Arizona · Nonprofit
MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA INC
MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA INC (Arizona) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $391,650 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($312,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $916k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $392k
- Net assets
- $3.4M
What Middle East Studies Association of North America Inc does
Mission
The middle east studies association (mesa) is a non-profit association that fosters the study of the middle east, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and encourages public understanding of the region and its peoples through programs, publications and services that enhance education, further intellectual exchange, recognize professional distinction, and defend academic freedom in accordance with its status as a 501(c)(3) scientific, educational, literary, and charitable organization.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
From its inception in 1966 with 51 founding members, mesa has increased its membership into the thousands and now serves as an umbrella organization for dozens of institutional members and affiliated organizations. The association is a constituent society of the american council of learned societies, and a member of the national humanities alliance and the coalition for international education. As part of its goal to advance learning, facilitate communication and promote cooperation, mesa sponsors an annual meeting that is a leading international forum for scholarship, intellectual exchange and pedagogical innovation. The 58th annual meeting was held virtually in 2024. Mesa is also responsible for three publications: the international journal of middle east studies, which is the flagship journal of the field; the review of middle east studies; and a biannual newsletter, issues in middle east studies. Finally, mesa has an awards program recognizes scholarly achievement through a range of book and dissertation awards as well as service to the profession, exemplary undergraduate education, and graduate student mentoring.
$685,896 spentof which $147,177 as grants$452,234 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $685,896.
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 $2.7M to $3.2M (+17%).
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: 2021 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
49% of MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (76% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Jeffrey D Reger
Executive director & treasurer
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2022: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $30k → $500.
1 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 18% 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 MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA 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.
How concentrated its funding is
MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 80% of grant income and the top three 99%; 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 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% — broadly stable.
“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.
Where its funders are
MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA INC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Arizona, across 2 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $70k 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
MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 297 social science nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 297 social science nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA 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 Arizona
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
91%
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 MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA 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 MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA INC?
- MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA INC (Arizona) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $391,650 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($312,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA INC have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $391,650 in grants to MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA INC, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA INC?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $312,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MIDDLE EAST STUDIES ASSOCIATION OF NORTH AMERICA INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arizona. 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 5 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