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Maryland · Nonprofit

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC

AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC (Maryland) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,689,600 to it, the largest being Avenir Foundation Inc ($5,250,000). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$92M
Funders on record
20
Grants received
$6.7M
Net assets
$262M
13/20 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 3%
01What it does

What American Institute of Physics Inc does

Mission

Aip advances the physical sciences as a federation and an institute. As a federation, aip works to advance the success of its member societies and affiliates so that they can leverage their diverse expertise and contributions in advancing the physical sciences in the research enterprise, in the economy, in education and in society. Through their shared goals and partnership with aip, member organizations broaden their impact and achieve results beyond their individual missions and mandates. Aip also acts as an independent institute that empowers physical scientists with journalism; social science, demographics and policy research; and history and student programs. Aip also advances the physical sciences through the missions and operations of aip publishing and of aip foundation. Aip recognizes and honors excellence in the physical sciences, raising public awareness of the contributions our community makes to society with several named awards.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Publishing Related - See Schedule O

    $54,085,668 spentof which $41,250 as grants$69,882,085 earned by the program
    75% of program spending
  2. Physical Science Programs and Resources - See Schedule O

    $18,278,099 spentof which $2,966,765 as grants$1,704,183 earned by the program
    25% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $72,363,767.

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 ($76M) Expenses 100 ($63M) Net assets 100 ($192M)2018 Revenue 100 ($76M) Expenses 103 ($66M) Net assets 93 ($179M)2019 Revenue 109 ($83M) Expenses 115 ($73M) Net assets 109 ($208M)2020 Revenue 105 ($80M) Expenses 120 ($76M) Net assets 118 ($226M)2021 Revenue 108 ($82M) Expenses 129 ($82M) Net assets 130 ($250M)2022 Revenue 107 ($81M) Expenses 137 ($87M) Net assets 111 ($214M)2023 Revenue 132 ($100M) Expenses 140 ($89M) Net assets 130 ($249M)2024 Revenue 122 ($92M) Expenses 146 ($93M) Net assets 136 ($262M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (122)Expenses (146)Net assets (136)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 $290M to $255M (−12%).

$231M
$218M
$252M
$265M
$290M
$255M
$288M
$301M
'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 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 0% · 2020 0% · 2021 0% · 2022 1% · 2023 0% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

3% of AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (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. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$12M
’17
$10M
’18
$10M
’19
$3.6M
’20
$350k
’21
−$5.5M
’22
$11M
’23
−$273k
’24
7.4
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.

Board chair

David Helfand

Chair

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed3131293133343235
Joined·+9+6+11+8+6+2+8
No longer listed·9896545
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 7 funders to 4 funders, grant income fell $137k → $42k.

4 of 20 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% 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 INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC’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 INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 78% 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

78%
largest funder
89%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 61% · 2018 94% · 2019 94% · 2020 79% · 2021 51% · 2022 77% · 2023 50% — 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

36% of AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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 INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 11 states in all.

IL
NY
PA
RI
CA
CO
VA
MD
DC
TX
FL

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

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Maryland out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $55k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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 INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 149 science & tech nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−0% · below the median
Months of reserve7.4mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)3% · below the median

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

Government funding AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.8M on record — $1.6M federal, $164k state.

Federal$1.6M
grants $1.1Mcontracts $513k
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
Top agencies
  • National Endowment for the Humanities$636k
  • Department of Defense$292k
  • Department of Energy$227k
  • Department of Commerce$209k
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration$145k
  • National Science Foundation$51k
State$164k
05
06
07
08
11
14
15
By state
  • OK$163k
  • NJ$2k

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 INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC

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 Maryland

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

78% of spending goes to programs.

Program 78%Management 19%Fundraising 2%

Governance

17
board members
94%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

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 2 states

NY
MD

Part of a family of 5 related entities

  • Aip Publishing LLC · disregarded
  • American Center for Physics · exempt
  • AIP Foundation · exempt
  • New Crystallography Journal · partnership
  • AIP Global Inc · corp_trust

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC: 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.

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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 INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC?
AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC (Maryland) receives grants from 20 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,689,600 to it, the largest being Avenir Foundation Inc ($5,250,000). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC have?
IRS filings report 20 organizations giving $6,689,600 in grants to AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC?
Avenir Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $5,250,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 20 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