Skip to content
Ask
← FundingAlso makes grants — grantmaker profile →

Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit

AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $851,847 to it, the largest being AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC ($232,287). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$22M
Funders on record
13
Grants received
$852k
Net assets
$13M
6/13 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 1%
01What it does

What American Astronomical Society does

Mission

The American Astronomical Society (aas), established in 1899, is the major organization of professional astronomers in north america. The basic objective of the aas is to promote the advancement of astronomy and closely related branches of science the membership (approximately 7,000) also includes physicists, mathematicians, geologists, engineers and others whose research interests lie within the broad spectrum of subjects now comprising contemporary astronomy.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Journals - we publish the astrophysical journal which is the leading scientific journal in astronomy and astrophysics in the world. We also publish the astrophysical supplement, letters, the astronomical journal and the planetary science journal. Our journals are the leading source of scientific content in astronomy and related fields. In 2024, we published over 79,962 pages or 5,692 articles.

    $6,692,221 spent$11,870,691 earned by the program
    38% of program spending

  2. Meetings - the aas holds two meetings per year in addition to the annual meeting for the six divisions of the aas. The meetings serve as a venue in which the members can share scientific research with our community. In addition to formal presentations, we ensure that events are scheduled to facilitate the sharing of information and ideas. Over 2,770 registratnts atteded our winter meeting and over 740 attended our summer meeting.

    $2,953,347 spent$3,459,748 earned by the program
    17% of program spending

  3. Membership services - maintain membership database and the aas website, publish on-line newsletters, printed membership directories and an annual printed calendar.

    $1,468,202 spent
    8% of program spending

  4. Education and outreach: the society promotes broad interest in astronomy, which enhances science literacy and lead many to careers in science and engineering.

    $135,314 spent
    1% of program spending

  5. Public policy and lobbying: the society works with other scientific and educational societies to promote the advancement of society.

    $327,478 spent
    2% of program spending

  6. Strategic initiatives: society-wide projects that improve the operations of the society and projects that are central to the mission of the aas. The current projects include website improvements, astronomy ambassador program and the oral history project. These projects are funded by council-approved transfers from the journals program.

    $275,528 spent
    2% of program spending

  7. Sky and telescope: the sky and telescope line of business include sky and telescope magazine which is published monthly, an online store shopatsky.org and a tour business.

    $4,286,671 spent$2,882,441 earned by the program
    25% of program spending

  8. Grants and assistance. In 2024, the society administered the international travel grant and solar eclipse programs. The society also provides grants to other charitable organizations, students, early career members, prize winners and scientific editors.

    $941,589 spentof which $941,589 as grants
    5% of program spending

  9. Job register: the society publishes a job register that advertises jobs for individuals in astronomy and astrophysics. The jobs posting are posted by research, commercial , industry, government and public policy sector organizations. In 2024, we published 1,201 job advertisements.

    $321,984 spent
    2% of program spending

The 9 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $17,402,334.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($12M) Expenses 100 ($13M) Net assets 100 ($16M)2018 Revenue 130 ($16M) Expenses 105 ($14M) Net assets 84 ($13M)2019 Revenue 119 ($15M) Expenses 117 ($16M) Net assets 91 ($14M)2020 Revenue 139 ($17M) Expenses 130 ($17M) Net assets 94 ($15M)2021 Revenue 143 ($17M) Expenses 125 ($17M) Net assets 105 ($16M)2022 Revenue 159 ($20M) Expenses 147 ($20M) Net assets 85 ($13M)2023 Revenue 157 ($19M) Expenses 163 ($22M) Net assets 77 ($12M)2024 Revenue 178 ($22M) Expenses 161 ($22M) Net assets 85 ($13M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (178)Expenses (161)Net assets (85)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $22M to $26M (+20%).

$21M
$18M
$22M
$21M
$22M
$26M
$25M
$26M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 2% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 0% · 2021 2% · 2022 3% · 2023 3% · 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

10% of AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (52% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 155 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

−$1.2M
’17
$1.8M
’18
−$1.2M
’19
−$396k
’20
$676k
’21
−$245k
’22
−$2.7M
’23
$179k
’24
0.9
months of
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.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed2926242322211919
Joined·+8+8+7+6+7+6+7
No longer listed·111087887
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $33k → $105k.

Funder
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24*
'25*
total
American Physical Societyunclassified
$124k
The Planetary Societyunclassified
$5k
funders
3
2
3
4
2
4
6
6
2

5 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% 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 AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY’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

AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 27% of grant income and the top three 70%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

54% 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 AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY.

27%
largest funder
70%
top three
~5
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 84% · 2019 68% · 2020 89% · 2021 94% · 2022 50% · 2023 43% — 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 AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y

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

AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 4 states in all.

IL
CA
MD
GA

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Washington, D.C. out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $100k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY has grown faster than half of the 149 science & tech nonprofits its size.

Operating margin1% · below the median
Months of reserve0.9mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)9% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 149 science & tech nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024

Government funding AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.2M on record.

Federal$3.2M
grants $2.4Mcontracts $744k
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Top agencies
  • National Science Foundation$2.8M
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration$312k
  • Smithsonian Institution$31k

Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.

Organizations like AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY

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 Washington, D.C.

American Association for the Advancement of Science89%Association of Science-Technology Centers Inc87%Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc86%American Geophysical Union86%American Sociological Association84%American Society for Microbiology84%American Society for Engineering Education84%American Political Science Association84%

Nationally

American Association for the Advancement of Science89%Acoustical Society of America88%Association of Science-Technology Centers Inc87%American Academy of Arts & Sciences87%Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc86%American Astronautical Society Inc86%American Society of Anesthesiologists86%American Geophysical Union86%
05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

80% of spending goes to programs.

Program 80%Management 20%Fundraising 0%

Governance

11
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

68%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Part of a family of 2 related entities

  • Aas Sky Publishing LLC · disregarded
  • Astronomycom Inc · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY?
AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $851,847 to it, the largest being AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC ($232,287). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY have?
IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $851,847 in grants to AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY?
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC is the largest funder on record, with $232,287 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

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 13 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