Rhode Island · Nonprofit
Little Compton Historical Society Inc
Little Compton Historical Society Inc (Rhode Island) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $611,312 to it, the largest being THE RHODE ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($246,950). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 74% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $317k
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $611k
- Net assets
- $3.1M
What Little Compton Historical Society Inc does
Mission
Preservation of historical buildings, artifacts, and related community education.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The Sakonnet History project is an ongoing effort to work with Indigenous knowledge keepers to research, preserve, and share the history of the Sakonnet Wampanoag. Now in its public-facing phase, the Sakonnet History projects offers regular Indigenous programming at the Little Compton Historical Society and is developing two new exhibits, scheduled to open in June 2025 and two new local history books focused on the history and culture of the Sakonnet people. The estimated attendance for related programming in 2024 is 1000 people, with a documented online audience of 30,000.
$199,514 spent67% of program spendingMuseum Program: The organization collects, preserves, and presents early landmarks of historical significance to the Town of Little Compton for the education and enrichment of the community. LCHS maintains historic buildings including Wilbor House, Friends Meeting House, Archival Barn,19th Century Barn, 19th Century Carriage House, Peggotty Artist Studio, Peaked Top School, Corn Crib, Privy, and the Chicken Food Cookhouse. The collection includes approximately 13,000 objects, photos, and documents relating to the history of Little Compton.
$56,237 spent$1,794 earned by the program19% of program spendingLittle Compton Connected: A Local Transportation Story was a special exhibition that explored the history of transportation in Little Compton from the time of the Sakonnet Wampanoag people to the present day. The exhibit focused on the connections that linked Little Compton with the outside world in ways that are surprising to us today because of Little Comptons current rural nature.
$25,861 spent9% of program spendingEducation Program: The organization runs youth summer camps, school programs, and adult programs that serve to educate the community about the history of Little Compton. The education program serves approximately 500 participants per year.
$15,517 spent$4,473 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $297,129.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $1.6M to $2.8M (+78%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2019 0% · 2020 1% · 2021 2% · 2022 1% · 2023 0% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
76% of Little Compton Historical Society Inc’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Marjory OToole
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $3k → $98k.
3 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 74% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of Little Compton Historical Society Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Little Compton Historical Society Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 40% of grant income and the top three 74%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
89% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Little Compton Historical Society Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 67% · 2018 84% · 2019 91% · 2020 77% · 2021 44% · 2022 39% · 2023 55% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
50% of Little Compton Historical Society Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 75% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
74% of Little Compton Historical Society Inc's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $160k that is directly attributable, 58% of it comes from funders outside Rhode Island, across 6 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $451k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
Little Compton Historical Society Inc has grown faster than half of the 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like Little Compton Historical Society Inc
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Rhode Island
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
69%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Little Compton Historical Society Inc: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Little Compton Historical Society Inc?
- Little Compton Historical Society Inc (Rhode Island) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $611,312 to it, the largest being THE RHODE ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($246,950). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 74% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Little Compton Historical Society Inc have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $611,312 in grants to Little Compton Historical Society Inc, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Little Compton Historical Society Inc?
- THE RHODE ISLAND COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $246,950 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Little Compton Historical Society Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Rhode Island. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Little Compton Historical Society →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 12 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing