Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS
ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,975,787 to it, the largest being THE HOWARD UNIVERSITY ($1,398,938). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.6M
- Funders on record
- 24
- Grants received
- $2.0M
- Net assets
- $750k
What Assoc for the Study of African American Life & His does
Mission
Asalh's mission is to promote, research, preserve, interpret and disseminate information about black life, history and culture to the global community.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
A national conference is held annually to bring together the asalh community and its supporters to participate in wide-ranging activities that support asalh's mission. Presenters include national leaders, scholars, professors, teachers, professionals, students, community groups and local leaders. Many participants present new research on african american history. A continuing focus is the connection between past and contemporary struggles. Special recognition awards are made each year.the theme for the 2024 conference was african americans and the arts.
$477,819 spent$550,321 earned by the program22% of program spendingAsalh is a national membership organization with forty-three (43) branches located in alabama, california, district of columbia, florida, georgia, illinois, indiana, kentucky, louisiana, maryland, massachusetts, michigan, missouri, new jersey, new york, north carolina, ohio, pennsylvania, south carolina, texas, tennessee, virginia, and west virginia.
$160,732 spent7% of program spendingEducation & enrichment
$1,376,465 spent63% of program spendingPublication
$166,804 spent$236,078 earned by the program8% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,181,820.
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 2019 to 2020, from $395k to $810k (+105%).
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 16% · 2018 15% · 2019 29% · 2020 17% · 2021 31% · 2022 26% · 2023 34% · 2024 47%. 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 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
Sylvia Y Cyrus
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $16k → $525k.
8 of 24 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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 ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS’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
ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS leans on a few funders — its largest provides 71% of grant income and the top three 83%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
94% 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 ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 65% · 2018 67% · 2019 50% · 2020 52% · 2021 35% · 2022 92% · 2023 78% — growing more concentrated.
“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
38% of ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 33% 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
91% of ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS's grant income comes from Washington, D.C. funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $105k arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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 ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $8.2M on record.
- Department of the Interior$8.2M
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 ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS
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
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS: 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 ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS?
- ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,975,787 to it, the largest being THE HOWARD UNIVERSITY ($1,398,938). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS have?
- IRS filings report 24 organizations giving $1,975,787 in grants to ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS?
- THE HOWARD UNIVERSITY is the largest funder on record, with $1,398,938 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ASSOC FOR THE STUDY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN LIFE & HIS 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.
Play a game about who funds Assoc for the Study of African American Life & His →
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 24 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