Delaware · Nonprofit
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE (Delaware) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,155,725 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($1,123,140). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.9M
- Funders on record
- 33
- Grants received
- $3.2M
- Net assets
- $28M
What Historical Society of Delaware does
Mission
Preservation of delaware history. The society's primary goal is the preservation of history, particularly that relating to the state of delaware. The society maintains two museums, a library, and several other historic buildings providing cultural and educational services to the community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Research library-houses the historical society's paper-based collection which is available to persons researching delaware history.
$492,767 spent$4,325 earned by the program25% of program spendingDelaware history museum-the museum presents the history of delaware through permanent and rotating exhibitions. Classrooms, exhibition galleries and other spaces enable historical society educational staff to present educational programs, lectures and guided tours focused on delaware history. The museum includes the mitchell center for african american heritage, the only center for african american history in delaware, as a permanent exhibition and program center.
$591,639 spent$27,071 earned by the program29% of program spendingRead house & gardens- a national landmark property serves as an early federal-era museum presenting social and cultural history through guided tours and public programs.
$366,335 spent18% of program spendingOther program services offered by the society consist of the following: - old town hall museum 21,046 - advancement and outreach programs 287,362 - delaware history publication 18,256 - other miscellaneous programs 34,351 - total other program services 361,015
$555,058 spent28% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,005,799.
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 2020 to 2021, from $25M to $28M (+12%).
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 5% · 2018 8% · 2019 10% · 2020 10% · 2021 28% · 2022 35% · 2023 36% · 2024 24% · 2025 16%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
52% of HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 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
Stephen Kingsberry
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $140k → $265k.
6 of 33 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 33 funders by total. 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
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 36% of grant income and the top three 68%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
35% 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 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 60% · 2019 40% · 2020 32% · 2021 30% · 2022 40% · 2023 28% — 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
54% of HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE draws 76% of its grant income from funders outside Delaware, across 8 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $783k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE 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 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $738k on record.
- National Archives and Records Administration$395k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$225k
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$119k
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 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE
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 Delaware
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
64%
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 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE: 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 HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE?
- HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE (Delaware) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,155,725 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($1,123,140). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE have?
- IRS filings report 33 organizations giving $3,155,725 in grants to HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE?
- LILLY ENDOWMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,123,140 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF DELAWARE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Delaware. 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 Historical Society of Delaware →
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 33 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