California · Nonprofit
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY (California) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,981,181 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($1,059,152). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $9.3M
- Funders on record
- 43
- Grants received
- $5.0M
- Net assets
- $7.9M
What San Diego Historical Society does
Mission
The mission of the san diego history center is to preserve our region's history - tell the diverse story of our region's past, present, and future; educate and enrich our community; and foster civic pride.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
During the reporting period the san diego history center presented exhibitions that seek to engage, educate and make our region's history relevant to today: aloha vaqueros explored the unique cultural blending of native hawaiian and mexican vaquero (cowboy) traditions in the american west. The exhibit highlights the often-overlooked stories of paniolo (hawaiian cowboys) and their contributions to ranching, horsemanship, and cross-cultural identity in mexico, san diego and hawaii. Taste san diego: filipino culinary journeys celebrates the rich culinary heritage of san diego's filipino community through family recipes, personal stories, and historical context. Taste san diego invites visitors to explore how food serves as a vital thread in preserving cultural identity and fostering community across generations. La neighbor: colloquially known as la neighbor, the neighborhood house was the nexus of relations in logan heights and offered integral services like health care, food distribution, english-language classes, a community oven, citizenship classes, and enrichment activities. This new exhibition brings together the written history of the house, along with nearly twenty new oral…
$906,745 spent36% of program spendingThe san diego history center's life-long learning program, consisting of both k-12 and public programs, expanded summer school programs in conjunction with the san diego unified school district's level up program that are in addition to the history center's ongoing partnership with price philanthropies school in the park and on-site field trips that are funded by the patrons of the prado bucks 4 busses program. Student programming includes see yourself here an immersive program for students highlighting history makers and community heroes.
$892,642 spent36% of program spendingA significant addition to the san diego history center's collections has been the acquisition of the archive of the borrego sun newspaper, that was for many years owned and operated by the sandiego based copley press. A generous donor, who wishes to remain anonymous, along with the newspapers owner, provided the funding necessary for thearchive that documents more than 70 years of the history of borrego springs, san diego's mid-century modern desert resort community. Also, of significance is the community oral histories and acquisitions of the all-in community archiving program. As part of its core collections mission, the san diego history center continues to advance "digital first" by making its collections available to the public. The complete catalogue of the san diego history center's document, photo, fine art, oral history and 3d objects collection is available on line (https://sandiegohistory.pastperfectonline.com/). In addition, the history center continues to expand its digital holdings - making more images, photos and art accessible through its on-line collection portal (https://collections.sandiegohistory.org/). Access to the archive is through appointments (fee based…
$695,085 spent28% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,494,472.
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 2024 to 2025, from $5.0M to $10M (+108%).
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 9% · 2018 9% · 2019 28% · 2020 22% · 2021 33% · 2022 16% · 2023 11% · 2024 7% · 2025 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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.
Chief executive
William Lawrence
CEO
Board chair
Robert Watkins
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 15 funders to 16 funders, grant income rose $377k → $794k.
5 of 43 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 27% 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 SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 43 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
SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
36% 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 SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 37% · 2018 28% · 2019 61% · 2020 43% · 2021 39% · 2022 24% · 2023 44% — 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.
How long its funders stay
32% of SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
85% of SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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.
Government funding SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $12k on record.
- National Endowment for the Humanities$12k
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 SAN DIEGO 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
60% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
87%
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 SAN DIEGO 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 SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY (California) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,981,181 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($1,059,152). 28 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 43 organizations giving $4,981,181 in grants to SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 28 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,059,152 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SAN DIEGO HISTORICAL SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 San Diego 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 43 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