New Hampshire · Nonprofit
Portsmouth Historical Society
Portsmouth Historical Society (New Hampshire) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,602,221 to it, the largest being New Hampshire Charitable Foundation ($1,122,229). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 79% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $801k
- Funders on record
- 33
- Grants received
- $1.6M
- Net assets
- $3.0M
What Portsmouth Historical Society does
Mission
The Portsmouth Historical Society's museums and programs connect the community to our past, present and future through collections, interpretation, education and preservation.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Education Programs The Portsmouth Historical Society offers a wide range of educational programs designed to connect learners of all ages with local history through hands-on, inquiry-based experiences. In 2024, the Society expanded its offerings to include a monthly homeschool program in response to strong community demand. These programs emphasize critical thinking, curiosity, and engagement with primary sources, helping students explore how history shapes our present and future. Alongside school and group visits, walking tours, and special programs for families, this educational expansion has resulted in significant growth in participation and deepened connections to the organization's mission of inspiring lifelong learning through history.
$87,499 spent$109,693 earned by the program16% of program spendingHistoric Preservation Initiatives Historic preservation and advocacy are central to the Society's mission and strategic priorities. Through programs such as the Portsmouth Advocates Plaque Program, the organization recognizes historically and architecturally significant buildings while educating the public about the importance of preservation. These initiatives also include lectures, public forums, and collaborations with local and state partners to advance preservation awareness and policy. As part of the Society's new strategic plan, these efforts continue to strengthen community stewardship of Portsmouth's built environment and its shared history.
$434,837 spent$204,566 earned by the program81% of program spendingExhibitions and Community Engagement The Society's exhibitions and related community programs connect Portsmouth's past to the present through art, culture, and storytelling. Each season features rotating exhibitions that highlight diverse voices and perspectives, often in partnership with local artists, cultural organizations, and guest curators. These exhibitions serve as a catalyst for dialogue and civic engagement, encouraging residents and visitors alike to see history as a living, evolving story. Through exhibition-related programs, lectures, and public events, the Society fosters community connection and celebrates the richness of Portsmouth's heritage.
$12,064 spent$12,057 earned by the program2% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $534,400.
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 2020 to 2021, from $1.4M to $3.8M (+166%).
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: 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
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.
Chief executive
Emma Stratton
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 10 funders, grant income fell $236k → $167k.
6 of 33 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 79% 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 Portsmouth Historical Society’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 33 funders by total. 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
Portsmouth Historical Society leans on a few funders — its largest provides 70% of grant income and the top three 78%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
86% 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 Portsmouth Historical Society.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 95% · 2018 84% · 2019 70% · 2020 84% · 2021 66% · 2022 61% · 2023 81% — 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
33% of Portsmouth Historical Society's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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
79% of Portsmouth Historical Society'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 $332k that is directly attributable, 61% of it comes from funders outside New Hampshire, across 9 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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.
Organizations like Portsmouth 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 Hampshire
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
59% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
76%
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 Portsmouth 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 Portsmouth Historical Society?
- Portsmouth Historical Society (New Hampshire) receives grants from 33 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,602,221 to it, the largest being New Hampshire Charitable Foundation ($1,122,229). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 79% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Portsmouth Historical Society have?
- IRS filings report 33 organizations giving $1,602,221 in grants to Portsmouth Historical Society, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Portsmouth Historical Society?
- New Hampshire Charitable Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $1,122,229 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Portsmouth Historical Society find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New Hampshire. 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 Portsmouth 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 33 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