Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION
AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,250,230 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION ($1,600,239). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $13M
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $2.3M
- Net assets
- $26M
What American Educational Research Association does
Mission
The American Educational Research Association (aera), a national research society, strives to advance knowledge about education, to encourage scholarly inquiry related to education, and to promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Meeting services: the organization has an annual meeting where scientists, scholars, researchers, and students present and discuss research. The meeting aims to advance knowledge about education, and provide opportunities for attendees to present and learn about the latest research.
$3,781,134 spent$4,507,946 earned by the program38% of program spendingGovernance and divisions: the organization's governance structure is comprised of the council, executive board, and committees. Ad hoc committees, task forces and working groups may also be established for specific purposes and for limited periods. There are also 12 divisions of aera which are organized to represent major scholarly or scientific areas within education research that add to the field. Each division is responsible for planning division-sponsored sessions for the annual meeting and facilitating ongoing communications among division members through listserv and other communications mechanisms throughout the year. Divisions also offer other programming.
$1,560,546 spentof which $40,413 as grants16% of program spendingProfessional development: the aera professional development program builds capacity and enhances research skills among graduate students, early career scholars, senior scholars, and others who produce and use education research. This program involves professional development courses, and training initiatives in research methods and conceptual and analytic issues related to research excellence in the field. Advances in research methods, statistical techniques, technology, and general modes and methods of research make professional development within aera a continuing and ongoing process.
$1,423,409 spentof which $858,175 as grants$72,060 earned by the program14% of program spendingMembership and special interest groups (sigs): aera is dedicated to advancing education research and its practical applications. Membership is open to individuals involved in and committed to education research, including researchers, faculty members, practitioners and policymakers dedicated to the sound use of research evidence, post doctoral scholars, and graduate students. Aera seeks to foster a diverse community that reflects the broad spectrum of education research fields and specialties. Aera offers five categories of membership: regular, early career, affiliate, graduate student, and retired. Aera's members benefit from a variety of resources and opportunities, including access to aera's publications; reduced registration fees for the annual aera conference; professional development and training opportunities; networking opportunities with scholars and practitioners in the field of education research; eligibility to serve on aera committees, boards, and leadership positions; and regular updates on education research, policy developments, and funding opportunities. Aera supports a robust network of special interest groups (sigs), which focus on specific areas of education…
$998,486 spentof which $1,064 as grants$3,982,234 earned by the program10% of program spendingSupporting programs: other support programs that align with aera's mission to promote education research include aera's efforts in communications and outreach, social justice, and government relations. Aera's communications and outreach efforts aim to disseminate research findings, promote education research, and engage stakeholders in meaningful dialogue about education research by producing reports, briefs, and press releases that summarize and spotlight key research findings, events, and aera initiatives. Through high-profile public events, such as the annual brown lecture in education research, aera strives to illuminate the important role of research in advancing understanding of education and learning across contexts and levels of education. Aera also utilizes social media platforms and the aera website to share information, highlight research projects, and engage with researchers, educational leaders, and the public. Aera promotes social justice in education research by advocating for and addressing issues relating to equity, diversity, and inclusion in research settings. Aera's government relations program aims to promote and support research in education through informed…
$933,815 spent$129,071 earned by the program9% of program spendingPublications: aera offers a comprehensive program of scholarly publications to advance education research, to disseminate knowledge, and to improve the capacity of the profession to serve the public good. The purposes of the aera publications program are to foster research and disseminate results to members, professionals in related disciplines, educators, and society. In addition to publishing seven journals, aera also serves as a publisher of books of excellence and importance to the education research community, and to practitioners and policy makers interested in education research.
$730,308 spent$1,422,752 earned by the program7% of program spendingEducation research and research advancement: aera pursues projects, initiatives, and activities to advance the field of education research, promote cutting-edge lines of study, and deepen knowledge about education research as a discipline, profession, and field. Key activities include aera's research conferences program, which awards grants for conferences intended to break new ground in substantive areas of inquiry, stimulate new lines of study on issues that have been largely unexplored, or develop innovative research methods or techniques that can contribute to education research, international activities, and aera's education research service projects program, which is designed to encourage education researchers to offer their pro bono expertise to educational organizations, institutions, or other community groups that have identified and expressed a need for such assistance.
$561,115 spentof which $150,000 as grants6% of program spending
The 7 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $9,988,813.
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 2021 to 2022, from $40M to $33M (−18%).
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: 2017 2% · 2018 2% · 2019 4% · 2020 8% · 2021 10% · 2022 8% · 2023 6% · 2024 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
8% of AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Felice J Levine
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $9k → $93k.
1 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% 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 EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION’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 EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 71% of grant income and the top three 89%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 99% · 2019 50% · 2020 85% · 2021 67% · 2022 66% · 2023 65% — 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
25% of AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 42% 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
AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 8 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $55k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION's funding base is broadening — from 1 funders to 3 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,064 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $6.7M on record.
- National Science Foundation$6.7M
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 EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION
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.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
76%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION: 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 AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION?
- AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,250,230 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION ($1,600,239). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $2,250,230 in grants to AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION?
- THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,600,239 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION 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 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