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Council of American Overseas Research Centers at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

Council of American Overseas Research Centers

The Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) is a private non-profit federation of independent overseas research centers that promotes research to advance knowledge of the world outside The United States in an era of global engagement.

$6.8M
Granted FY2025still arriving
23
Grants FY2025still arriving
10
States reached
$868k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

International$13MArts & Culture$3.7MSocial Science$2.3MEducation$2.2MScience & Tech$1.9M
02FY2025 · 23 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 23 grants below total $6,330,846, the rows itemized in this filing. The $6,808,878 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $478,032 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k2 grants · $55k
  • $50k–250k12 grants · $2.1M
  • $250k+9 grants · $4.2M
$206,274
Median grant
10
States reached
$5.1M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
West African Research Association$868,182
American Inst for Maghrib Studies$579,531
American Inst Iranian Studies$541,073
American Center Oriental Research$463,000
American Research Center in Egypt$415,813
American Inst Indian Studies$385,519
American Research Inst Turkey$355,000
Palestinian American Research Ctr$300,684
American Inst Sri Lankan Studies$295,000
American Inst Pakistan Studies$233,000
American Inst Indonesian Studies$227,000
Center for Khmer Studies CKS$206,274
Research Inst South Caucasus$204,940
WF Albright Inst Archaeological$186,000
American Inst Afghanistan Studies$186,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY19–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 77% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%American Inst for Maghrib Studies: $580k → 15%American Inst Sri Lankan Studies: $295k → 8%West African Research Association: $868k → 16%AMERICAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN TURKEY: $368k → 22%American Inst Indonesian Studies: $227k → 16%Center for Khmer Studies CKS: $206k → 17%Palestinian American Research Ctr: $301k → 14%American Inst - Pakistan Studies: $326k → 10%AMERICAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE OF SOUTH CAUCASUS: $235k → 19%American Inst Indian Studies: $386k → 14%American Center Oriental Research: $463k → 9%American Inst for Maghrib Studies: $575k → 15%West African Research Association: $704k → 16%American Research Inst Turkey: $355k → 22%American Inst Pakistan Studies: $233k → 10%Research Inst - South Caucasus: $217k → 19%American Inst - Indian Studies: $306k → 14%American Center - Oriental Research: $424k → 9%American Inst for Maghrib Studies: $561k → 15%WEST AFRICAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION: $498k → 16%AMERICAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN TURKEY: $286k → 22%Research Inst South Caucasus: $205k → 19%AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF INDIAN STUDIES: $285k → 14%American Research Center in Egypt: $416k → 9%AMERICAN CENTER FOR MAGHRIB STUDIES: $514k → 15%West African Research Association: $482k → 16%American Research Inst - Turkey: $277k → 22%American Inst - Indian Studies: $275k → 14%American Research Center in Egypt: $321k → 9%AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR MAGHRIB STUDIES: $507k → 15%WEST AFRICAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION: $475k → 16%American Research Inst - Turkey: $229k → 22%AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF INDIAN STUDIES: $243k → 14%AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER IN EGYPT: $295k → 9%AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR MAGHRIB STUDIES: $302k → 15%WEST AFRICAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION: $454k → 16%AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF INDIAN STUDIES: $188k → 14%AMERICAN CENTER FOR ORIENTAL RESEARCH: $248k → 9%AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR MAGHRIB STUDIES: $275k → 15%WEST AFRICAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION: $407k → 16%AMERICAN CENTER FOR ORIENTAL RESEARCH: $238k → 9%AMERICAN CENTER FOR ORIENTAL RESEARCH: $232k → 16%American Inst Iranian Studies: $541k → 17%American Research Center in Egypt: $192k → 9%American Inst Afghanistan Studies: $186k → 16%AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF IRANIAN STUDIES: $212k → 17%WF ALBRIGHT INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH: $208k → 22%WF Albright Inst Archaeological: $186k → 22%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

IL
WI
NY
MA
IN
OH
PA
VA
AZ
DC
TX
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

100%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$29M · 25 repeat orgs$0 to everyone else

25 repeat relationships: 23 still active in FY2025, 2 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

25
0

Total granted

$29M
$0

Still filing today

92%
0%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
InternationalSocial ScienceArts & CultureEducationOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • WA
    WEST AFRICAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION
    7× · 2019–2025 · $3.9M · revenue +12% · 77% of their budget
  • AI
    AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR MAGHRIB STUDIES
    7× · 2019–2025 · $3.3M · revenue +12% · 91% of their budget
  • TA
    THE AMERICAN CENTER OF RESEARCH INCORPORATED
    7× · 2019–2025 · $1.9M · revenue +80% · 25% of their budget

Funded once

    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.

