Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
Erie County Historical Society
Erie County Historical Society (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,228,247 to it, the largest being ERIE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($2,012,822). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 52% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.2M
- Funders on record
- 16
- Grants received
- $4.2M
- Net assets
- $21M
What Erie County Historical Society does
Mission
The Erie County Historical Society inspires and engages through dynamic educational programs, community outreach, and with relevant exhibits and publications. We preserve our collections and archives to serve as a comprehensive, accessible resource for all.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The Hagen History Center preserves more than 200 years of Erie County history and shares it with the public. The History Centers physical plant includes five historic properties as well as a modern exhibit building and an archives building, encompassing over 132 acres of property. The historic properties are representative of Victorian architecture and represent a period spanning from 1853-1891 including the flagship 15,000 square-foot Watson Curtze Mansion. Collections include more than 50 permanent and temporary exhibits, two antique cars, and multiple historic 2-D and 3-D items from a variety of sources, both regional and national, that have been donated or purchased since the History Centers inception in 1898. The 10,000 square-foot archives building includes 800 separate collections with more than 8,200 linear feet of material including 5,800 books, diaries, letters, correspondence, typescripts, reports, photographs, maps, paintings, pottery, household items, furniture and other historical resources related to Erie County along with the history of people, places, things, events and activities. The History Centers signature exhibit is Frank Lloyd Wrights field office from San…
$1,449,690 spent$534,484 earned by the program99% of program spendingEducation and Outreach: During the 2021-2022 fiscal year, visitation at the Hagen History Center reached nearly 8,000 people with 748 students visiting as part of field trips from 16 different schools, both public and private. An increase of over 100 from the previous fiscal year. Visits from two different universities have also taken place. During the summer, the Hagen History Center also held a History Detectives Camp for middle school students and nearly 75 took part in the weeklong camps. During the same time period, the Museum Educator gave off-site presentations to various social groups numbering as many as 250 people. A volunteer docent program has seen over 35 adults trained as qualified docents here on our campus to greet visitors, answer questions and lead guided tours. Partnerships with different schools and recruitment of more school groups to visit our campus is on going. In addition to school field trips to our campus, the Museum Educator visited several schools and presented programs on various topics to students. The History Center offers tours and thematic programing, such as our World War II immersive experience. The History Center also provides Traveling Trunks…
$10,715 spent1% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,460,405.
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 2024 to 2025, from $19M to $21M (+16%).
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 1% · 2021 3% · 2022 14% · 2023 3% · 2024 4% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
88% of Erie County Historical Society’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 6 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
Cal Pifer
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $384k → $588k.
5 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 52% 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 Erie County 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
Erie County Historical Society leans on a few funders — its largest provides 48% of grant income and the top three 91%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
96% 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 Erie County Historical Society.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 71% · 2018 90% · 2019 46% · 2020 53% · 2021 52% · 2022 48% · 2023 54% — 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
71% of Erie County Historical Society's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
52% of Erie County Historical 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 $2.0M that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.2M 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
Erie County Historical Society runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding Erie County Historical Society receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $102k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$102k
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 Erie County 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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
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
- Historic Erie Rentals LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Erie County 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 Erie County Historical Society?
- Erie County Historical Society (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,228,247 to it, the largest being ERIE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($2,012,822). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 52% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Erie County Historical Society have?
- IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $4,228,247 in grants to Erie County Historical Society, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Erie County Historical Society?
- ERIE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,012,822 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Erie County Historical 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 Erie County 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 2020–2025), and the filings of 16 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