Maryland · Nonprofit
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES (Maryland) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $471,434 to it, the largest being Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation ($133,625). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.7M
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $471k
- Net assets
- $765k
What National Council for the Social Studies does
Mission
Founded in 1921, ncss advocates and builds capacity for high-quality social studies by providing leadership, programs, and resources for educators across the country to ensure students are educated and inspired for lifelong inquiry and informed civic action.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Publications and mailing -ncss publishes four peer reviewed journalssocial education, social studies and the young learner, middle level learning, and theory and research in social educationproviding instructional strategies, curriculum resources, and research for educators from elementary through higher education. Ncss also partners with the children's book council to produce the annual notable trade books for young people list. Publications are available in print and digital formats and are widely used by teachers, libraries, and universities. In addition to journals, ncss publishes newsletters and professional books to support educator development, adding five new titles this year on topics including data literacy and artificial intelligence.
$1,112,513 spentof which $19,000 as grants$150,085 earned by the program38% of program spendingMembership and services -ncss, founded in 1921, is the nation's largest professional organization dedicated to social studies education, serving k12 teachers, curriculum specialists, higher education faculty, and education leaders nationwide. Members receive peer reviewed journals, a digital resource library, professional learning opportunities, and access to ncss commons, the online member community. Ncss also recognizes excellence through its annual awards and supports high school students and educators through rho kappa, the national social studies honor society promoting academic achievement, civic engagement, and leadership.
$534,601 spentof which $38,190 as grants$778,890 earned by the program18% of program spendingConference - the ncss annual conference is the nation's largest gathering of social studies educators, drawing about 3,500 participants each year. The event features more than 500 workshops, clinics, and sessions led by educators, researchers, and civic leaders, along with 150+ exhibits. Programs address instructional practice across all social studies disciplines and include nationally recognized keynote speakers. Pre conference clinics offer extended professional development for deeper engagement with key topics.
$1,245,801 spentof which $6,000 as grants$2,376,366 earned by the program43% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,892,915.
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 2019 to 2020, from $1.1M to $1.7M (+55%).
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 14% · 2022 18% · 2023 6% · 2024 8% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
3% of NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (81% 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income rose $5k → $136k.
2 of 10 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.
From the IRS filings of NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES’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
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES leans on a few funders — its largest provides 28% of grant income and the top three 74%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
37% 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 NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 69% · 2021 51% · 2022 100% · 2023 55% — 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
25% of NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 20% 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
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 8 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $81k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES's funding base is broadening — from 1 funders to 4 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 84 social science nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $8k on record.
- DE$8k
- OK$525
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 NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES
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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
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 NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES: 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 NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES?
- NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES (Maryland) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $471,434 to it, the largest being Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation ($133,625). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $471,434 in grants to NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES?
- Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $133,625 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR THE SOCIAL STUDIES find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 10 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