Rhode Island · Nonprofit
BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY
BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Rhode Island) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $261,899 to it, the largest being THE ANNENBERG FOUNDATION ($70,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $217k
- Funders on record
- 17
- Grants received
- $262k
- Net assets
- $1.6M
What Block Island Historical Society does
Mission
To procure and preserve objects an records pertaining to the history of block island, ri and to encourage and promote study of the history of block island, and to preserve the historic woonsocket house
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Preservation and maintenance of historic woonsocket house; architectural and design work as well as site work
$68,001 spent38% of program spendingOperate museum and gallery, exhibiting artifacts of block island history, run a museum shop that encourages the education of the history of block island
$108,978 spent$87,447 earned by the program62% of program spendingProvide tours of historic sites on block island
$0 spent$2,511 earned by the program0% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $176,979.
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 2020 to 2021, from $1.5M to $1.7M (+9%).
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 25% · 2022 0% · 2023 2% · 2024 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
45% of BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 5 funders, grant income fell $12k → $9k.
2 of 17 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 20% 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 BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL 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
BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 63% · 2018 47% · 2019 74% · 2020 34% · 2021 81% · 2022 87% · 2023 58% — 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
55% of BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY draws 71% of its grant income from funders outside Rhode Island, across 9 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $52k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY holds deeper cash reserves 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 BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL 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 Rhode Island
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
92% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
72%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Southeast Lighthouse Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL 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 BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Rhode Island) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $261,899 to it, the largest being THE ANNENBERG FOUNDATION ($70,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 17 organizations giving $261,899 in grants to BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- THE ANNENBERG FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $70,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BLOCK ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Rhode Island. 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 Block Island Historical Society →
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 17 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