US Capitol Historical Society
"YPTC was the perfect solution..."
The United States Capitol Historical Society was founded in 1962 to tell the story of the U.S. Capitol and the people who have worked there in a manner that “inspires and informs patriotism”. Although it was chartered by Congress it is not funded by Congress and therefore relies on the generous support of the public to continue to tell the story of the Capitol and the people who work there. The Society initially had a kiosk in the Capitol to support its operations, but when the Capitol Visitors Center (CVC) was constructed after 9/11 the Society’s merchandising activities moved off-site to allow the new gift shops to support the CVC. The Society now offers its robust merchandising activity online. Today, the Society continues to explore and institute new and creative ways to bring the fascinating story of the Capitol, its institutions and our national history to people around the world. Its activities include: civic education; educational tours; scholarly symposia; observances of historic events; sponsorship of research on the public careers of those who have served in the Capitol; the sale of publications and mementos of historical nature; and assistance to Congressional and other Capitol offices.
Soon after the Hon. Jane L. Campbell, President/CEO and a former Mayor of Cleveland, came to the Society in 2019 the CFO resigned. After only a few months on the job she brought in YPTC – which she knew about from their work with her church and another Washington-area nonprofit – on a trial basis. “I found that it would really be more beneficial to engage with YPTC,” she recalls. “YPTC was the perfect solution because we could have as much or as little accounting services as we needed at any given time. We could surge to having more time during an audit or facing a particular challenge. Meanwhile we knew we would always have very high quality because of the way YPTC vets its people and manages its system. We’d never be able to have this quality of services at this price by hiring someone on staff.”
After several months Campbell decided to not hire someone in-house and to remain with YPTC. “We have been incredibly pleased. They helped us apply for Paycheck Protection Program funding and survive a random PPP audit in which everything was found to be in order and both of our loans were forgiven. They helped us through our Employee Retention Credit process, too.”
Campbell appreciates how YPTC has also been a collaborative partner in engaging technology, from streamlining the process for approving bills to a new budgeting software package. And the Board of Trustees appreciates how comprehensively the financial pictures are presented. “Our Board has said consistently that they never understood the numbers until I came here,” Campbell adds. “I think it’s lovely that I get the credit but it’s really YPTC that’s providing the numbers in a clear format.
