New York · Nonprofit
MONTAUK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
MONTAUK HISTORICAL SOCIETY (New York) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,017,985 to it, the largest being ROBERT DAVID LION GARDINER FOUNDATION INC ($623,067). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.7M
- Funders on record
- 19
- Grants received
- $1.0M
- Net assets
- $4.8M
What Montauk Historical Society does
Mission
The purpose of the Montauk Historical Society is to collect, restore, preserve and display historically significant buildings, objects and writings and to preserve and share the history and cultures of montauk and the east end for this and future generations.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
The lighthouse museum: the Montauk Historical Society owns and maintains the montauk point lighthouse museum. The montauk point lighthouse has long been famed as the symbol of long island and one of america's oldest lighthouses. Authorized in 1792 by the second congress under president george washington, it was built by new york architect, john mccomb, in 1796. On march 5, 2012, the montauk point lighthouse was designated a national historic landmark, joining the ranks of only 11 other lighthouses in the country that have been so honored by the secretary of the interior because of their exceptional value in illustrating and interpreting the heritage of our nation. The lighthouse tower and museum are open to the general public and tours are available for schools and other groups. Events and exhibitions are held throughout the year on the lighthouse grounds. The lighthouse museum, which is located in the 1860 keepers' house, displays an assortment of historical documents and photographs and is home to several unique collections. In addition to the historic buildings and dwellings, the collection includes nautical instruments, ship models, furniture, and whaling industry artifacts.…
$1,914,331 spent$1,246,835 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2023 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,914,331.
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 $3.5M to $4.8M (+39%).
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 2% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 11% · 2021 13% · 2022 3% · 2023 1% · 2024 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
21% of MONTAUK HISTORICAL SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (63% 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 6 funders, grant income rose $20k → $94k.
5 of 19 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 19% 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 MONTAUK 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
MONTAUK HISTORICAL SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 61% of grant income and the top three 87%; 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% · 2020 57% · 2021 64% · 2022 82% · 2023 80% — 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
40% of MONTAUK HISTORICAL SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 32% 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
95% of MONTAUK HISTORICAL SOCIETY's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $191k 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
MONTAUK HISTORICAL SOCIETY runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 5,136 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,136 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like MONTAUK 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 New York
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
100%
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 MONTAUK 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 MONTAUK HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- MONTAUK HISTORICAL SOCIETY (New York) receives grants from 19 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,017,985 to it, the largest being ROBERT DAVID LION GARDINER FOUNDATION INC ($623,067). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MONTAUK HISTORICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 19 organizations giving $1,017,985 in grants to MONTAUK HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MONTAUK HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- ROBERT DAVID LION GARDINER FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $623,067 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MONTAUK HISTORICAL SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 Montauk Historical Society →
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 19 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