· Public charity
American Ornithological Society
See schedule othe AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY (aos) is an international membership organization that connects ornithologists, science, and bird conservation by supporting science that advances the understanding and conservation of birds, promoting broad access to ornithological science, supporting ornithologists throughout their…
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
How this is measured
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k2 grants · $12k
- $10k–50k2 grants · $45k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF SPONSORED PROGRAMS | $30,000 |
| UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA | $15,000 |
| UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT | $7,100 |
| THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO | $5,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 78% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
Grants abroad, by region: $84k on the FY2024 return
Schedule F, as filed: 5 regions, $25k to organizations and $58k to individuals. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.
Stated purpose: RESEARCH GRANTS SUPPORTING STUDENT AOS MEMBERS BASED ON THE QUALITY OF THE RESEARCH AS DESCRIBED ON THEIR APPLICATION · MEWALDT-KING MEMORIAL RESEARCH GRANTS SUPPORT GRADUATE STUDENT AOS MEMBERS BASED ON THE QUALITY OF THE RESEARCH AS DESCRIBED IN THEIR APPLICATION · RESEARCH GRANTS SUPPORTING STUDENT AOS MEMBERS BASED ON THE QUALITY OF THE RESEARCH AS DESCRIBED IN THEIR APPLICATION
Stated purpose: RESEARCH GRANTS SUPPORTING STUDENT AOS MEMBERS BASED ON THE QUALITY OF THE RESEARCH AS DESCRIBED IN THEIR APPLICATION · WILLIAM BREWSTER MEMORIAL AWARD RECOGNIZES THE MOST MERITORIOUS BODY OF WORK ON BIRDS OF THE WESTERN HEMISPHERE PUBLISHED DURING THE PAST TEN YEARS · CAREGIVER GRANTS ENABLE MEMBER ATTENDANCE AT AOS ANNUAL MEETING BY DEFRAYING DEPENDENT CAREGIVING COSTS
Stated purpose: WESLEY LANYON AWARD RECOGNIZES THE EARLY CAREER ORNITHOLOGIST WHO AUTHORS THE BEST INTEGRATIVE PAPER ON AVIAN SCIENCE IN EITHER OF THE TWO AOS JOURNALS · STUDENT TRAVEL GRANTS SUPPORT ANNUAL MEETING ATTENDANCE FOR STUDENT MEMBERS
Stated purpose: STUDENT TRAVEL GRANTS SUPPORT ANNUAL MEETING ATTENDANCE FOR STUDENT MEMBERS
Stated purpose: STUDENT TRAVEL GRANTS SUPPORT ANNUAL MEETING ATTENDANCE FOR STUDENT MEMBERS · TRAVEL GRANTS TO SUPPORT MEETING ATTENDANCE BY INDIVIDUALS FROM UNDERREPRESENTED GROUPS OR THOSE WHO ARE FROM, RESIDE OR STUDY IN LATIN AMERICA OR THE CARIBBEAN
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +46% since the first grant, against +45% for those funded once.
4 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 1 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 91% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $5k went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
Cornell University3× · 2020–2023 · $38k · revenue +46%- LSLOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY2× · 2020–2024 · $38k
- UOUNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA2× · 2022–2024 · $23k
Funded once
- CPCAL POLY HUMBOLDT SPONSORED PROGRAMS FOUNDATIONgraduatedone grant, 2023 · $15k · revenue +45%
- BOBOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKAone grant, 2020 · $15k
- UOUniversity of Wisconsin Madisonone grant, 2020 · $15k
How this is measured
Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.
4 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.
Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.
How this is measured
Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 4 of the 9 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.
Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding
A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization American Ornithological Society funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from American Ornithological Society. Bigger dots raise more.
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to American Ornithological Society?
Find your warmest path to American Ornithological Society through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.
Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.
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