New Jersey · Nonprofit
NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC
NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC (New Jersey) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $970 to it, the largest being AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION ($870). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 90% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $456k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $970
- Net assets
- $3k
What National Railway Historical Society Inc does
Mission
The national railway historical society promotes railway heritage preservation and educates its members and the public about rail transportation, its history and impact, with a focus on north america.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Convention: a national convention is held annually at a location of rail history significance and attended by several hundred people. Convention activities include seminars, field trips to visit railroads, historical railroad sites, inspect rail facilities, observe operation of preserved railroad equipment and rail excursions, often on rail lines which rarely have passenger train service. The society's conventions are open to members of the general public interested in railway history. The 2024 convention was held in harrisburg, pennsylvania and was attended by 250 people.
$78,662 spent$109,307 earned by the program24% of program spendingRailcamp: the society operates two (2) one-week sessions of railcamp, a training program of seminars and field trips open to high school students from 9th to 12th grade, to provide a background in railroad history preservation, railroad history interpretation, which involves learning how to tell the story of railroad history to the general public, along with railroad operation and transportation career opportunities.
$46,261 spent$54,524 earned by the program14% of program spendingGrants: since 1994, the national railway historical society has awarded grants for projects that preserve, research, educate, or publish railway history. Example projects include railroad structure and equipment stabilization, mechanical repairs, preservation and restoration, book publication, cataloging of archival materials, and oral history productions. The program is open to nrhs chapters and other 501(c)(3) tax exempt organizations. The maximum award is $5,000 per year per project.
$135,750 spentof which $135,750 as grants41% of program spendingPublications: nrhs issues two (2) publications. Four printed issues of the "nrhs bulletin" were distributed to the members of the society. This publication provides historical data and information not likely to be covered in similar publications and provides a showcase for new writers in the field of railroad history. Six issues of "nrhs news" were distributed electronically to the members of the society and posted the society's web page. Three printed issues of this publication were also distributed. The purpose of this publication is to keep the members abreast of current events and activities taking place in the society and in the field of railroad history.
$72,440 spent22% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $333,113.
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.
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 $475k to $186k (−61%).
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.
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.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $251 → $184.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 90% 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: $210k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Nrhs Fund Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC raised.
From the IRS filings of NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 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
NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 90% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
90% 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 RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 80% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — growing more concentrated.
“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
90% of NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $100 that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside New Jersey, across 2 states.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $870 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.
Organizations like NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 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 New Jersey
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
62% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 Nrhs Fund Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY 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 NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC?
- NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC (New Jersey) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $970 to it, the largest being AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION ($870). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 90% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $970 in grants to NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC?
- AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $870 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NATIONAL RAILWAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New Jersey. 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 3 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