New Jersey · Nonprofit
BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION
BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION (New Jersey) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $140,605 to it, the largest being The Edward E & Marie L Matthews Foundation ($74,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $195k
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $141k
- Net assets
- $1.5M
What Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation does
Mission
To preserve the memory and alliance of the men and women of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany, who conducted the greatest humanitarian operation in aviation history known as the Great Berlin Airlift of 1948 and 1949.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The organization continues to have one Program Service. As stated in the organization's Articles of Incorporation, the organization is dedicated to preserving the memory and alliance of the men and women of the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany who conducted the greatest humanitarian operation in aviation history, and thereby, sustained the besieged city of Berlin from June 1948 to May 1949. The organization continues to accomplish this Program Service by displaying a Douglas C-54 transport aircraft named the "Spirit of Freedom as a museum/exhibit for the purpose of history, education, and remembrance about the great Berlin Airlift of 1948 and 1949. This reporting period was marred with maintenance issues with our Douglas C-54D transport. Due to propeller issues, nearly all of the flying activities were terminated until these issues were resolved. As a result, the income form Program Service and contributions was reduced. As for our very rare Boeing C-97G transport, we made good progress in locating the parts needed to begin the process to get the C-97 airworthy once again.
$95,963 spent$28,087 earned by the program100% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $95,963.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 $1.3M to $1.4M (+6%).
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: 2020 2% · 2021 0% · 2022 4% · 2023 13% · 2024 17%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
84% of BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 5 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.
Board chair
Timothy A Chopp
Board Chairman and President
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 $5k → $7k.
6 of 12 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 BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION’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
BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 53% of grant income and the top three 70%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
37% 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 BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 57% · 2019 98% · 2020 50% · 2021 74% · 2022 98% · 2023 90% — 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
22% of BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION'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
BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION draws 96% of its grant income from funders outside New Jersey, across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $46k 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
BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 17,936 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION
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 New Jersey
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
86%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION: 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 BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION?
- BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION (New Jersey) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $140,605 to it, the largest being The Edward E & Marie L Matthews Foundation ($74,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $140,605 in grants to BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION?
- The Edward E & Marie L Matthews Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $74,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BERLIN AIRLIFT HISTORICAL FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New Jersey. 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 Berlin Airlift Historical →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), 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