trends applies Nonprofit Finance Fund® analysis to data hosted by GuideStar. While it highlights the data that matter most, remember that context is key – numbers only tell part of any story.
Created in partnership with
Business model indicators
Profitability info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Unrestricted surplus (deficit) before depreciation | $234,618 | -$22,294 | -$224,803 | -$69,246 | -$100,279 |
As % of expenses | 91.3% | -7.4% | -41.8% | -12.5% | -17.1% |
Unrestricted surplus (deficit) after depreciation | $234,618 | -$22,294 | -$225,200 | -$69,660 | -$100,693 |
As % of expenses | 91.3% | -7.4% | -41.8% | -12.6% | -17.2% |
Revenue composition info | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total revenue (unrestricted & restricted) | $480,957 | $277,037 | $303,537 | $485,148 | $484,504 |
Total revenue, % change over prior year | 72.3% | -42.4% | 9.6% | 59.8% | -0.1% |
Program services revenue | 33.0% | 43.5% | 41.1% | 18.5% | 13.3% |
Membership dues | 12.6% | 16.1% | 16.9% | 7.8% | 5.2% |
Investment income | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Government grants | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
All other grants and contributions | 54.1% | 35.2% | 39.3% | 72.2% | 81.3% |
Other revenue | 0.3% | 5.2% | 2.7% | 1.5% | 0.2% |
Expense composition info | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total expenses before depreciation | $257,078 | $299,331 | $537,821 | $554,394 | $584,783 |
Total expenses, % change over prior year | -17.9% | 16.4% | 79.7% | 3.1% | 5.5% |
Personnel | 0.0% | 37.8% | 21.6% | 16.5% | 0.3% |
Professional fees | 12.9% | 0.0% | 1.8% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
Occupancy | 42.2% | 29.1% | 16.5% | 10.8% | 6.1% |
Interest | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.1% |
Pass-through | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
All other expenses | 44.8% | 33.1% | 60.1% | 72.7% | 93.6% |
Full cost components (estimated) info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total expenses (after depreciation) | $257,078 | $299,331 | $538,218 | $554,808 | $585,197 |
One month of savings | $21,423 | $24,944 | $44,818 | $46,200 | $48,732 |
Debt principal payment | $0 | $7,203 | $0 | $0 | $27,430 |
Fixed asset additions | $0 | $0 | $16,140 | $0 | $0 |
Total full costs (estimated) | $278,501 | $331,478 | $599,176 | $601,008 | $661,359 |
Capital structure indicators
Liquidity info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Months of cash | 27.4 | 23.6 | 6.5 | 6.4 | 3.5 |
Months of cash and investments | 27.4 | 23.6 | 6.5 | 6.4 | 3.5 |
Months of estimated liquid unrestricted net assets | 29.5 | 24.4 | 8.2 | 6.5 | 4.1 |
Balance sheet composition info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cash | $586,815 | $589,773 | $289,573 | $294,133 | $172,762 |
Investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
Receivables | $25,974 | $0 | $12,287 | $4,085 | $4,085 |
Gross land, buildings, equipment (LBE) | $23,524 | $0 | $16,140 | $16,140 | $16,140 |
Accumulated depreciation (as a % of LBE) | 100.0% | 0.0% | 2.5% | 5.0% | 7.6% |
Liabilities (as a % of assets) | 5.1% | 4.1% | 2.8% | 14.9% | 13.4% |
Unrestricted net assets | $631,301 | $609,007 | $383,807 | $314,147 | $213,454 |
Temporarily restricted net assets | $10,868 | $10,868 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Permanently restricted net assets | $0 | $0 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
Total restricted net assets | $10,868 | $10,868 | $1,387 | $1,387 | $1,387 |
Total net assets | $642,169 | $619,875 | $385,194 | $315,534 | $214,841 |
Key data checks
Key data checks info | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Material data errors | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
President of the Board
Mr. Tom Owens
Number of employees
Source: IRS Form 990
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Officers, directors, trustees, and key employeesSOURCE: IRS Form 990
Compensation data
There are no highest paid employees recorded for this organization.
SAN FRANCISCO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Board of directorsas of 01/27/2023
Board of directors data
Thomas Owens
Richard S. E. Johns
Edith Piness
Kevin Pursglove
Joe Barkett
Jack Lapidos
Christopher Aguilar
John Briscoe
Richard Corriea
David Fishman
Lisa Fung
Bruce Lubarsky
Diane L. Gibson
Thomas Gille
David Parry
Miguel Pendás
Donald F. Reid
David Kvaratskheila
Cynthia So Schroeder
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/26/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.