H H Franklin Club
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
The organization's primary mission is education and historic preservation.
- Income
- $253,485
- Spending
- $114,010
- Spent on programs
- 89%
- Reserves
- Over 10 years of spending
- Largest source of income
- fees for its services, 45%
- Employees
- 0
- Volunteers
- 40
Source: Form 990 for the year ending October 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 100 out of 100.
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover more than ten years of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 55% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 89% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1589% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending October 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Fair: 64 out of 100.
Independent board
25 of 2518 of 18 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
0 of 8Reports no written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
0 of 7Reports no written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
0 of 10Did not give the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Independent check of accounts
6 of 15Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending October 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (5)
- $61,882 spent. The Club owns & operates a museum building in Hickory Corners Michigan called The Franklin Automobile Collection, it is a 6805 sq foot building on the campus of the Gilmore Car Museum. The building houses 13 Franklin automobiles and related automobilia that are displayed in an interpretive manor with extensive explanatory information. The Collection tells the unique story of the Franklin Automobile and its place in the history of the American automobile industry. The Collection is a critical part of the Club's mission of education and historic preservation. The Franklin Automobile Collection opened to the public in 2010. The campus of the Gilmore Car Museum is open twelve months a year. Additionally the club holds its archive of original Franklin historical media that has been digitized at The Gilmore Museum. The Gilmore Car Museum is a public, 501 (c) (3) dedicated to preserving the history and heritage of the American automobile. The Club also has a scholarship program. The Club provides scholarships / grants to students with an interest in engineering or automobile restoration to attend the Club's week long Trek held annually Union College. The program is currently expanding. Also the Club provides scholarships to qualified students in Engineering and Auto Restoration at their College or University with a maximum award of $2,000 per student. Further the Club makes contributions to the McPherson College Auto Restoration program based upon the level of participation of restoration students at our annual Trek.
- $22,293 spent. The Club continued its program of publications and operation of its web site. It is distributed to libraries, museums, and approx 700 Club members three issues of The Air Cooled News, a magazine which contains historical articles relating to Franklin automobiles and other early air cooled cars. Quarterly it publishes the Franklin Service Station which contains articles of a technical nature. The Club publishes a second edition of the book The Franklin Automobile Company via print on demand. The book is available worldwide through online book sellers. The Club continued to update and improve its web site www.franklincar.org this year. The web site provides information of a technical, historical, and educational nature for members and the general public. The Club makes available on its web site its digitally preserved collection of over 10,000 engineering drawings prepared by the company between 1902 & 1934. Since they were made available on the web 100,000 drawings have been downloaded. Also available are pdf versions of Club historical publications on the history of the car as well as Franklin Company parts and operations manuals. The club continues to work on its project of digitizing its remaining archive materials for eventual permanent storage in the archive at The Gilmore Car Museum. In addition, the club sells merchandise consisting of owners manual reprints, sales material, and clothing.
- $211 spent. As part of it mission of historic preservation, this past fiscal year the Club expanded it program of making available replacement parts for Franklin automobiles, as well as reprints of manuals & reproduction merchandise. Where the need was the greatest for selected models, reproductions of brake drums, steering mechanisms, exhaust systems and lesser parts were made available to Franklin owners at a modest mark up to preserve the road worthiness and safety of the cars for public exhibit.
- $17,207 spent. Scholarships, Stipends, and related Contributions made.
- The Club provided tuition scholarships to automotive restoration students at McPherson College, paid their expenses to attend our annual educational gathering, and made a contribution to the Automotive Restoration program at McPherson College.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending October 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending October 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since August 1989.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.
Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.