Texas · Nonprofit
PANHANDLE-PLAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY
PANHANDLE-PLAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Texas) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,369,031 to it, the largest being CJ AND SYBLE FOWLSTON CHARITABLE TRUST ($385,000). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.7M
- Funders on record
- 18
- Grants received
- $1.4M
- Net assets
- $18M
What Panhandle-Plains Historical Society does
Mission
Mission panhandle plains historical society promotes the stories of this region in order to build community, enhance learning, and nurture creativity. Vision as a leading institution and a university museum, panhandle plains historical museum offers dynamic experiences that illuminate the power and relevance of the history of this region, state, and beyond. Pphm shares with a diverse public and wtamu its distinct collection from all periods and parts of the world, generating new ideas, while serving as an educational catalyst for the community.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
On its FY2024 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
In march 2025, panhandle plains historical museum (pphm)facility was closed to the public, due to fire safety concerns. Since the pphm facility served as the primary operating location for the society, it's primary operations were suspended as of the closure date. The closure had a significant impact on the day-to-day operations of the society, as well as have admissions and membership revenues to pphm have been reduced. However, the society's ability to fulfill its purpose of collecting and preserving historical materials has not been significantly impacted, as pphm is sufficiently funded through financial investments generating investment income as well as contributions still continue as a going concern for the foreseeable future. The board is considering multiple options for a new location along with other methods of displaying its collections, including actively assessing options for the future of the collection while working to find a permanent home. Currently, the board of trustees is looking for options for: storing the priceless artifacts and artwork in the collection. If needed, safe transport of artifacts until a permanent location is secured. Support for the staffs plans to creatively exhibit the collection in a variety of venues. Preserving the opportunity for the areas school children to continue to experience the collection. How to accommodate researchers who use the collection for their work. Advocating for assistance to find a future home for the collection.…
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Education - collecting, preserving, and exhibiting historical materials.
$2,048,950 spent$279,628 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $2,048,950.
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 $14M to $16M (+16%).
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 21% · 2019 11% · 2020 10% · 2021 8% · 2022 2% · 2023 9% · 2024 8% · 2025 12%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
30% of PANHANDLE-PLAINS 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. 1 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 5 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $120k → $132k.
6 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 35% 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 PANHANDLE-PLAINS 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
PANHANDLE-PLAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 28% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
52% 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 PANHANDLE-PLAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 33% · 2019 33% · 2020 47% · 2021 39% · 2022 54% · 2023 38% — 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
36% of PANHANDLE-PLAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
100% of PANHANDLE-PLAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY's grant income comes from Texas funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $482k 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
PANHANDLE-PLAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like PANHANDLE-PLAINS 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 Texas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
34%
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 PANHANDLE-PLAINS 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 PANHANDLE-PLAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- PANHANDLE-PLAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Texas) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,369,031 to it, the largest being CJ AND SYBLE FOWLSTON CHARITABLE TRUST ($385,000). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PANHANDLE-PLAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $1,369,031 in grants to PANHANDLE-PLAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PANHANDLE-PLAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- CJ AND SYBLE FOWLSTON CHARITABLE TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $385,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PANHANDLE-PLAINS HISTORICAL SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Texas. 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 Panhandle-Plains Historical Society →
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 18 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