    04Its field

    Closest unfunded matches

    The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

    1
    Amir Institute
    Human Services
    2
    International Institute of Islamic Thought the Fairfax Institute
    Education
    3
    Institute of Eastern Mediterranean Studies Corp
    Education
    4
    Mesoamerican Research Foundation
    Social Science
    5
    Us-Japan Research Institute Suite 801
    —
    6
    Kallir Research Institute
    Philanthropy
    7
    Center for Advanced China Research
    —
    8
    American Society of Overseas Research

    Asor, founded in 1900, is an international organization whose mission is to initiate, encourage, and support research into, and public understanding of, the history and cultures of the near east and wider mediterranean, from the earliest…

    Social Science
    9
    Council of American Overseas Research Centers

    The Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC) is a private non-profit federation of independent overseas research centers that promotes research to advance knowledge of the world outside The United States in an era of global…

    International
    10
    American Sudanese Archaeological Research Center

    Our mission is to encourage American and Sudanese archeological research and collaboration in Sudan and provide the network and support for success. The center facilitates research and nurtures scholarly ties between institutions and…

    Social Science
    11
    Assn for the Study of Language in Prehistory Inc
    Arts & Culture
    12
    Middle East Media and Research Institute Inc

    The middle east media research institute (memri) explores the middle east through its media, providing timely translations from arabic, farsi, urdu, pashtu, and turkish media and publishing original analysis of political, ideological,…

    International
    How this is measured
    The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The American Institute of Afghanistan Studies; the most unlike its peers is Mexico-North Research Network Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
    04the grantee network

    23 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. 23 of the 25 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.

    19
    Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
    13
    Early backer (in before they grew)
    23/23
    Grantees still filing
    20/23
    Grew since first funded

    Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

    WEST AFRICAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION: $3,889,289 · InternationalWEST AFRICAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATIONAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR MAGHRIB STUDIES: $3,313,184 · InternationalAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR MAGHRIB STUDIESAMERICAN INSTITUTE OF IRANIAN STUDIES: $1,469,032 · InternationalAMERICAN INSTITUTE OF IRANIAN STUDIESMEXICO-NORTH RESEARCH NETWORK INC: $1,052,500 · InternationalMEXICO-NORTH RESEARCH NETWORK INCTHE AMERICAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH INST IN IRAQ (D/B/A TARII): $1,028,802 · InternationalTHE AMERICAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH INST IN IRAQ (D/B/A TARII)THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AFGHANISTAN STUDIES: $1,003,200 · InternationalTHE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AFGHANISTAN STUDIESPALESTINIAN AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER: $937,000 · InternationalPALESTINIAN AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTERThe Amer Research Inst of the South Cauc: $837,323 · InternationalThe Amer Research Inst of the South CaucAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR INDONESIAN STUDIES: $672,000 · InternationalAMERICAN INSTITUTE BANGLADESH STU: $640,950 · InternationalAMERICAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN TURKEY: $1,873,350 · Social ScienceAMERICAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE…AMERICAN INST OF INDIAN STUDIES: $1,778,772 · Social ScienceAMERICAN INST OF INDIAN STU…AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR YEMENI STUDIES: $1,357,165 · Social ScienceAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR YEME…AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER IN EGYPT INC: $1,347,263 · Social ScienceAMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER IN…American Center for Mongolian Studies: $686,270 · Social ScienceAmerican Center for Mongoli…THE AMERICAN CENTER OF RESEARCH INCORPORATED: $1,928,991 · Arts & CultureTHE AMERICAN C…THE CENTER FOR KHMER STUDIES INC: $781,270 · Arts & CultureTHE CENTER FOR…CYPRUS AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $755,964 · Arts & CultureCYPRUS AMERICA…TANGIER AMERICAN LEGATION INSTITUTE FOR MOROCCAN STUDIES (TALIM): $178,375 · Arts & CultureAMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PAKISTAN STUDIES: $1,219,106 · OtherAMERICAN I…THE WILLIAM FOXWELL ALBRIGHT INSTIT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN JERUS: $974,690 · OtherTHE WILLIA…AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER IN EGYPT: $370,341 · OtherAMERICAN R…+1 more: $84,056 · OtherAMERICAN INSTITUTE OF SRI LANKAN STUDIES INC: $878,500 · EducationINYA BURMA INSTITUTE INC: $305,747 · Education
    International$14,843,280Social Science$7,042,820Arts & Culture$3,644,600Other$2,648,193Education$1,184,247

    Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

    25%50%75%100%$1.0Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWEST AFRICAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION: $3,889,289 over 7y, 77% of budgetAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR MAGHRIB STUDIES: $3,313,184 over 7y, 91% of budgetTHE AMERICAN CENTER OF RESEARCH INCORPORATED: $1,928,991 over 7y, 25% of budgetAMERICAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN TURKEY: $1,873,350 over 7y, 34% of budgetAMERICAN INST OF INDIAN STUDIES: $1,778,772 over 7y, 11% of budgetAMERICAN INSTITUTE OF IRANIAN STUDIES: $1,469,032 over 7y, 97% of budgetAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR YEMENI STUDIES: $1,357,165 over 7y, 72% of budgetAMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER IN EGYPT INC: $1,347,263 over 5y, 15% of budgetAMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PAKISTAN STUDIES: $1,219,106 over 7y, 30% of budgetMEXICO-NORTH RESEARCH NETWORK INC: $1,052,500 over 7y, 67% of budgetTHE AMERICAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH INST IN IRAQ (D/B/A TARII): $1,028,802 over 7y, 86% of budgetTHE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AFGHANISTAN STUDIES: $1,003,200 over 7y, 88% of budgetTHE WILLIAM FOXWELL ALBRIGHT INSTIT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN JERUS: $974,690 over 7y, 19% of budgetPALESTINIAN AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER: $937,000 over 7y, 38% of budgetAMERICAN INSTITUTE OF SRI LANKAN STUDIES INC: $878,500 over 7y, 68% of budgetThe Amer Research Inst of the South Cauc: $837,323 over 7y, 82% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR KHMER STUDIES INC: $781,270 over 7y, 23% of budgetCYPRUS AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $755,964 over 7y, 57% of budgetAmerican Center for Mongolian Studies: $686,270 over 7y, 53% of budgetAMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR INDONESIAN STUDIES: $672,000 over 6y, 70% of budgetAMERICAN INSTITUTE BANGLADESH STU: $640,950 over 6y, 97% of budgetINYA BURMA INSTITUTE INC: $305,747 over 5y, 52% of budgetTANGIER AMERICAN LEGATION INSTITUTE FOR MOROCCAN STUDIES (TALIM): $178,375 over 2y, 26% of budget
    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.

    • Who funds WEST AFRICAN RESEARCH ASSOCIATION ↗
    • Who funds AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR MAGHRIB STUDIES ↗
    • Who funds THE AMERICAN CENTER OF RESEARCH INCORPORATED ↗
    • Who funds AMERICAN RESEARCH INSTITUTE IN TURKEY ↗
    • Who funds AMERICAN INST OF INDIAN STUDIES ↗
    • Who funds AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF IRANIAN STUDIES ↗
    • Who funds AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR YEMENI STUDIES ↗
    • Who funds AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER IN EGYPT INC ↗
    • Who funds AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PAKISTAN STUDIES ↗
    • Who funds MEXICO-NORTH RESEARCH NETWORK INC ↗
    • Who funds THE AMERICAN ACADEMIC RESEARCH INST IN IRAQ (D/B/A TARII) ↗
    • Who funds THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF AFGHANISTAN STUDIES ↗
    • Who funds THE WILLIAM FOXWELL ALBRIGHT INSTIT OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN JERUS ↗
    • Who funds PALESTINIAN AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER ↗
    • Who funds AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF SRI LANKAN STUDIES INC ↗
    • Who funds The Amer Research Inst of the South Cauc ↗
    • Who funds THE CENTER FOR KHMER STUDIES INC ↗
    • Who funds CYPRUS AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE ↗
    • Who funds American Center for Mongolian Studies ↗
    • Who funds AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR INDONESIAN STUDIES ↗
    • Who funds AMERICAN INSTITUTE BANGLADESH STU ↗
    • Who funds INYA BURMA INSTITUTE INC ↗
    • Who funds TANGIER AMERICAN LEGATION INSTITUTE FOR MOROCCAN STUDIES (TALIM) ↗

    Co-funders

    Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.

    Amazonsmile Foundation
    Amazonsmile FoundationWA1.3× affinity8 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

    Open a dossier: Amazonsmile Foundation

    How this is measured
    Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

    How much its grantees rely on government

    Each dot is one organization Council of American Overseas Research Centers funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Council of American Overseas Research Centers. Bigger dots raise more.

    2024
    ’20’21’22’23’24’25
    no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 13%
    • West African Research Association: 13% of income from government
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    1get no government money at all
    8report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 25 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Council of American Overseas Research Centers’ filings →

    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
    grants reported with no recipient in the public record
    The regranting layer
    51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
    The DAF merry-go-round
    $9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home