Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 89 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,582,819 to it, the largest being RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION ($3,010,000). 54 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $22M
- Funders on record
- 89
- Grants received
- $14M
- Net assets
- $82M
What Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania does
Mission
The Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania is an educational institution that engages and inspires a large and inclusive audience with links to the past, understanding in the present, and guidance for the future by preserving regional (see continuation on schedule o) history and presenting the american experience with a western pennsylvania connection. This work is accomplished in partnership with others through archaeology, archives, artifact collections, conservation, educational programs, exhibitions, library, museums, performance, publication, research, technical assistance, and increasingly, through broadcast media and the internet.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Exhibition admissions:the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania is the oldest cultural institution in pittsburgh (founded in 1879) and the largest history museum in pennsylvania. The historical society operates and does business as the senator john heinz history center with a family of museums that also includes the western pennsylvania sports museum, the detre library & archives, the museum conservation center, fort pitt museum, and meadowcroft rockshelter & historic village.see continuation on schedule o.with many local, state, and national partnerships, we have a broad reach and are nationally known for our commitment to history and civics education.in 2025 we were voted the #1 history museum in america in the usa today readers' choice awards. In fy 2025 we welcomed 351,265 visitors across the history center, fort pitt museum, and meadowcroft rockshelter, the highest visitation in our long history. We offered several temporary exhibitions including louise silk: a patchwork life. The exhibit follows the timeline of silk's quilting experiences through her connections to community, art, feminism, and renewal. The story, while personal and specific, became the repository for…
$9,015,022 spent$2,061,871 earned by the program87% of program spendingPublic information programs:the history center offers a full schedule of exhibitions and programs in partnership with local, regional, and national organizations, meant to advance our mission and core initiatives such as america 101. With america 101 we encourage history and civic education and action, creating resources for younger generations and supporting them in finding ways to meaningfully participate in building a better future based on our past.
$852,916 spent$364,218 earned by the program8% of program spendingHistoric life event rentals and commissions:as pennsylvania's largest history museum and the region's oldest cultural institution, the history center is dedicated to preserving memories and commemorating and celebrating major events - not just the many ways pittsburgh has shaped the world, but business and personal histories as well. These events are all part of the fabric of what makes pittsburgh an extraordinary city and fosters an appreciation for history for western pennsylvanians and visitors to our region.
$477,968 spent$1,395,220 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $10,345,906.
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 $65M to $77M (+20%).
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 6% · 2018 7% · 2019 5% · 2020 8% · 2021 24% · 2022 10% · 2023 17% · 2024 7% · 2025 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
92% of HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Chief executive
Andrew E Masich
President & CEO
Board chair
Howard W Hanna Iii
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 17 funders to 40 funders, grant income rose $226k → $2.0M.
12 of 89 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 17% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $6.8M from 10 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Upmc Group). These are real filings, and they are not money HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA raised.
From the IRS filings of HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 89 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 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 28% · 2018 17% · 2019 52% · 2020 27% · 2021 31% · 2022 26% · 2023 25% — 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
45% of HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% 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
88% of HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA's grant income comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 570 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $346k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$184k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$163k
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 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
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
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
76%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- The Dietrich Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA: 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 WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA?
- HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 89 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,582,819 to it, the largest being RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION ($3,010,000). 54 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA have?
- IRS filings report 89 organizations giving $13,582,819 in grants to HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA, 54 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA?
- RICHARD KING MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,010,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA 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 Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania →
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 89 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing