Indiana · Nonprofit
INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Indiana) receives grants from 73 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,077,448 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($18,298,255). 47 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $17M
- Funders on record
- 73
- Grants received
- $23M
- Net assets
- $134M
What Indiana Historical Society does
Mission
Since 1831, the Indiana Historical Society has been indiana's storyteller, connecting people to the past by collecting, preserving, interpreting, and disseminating the state's history. A nonprofit membership organization, the ihs also publishes books and periodicals; sponsors teacher workshops; provides youth, adult, and family programming; provides support and assistance to local museums and historical groups; and maintains the nation's premier research library and archives on the history of indiana and the old northwest.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Indiana experience: the indiana experience is a number of guest experiences and programs at the eugene and marilyn glick indiana history center. In addition to the you are there experience spaces, there are other programmatic offerings including festival of trees and circus day. All indiana experience spaces and offerings were developed by pan-institutional teams. 33,745 people visited the history center, including 3,855 school children.
$1,661,866 spent$294,098 earned by the program24% of program spendingLibraryat the heart of the Indiana Historical Society is its archives and library collections, which feeds all the other activity areas of ihs. Without our substantial collection of photographs, documents, personal papers and other records from the past, we would not be able to tell the stories of our rich hoosier heritage. Often, that storytelling becomes very personal as our staff assists both novice family history seekers and more scholarly researchers in their quest for knowledge. The library assisted 2,483 visitors and answered 3,195 remote requests for information. The most popular subjects included families, communities, african-american history, notable hoosiers, architecture, and businesses. 1,093 images were added to the images in ihs's digital online collection, bringing the number of images available to more than 91,479. 23,655 collections/items were cataloged, processed, and made accessible to the public. 153 new manuscript, visual and printed items were added to the collection. Conservation lab conservators and volunteers treated 392 collection items. The historic document preservation program provided consultations to 24 small museums and non-for-profit…
$1,474,397 spent$17,517 earned by the program21% of program spendingPublic programslocal history services: at the heart of ihs's emphasis to impact all regions of the state is the work of local history services (lhs). Ensuring the success of our partners in local communities, lhs staff work with each of the state's 86 county historians and provide consultations and training to county and local historical organizations across in. In 2023, lhs made 4,464 contacts traveling 11,634 miles.104,753 guests visited traveling exhibitions throughout the state.education: the education department provides audiences of all ages with opportunities for engaging and life-long learning. The education staff works closely with educators and students throughout in. 4,590 students participated in the national history day in indiana program, with 50 state winners advancing to the national competition and 4 projects receiving an award.projects and grants: ihs awarded 36 heritage support grants totaling $624,389.
$2,163,438 spentof which $624,389 as grants31% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$1,734,463 spent$389,091 earned by the program25% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,034,164.
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 2021 to 2022, from $153M to $131M (−14%).
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 14% · 2021 9% · 2023 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
52% of INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 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
Jody Blankenship
President & CEO
Board chair
Patricia D Curran
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 18 funders to 27 funders, grant income fell $5.0M → $1.1M.
13 of 73 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 7% 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 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 73 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
INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 79% of grant income and the top three 85%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 89% · 2018 82% · 2019 89% · 2020 46% · 2021 15% · 2022 27% · 2023 70% — 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
53% of INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
98% of INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY's grant income comes from Indiana funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 772 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $255k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$225k
- Department of Defense$30k
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 INDIANA 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 Indiana
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
35%
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 INDIANA 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 INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Indiana) receives grants from 73 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,077,448 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($18,298,255). 47 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 73 organizations giving $23,077,448 in grants to INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 47 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- LILLY ENDOWMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $18,298,255 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like INDIANA HISTORICAL SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Indiana. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 73 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