Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
AMERICAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY
AMERICAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $130,787 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($68,335). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 67% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $5.9M
- Funders on record
- 25
- Grants received
- $131k
- Net assets
- $4.7M
What American Philatelic Society does
Mission
- to promote stamp collecting for people of all ages- to offer services to its membership and to philately in general, including knowledge and education, which enhance the pleasure and friendliness of stamp collecting- to initiate and coordinate new programs for the benefit of stamp collecting and of all collectors- to represent the united states of america in the world body of philately- to assist its members in acquiring and disposing of philatelic materials
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Sales - circuits and internet sales provide opportunities for members to acquire and dispense of philatelic material among each other with protections against fraud and the misrepresentation of material
$930,364 spent$702,882 earned by the program30% of program spendingAmerican philatelist magazine - provides articles and resources to imform and educate members about postage stamps, covers, and other philatelic material. It also provides a venue for the publishing of the latest philatelic research
$741,466 spent$439,068 earned by the program24% of program spendingStamp shows - aps shows provide a venue for collectors and stamp collecting groups to get together, to share knowledge through exhibits, educational meetings and seminars, and to buy and sell stamps.
$406,805 spent$303,086 earned by the program13% of program spendingEducation - the organization provides educational services to help individuals of all ages who are interested in collecting stamps, including: collecting and safe storage techniques; identifying the many varieties of stamps and related postal material; distinguishing the differences between similar looking stamps (including fakes); and understanding postal history.
$147,914 spent$40,868 earned by the program5% of program spendingExpertizing - the aps expertizing service is available to any interested party to identify and authenticate philatelic material. This service benefits both society members and the broader philatelic community by providing protection against misrepresentation of materials.
$211,537 spent$149,551 earned by the program7% of program spendingLibrary services - serves the public through the lending and preservation of philatelic literature; creation and maintenance of indices; maintenance of archives and philatelic memorabilia; and the creation of exhibits.
$238,096 spent8% of program spendingOther miscellaneous programs
$469,527 spent$307,748 earned by the program15% of program spending
The 7 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,145,709.
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 2019 to 2020, from $9.1M to $5.0M (−45%).
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: 2021 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
63% of AMERICAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (13% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Scott D English
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 6 funders, grant income fell $16k → $3k.
5 of 25 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 67% 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 PHILATELIC 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 PHILATELIC SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 52% of grant income and the top three 69%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
76% 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 PHILATELIC SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 51% · 2018 59% · 2019 98% · 2020 45% · 2021 70% · 2022 70% · 2023 32% — 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
35% of AMERICAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY'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
67% of AMERICAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $43k that is directly attributable, 92% of it comes from funders outside Pennsylvania, across 12 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $88k 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.
Against its field
AMERICAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,728 recreation & sports nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,728 recreation & sports nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like AMERICAN PHILATELIC 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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
90%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- American Philatelic Research Library · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN PHILATELIC 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.
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 PHILATELIC SOCIETY?
- AMERICAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $130,787 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($68,335). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 67% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does AMERICAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 25 organizations giving $130,787 in grants to AMERICAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $68,335 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN PHILATELIC SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds American Philatelic Society →
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 25 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