Ohio · Nonprofit
CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC
CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC (Ohio) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $186 to it, the largest being AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION ($186). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $76k
- Funders on record
- 1
- Grants received
- $186
- Net assets
- $392k
What Circus Historical Society Inc does
Mission
To form a consolidated group of students and individuals who have an interest in the history of the circus and allied arts, and to expand and perpetuate the knowledge thereof. To enhance public awareness of circus history as a unique part of the worlds cultural and artistic heritage, and to publihs journals, publications and other materials to further these purposes.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
Bandwagon journal - the bandwagon, the journal of the circus historical society is a scholarly publication containing educational articles about circus history written by circus historians and academics. It is mailed to about 700 members and libraries quarterly.
$51,833 spent75% of program spendingAnnual convention - the 2025 annual convention of the circus historical society was held in henderson, nv. The program consisted of three days of scholarly circus history presentations by twenty-five speakers. It was attended by about 100 members and guests.
$16,825 spent24% of program spendingCircus history live (online program) - circus history live! Is a online circus history program that features live interviews of circus professionals, and historians discussing circus history topics. The program is conducted on zoom and recordings for each session are preserved on youtube. Over 550 members attennded these sessions.
$365 spent1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $69,023.
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 2023 to 2024, from $301k to $356k (+18%).
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.
36% of CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (78% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $70 → $55.
1 of 1 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY 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.
Where its funders are
100% of CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC'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. Too little is directly attributable to place on a map.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $186 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 10,242 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 10,242 arts & culture nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Organizations like CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY 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 Ohio
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
89%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY 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.
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 CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC?
- CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC (Ohio) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $186 to it, the largest being AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION ($186). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC have?
- IRS filings report 1 organization giving $186 in grants to CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC?
- AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $186 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CIRCUS HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 Circus Historical Society →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 1 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