Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
The Mission of the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society is to preserve and share the culture and history of the Santa Clarita Valley.
- Income
- $218,902
- Spending
- $276,620
- Spent on programs
- 69%
- Reserves
- 3.7 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 63%
- Employees
- 4
- Volunteers
- 20
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, 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
20 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 3.7 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
0 of 15Spending exceeded income by 26% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 4% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1569% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 8 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Good: 81 out of 100. Higher than 73% of charities in its peer group (arts and culture, under $250k).
Independent board
25 of 2517 of 17 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
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 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 (1)
- $190,051 spent. The purpose of the Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society is to raise funds for the identification, acquisition, development, restoration, preservation, maintenance, cataloging, and conservation of historical sites, artifacts, and structures within The Santa Clarita Valley. We also organize and sponsor functions that bring these items of historical significance to the public and the public to these items through local tours and functions at The History Center. During this fiscal year, we were able to once again host a community historical tour of the St. Francis Dam National Memorial site, approximately 100 people were taken on a walking tour of the site and learned the history leading up to the demise of the dam. We have continued our ongoing restoration and maintenance program making significant progress on various projects related to our structures.We are continuing the task of cataloging and scanning our hundreds of thousands of images and other artifacts relating to the history of the Santa Clarita Valley with a full time supervising archivist. We continue to receive donations from community members on a regular basis from across the country that we are adding to our collection. This is an ongoing project but we are determined to have digital records of our collection preserved for generations to come.We are marketing and promoting under the name Santa Clarita History Center as a DBA, and are in the process of becoming an accredited museum to be able to open up our historical structures to the public once again as our restoration and maintenance programs allow. We have recently completed the first phase of our transformation to a museum by renovating portions of the interior of the Saugus Train Station which is now open to the public.Please refer to our website at www.scvhs.org for additional information.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending June 30, 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 October 13, 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 June 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 October 1976.
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 October 21, 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.