Vasa Order of America
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
THE PURPOSE OF THE ARCHIVES THE PURPOSE, AS DESCRIBED IN THE INCORPORATION DOCUMENT, IS FOR "EDUCATIONAL, HISTORICAL AND RESEARCH TO PRESERVE AND DISPLAY AND MAKE AVAILABLE RECORDS, DOCUMENTS, WORKS OF ART, SCIENCE, INVENTIONS AND MANUFACTURE BY PERSONS OF SWEDISH ANCESTRY AND TO PROMOTE PUBLIC KNOWLEDGE OF AN INTEREST IN THE HISTORY OF PERSONS OF SCANDINAVIAN AND PARTICULARLY SWEDISH ANCESTRY." THE MAIN PURPOSE IS TO PRESERVE THE RECORDS OF THE VASA ORDER OF AMERICA AND ITS MEMBERS. WE HAVE SET UP A FAMILY REGISTER WHERE ALL VASA MEMBERS AND THEIR FAMILIES WILL BE CHRONICLED. THE REGISTER IS AN IMPORTANT PHASE OF OUR ARCHIVAL ACTIVITIES BY ASSISTING RESEARCHERS FIND THEIR ANCESTORS. WE AIM AT MAKING THE CONTENTS OF THE BUILDING INTERESTING TO ALL VISITORS. THEREFORE WE HAVE ACCEPTED A NUMBER OF ARTIFACTS WHICH RELATE TO SWEDISH AND SCANDINAVIAN IMMIGRANT HISTORY. THESE ITEMS PROVIDE VISUAL AND PHYSICAL CONNECTIONS TO PAST GENERATIONS.
- Income
- $86,295
- Spending
- $132,900
- Spent on programs
- 79%
- Reserves
- 49 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 98%
- Employees
- 2
- Volunteers
- 11
- Highest pay
- $50,404, archivist
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 70 out of 100. Higher than 43% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, under $250k).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 49.0 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 1% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 54% of income.
Income trend
0 of 15Income fell 63% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1579% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 12 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 92% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, under $250k).
Independent board
25 of 259 of 9 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, 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 (1)
- $105,201 spent. AFTER YEARS OF WAITING AND NUMEROUS REQUESTS, THE VASA NATIONAL ARCHIVES NOW HAS A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF OUR COLLECTIONS AVAILABLE ONLINE THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY DIGITAL IMAGE ARCHIVE ALLOWED US TO JOIN THEIR EFFORTS TO MAKE ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS AVAILABLE. WITH THE HELP OF A GRANT FROM THE SWEDISH COUNCIL OF AMERICA, WE HIRED AN INTERN DURING THE SUMMER OF 2017 TO HELP WITH GETTING A JUMP START WITH GETTING OUR COLLECTIONS ONLINE. THE ILLINOIS STATE HISTORIC RECORDS ADVISORY BOARD GAVE US A GRANT IN 2018 TO GET 60 MICROFILMS CONVERTED TO DIGITAL AND UPLOADED. IN THE SUMMER OF 2024, WE WILL HAVE AN INTERN SCANNING AND UPLOADING VASA STARS FROM THE 1920S. THIS IS SOMETHING WE WORK ON AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. MANY OF THE ITEMS ARE FROM OUR MICROFILM COLLECTION. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP PAY FOR A REEL OF MICROFILM TO BE CONVERTED TO DIGITAL, PLEASE CONTACT US. THE DIGITAL LIBRARY IS HOSTED BY THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI DIGITAL IMAGE ARCHIVE; LODGES DO NOT NEED TO BE IN THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI AREA TO BE INCLUDED. YOU CAN VISIT OUR DIGITAL LIBRARY HERE. WHILE ONLY A SMALL PORTION OF OUR COLLECTIONS CAN CURRENTLY BE ACCESSED, WE ROUTINELY WORK ON IMPROVING CURRENT DIGITAL MATERIALS AND ADDING NEW MATERIALS. IF YOU'D LIKE TO HELP, PLEASE LET US KNOW AS WE ARE ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR NEW VOLUNTEERS. WE ARE BUSY PROCESSING THE BACKLOG OF MATERIALS HERE AND CREATING A DETAILED INVENTORY OF WHAT MATERIALS WE HAVE. THIS INVENTORY IS CALLED A FINDING AID. OUR FINDING AID IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. WE WILL BE UPDATING THE FINDING AID AVAILABLE HERE AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. YOU CAN FIND IT HERE. LENNART SETTERDAHL'S SWEDISH IMMIGRANT ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS THE VASA NATIONAL ARCHIVE IS HONORED TO BE ONE OF TWO RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS TO HOLD COPIES OF LENNART SETTERDAHL'S SWEDISH IMMIGRANT ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS. LENNART TRAVELLED ACROSS THE US INTERVIEWING SWEDISH-AMERICANS TO COLLECT THEIR IMMIGRATION STORIES AND HISTORY IN THE US. LIBRARY THE VASA NATIONAL ARCHIVE HAS A NEARLY 3,000 VOLUME LIBRARY OF BOOKS ON SWEDEN, SWEDISH-AMERICANS, IMMIGRATION, AND RELATED TOPICS. WE ARE ROUTINELY ADDING TO THE COLLECTION AND WILL BE UPDATING THIS LIST AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. WE ARE A NON-LENDING LIBRARY AND MATERIALS MUST BE USED IN- HOUSE. FEEL FREE TO SEARCH OUR LIBRARY COLLECTION TO SEE IF WE HAVE A BOOK YOU ARE INTERESTED IN. AFTER YEARS OF WAITING AND NUMEROUS REQUESTS, THE VASA NATIONAL ARCHIVES NOW HAS A SMALL PERCENTAGE OF OUR COLLECTIONS AVAILABLE ONLINE THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY DIGITAL IMAGE ARCHIVE ALLOWED US TO JOIN THEIR EFFORTS TO MAKE ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS AVAILABLE. WITH THE HELP OF A GRANT FROM THE SWEDISH COUNCIL OF AMERICA, WE HIRED AN INTERN DURING THE SUMMER OF 2017 TO HELP WITH GETTING A JUMP START WITH GETTING OUR COLLECTIONS ONLINE. THE ILLINOIS STATE HISTORIC RECORDS ADVISORY BOARD GAVE US A GRANT IN 2018 TO GET 60 MICROFILMS CONVERTED TO DIGITAL AND UPLOADED. IN THE SUMMER OF 2024, WE WILL HAVE AN INTERN SCANNING AND UPLOADING VASA STARS FROM THE 1920S. THIS IS SOMETHING WE WORK ON AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. MANY OF THE ITEMS ARE FROM OUR MICROFILM COLLECTION. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP PAY FOR A REEL OF MICROFILM TO BE CONVERTED TO DIGITAL, PLEASE CONTACT US. THE DIGITAL LIBRARY IS HOSTED BY THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI DIGITAL IMAGE ARCHIVE; LODGES DO NOT NEED TO BE IN THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI AREA TO BE INCLUDED. YOU CAN VISIT OUR DIGITAL LIBRARY HERE. WHILE ONLY A SMALL PORTION OF OUR COLLECTIONS CAN CURRENTLY BE ACCESSED, WE ROUTINELY WORK ON IMPROVING CURRENT DIGITAL MATERIALS AND ADDING NEW MATERIALS. IF YOU'D LIKE TO HELP, PLEASE LET US KNOW AS WE ARE ALWAYS ON THE LOOKOUT FOR NEW VOLUNTEERS. WE ARE BUSY PROCESSING THE BACKLOG OF MATERIALS HERE AND CREATING A DETAILED INVENTORY OF WHAT MATERIALS WE HAVE. THIS INVENTORY IS CALLED A FINDING AID. OUR FINDING AID IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. WE WILL BE UPDATING THE FINDING AID AVAILABLE HERE AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. YOU CAN FIND IT HERE. LENNART SETTERDAHL'S SWEDISH IMMIGRANT ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS THE VASA NATIONAL ARCHIVE IS HONORED TO BE ONE OF TWO RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS TO HOLD COPIES OF LENNART SETTERDAHL'S SWEDISH IMMIGRANT ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEWS. LENNART TRAVELLED ACROSS THE US INTERVIEWING SWEDISH-AMERICANS TO COLLECT THEIR IMMIGRATION STORIES AND HISTORY IN THE US. LIBRARY THE VASA NATIONAL ARCHIVE HAS A NEARLY 3,000 VOLUME LIBRARY OF BOOKS ON SWEDEN, SWEDISH-AMERICANS, IMMIGRATION, AND RELATED TOPICS. WE ARE ROUTINELY ADDING TO THE COLLECTION AND WILL BE UPDATING THIS LIST AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. WE ARE A NON-LENDING LIBRARY AND MATERIALS MUST BE USED IN- HOUSE. FEEL FREE TO SEARCH OUR LIBRARY COLLECTION TO SEE IF WE HAVE A BOOK YOU ARE INTERESTED IN.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, 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 December 2024.
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 December 2005.
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.