Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,500,789 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($2,480,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.8M
- Funders on record
- 16
- Grants received
- $4.5M
- Net assets
- $9.4M
What American Historical Association does
Mission
The American Historical Association provides leadership for the discipline and promotes the critical role of historical thinking in public life. The association defends academic freedom, develops professional standards, supports innovative scholarship and teaching, facilitates international collaboration, and helps to sustain and enhance the work of historians.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Membership services: the association provides advocacy and support for historians in all fields and professions by promoting history education, the professional work of historians, and the critical role of historical thinking in public life. Members benefit from the aha's leadership on issues such as academic freedom, access to archives, the centrality of history to public culture, improvements in curricula, and other vital issues. The association's programs and initiatives, including regional conferences, teacher institutes, and regular online events, advance teaching and learning of history, enhance the career development of historians, and encourage scholarly discussion.
$976,567 spent$1,258,082 earned by the program31% of program spendingAnnual meeting: the association's annual meeting provides a unique forum for members and the general public to exchange information, research, and ideas. Attendees of the annual meeting have the opportunity to explore historical connections with scholars outside their fields, identify new research and scholarships, meet with editors, discover resources for teaching and learning, join critical discussion with other historians, and gain new skills for research, teaching, and public engagement.
$898,030 spentof which $2,750 as grants$813,667 earned by the program29% of program spendingGrants and funding programs: each year, the association provides numerous research grants, fellowships, and other funding programs to support the study and exploration of history. Research grants and fellowships in a diverse number of subject areas are awarded annually to cover expenses related to furthering historical research in progress. The aha also provides grants to institutional organizations as part of the teaching with primary sources partnership with the library of congress.
$817,881 spentof which $88,309 as grants26% of program spendingPublications: the association's diverse publishing program serves the following efforts in the advancement of history; to strengthen the study and teaching of history; to address the common concerns of the historical community; to represent the discipline in policy matters; to provide timely and systematic coverage of research developments; and to disseminate new scholarship and information for its application in a variety of ways.
$316,762 spent$206,847 earned by the program10% of program spendingAwards and prizes: the association recognizes a wide variety of distinguished historical work, which can take the form of an exceptional book in the field, distinguished teaching and mentoring in the classroom, film, or digital projects and resources. Since 1896 the association has conferred over a thousand awards. The names, publications, and projects of those who received these awards are a catalogue of the best work produced by members of the historical discipline.
$129,927 spentof which $85,830 as grants4% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,139,167.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2018 to 2019, from $9.6M to $11M (+14%).
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 0% · 2018 1% · 2019 0% · 2020 4% · 2021 22% · 2022 9% · 2023 38% · 2024 17% · 2025 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 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
James Grossman
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 7 funders, grant income fell $830k → $53k.
6 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 33% 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 HISTORICAL 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 HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 55% of grant income and the top three 87%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
33% 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 HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 77% · 2021 44% · 2022 93% · 2023 47% — 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 HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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 HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 7 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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.
Government funding AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $4.3M on record — $4.3M federal, $2k state.
- National Endowment for the Humanities$4.0M
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$365k
- NJ$1k
- OK$1k
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 HISTORICAL 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
69% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
84%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 4 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- National History Center Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN HISTORICAL 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 HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION?
- AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,500,789 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($2,480,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION have?
- IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $4,500,789 in grants to AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,480,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN HISTORICAL 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 16 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