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New York · Nonprofit

SMARTHISTORY INC

SMARTHISTORY INC (New York) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,193,838 to it, the largest being THE BENIFICUS FOUNDATION ($2,156,364). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$1.1M
Funders on record
16
Grants received
$5.2M
Net assets
$1.3M
11/16 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 92%
01What it does

What Smarthistory Inc does

Mission

At smarthistory we believe art has the power to transform lives and to build understanding across cultures. We believe that the brilliant histories of art belong to everyone, no matter their background.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Program

  1. At smarthistory we believe art has the power to transform lives and to build understanding across cultures. We believe that the brilliant histories of art belong to everyone, no matter their background. At smarthistory we are committed to an inclusive, equitable art history. We are growing our collaborations with scholars, knowledge bearers, elders, and others. In addition, we have specifically designed several programs to achieve a more equitable art history.by the numbers:- approximateley 60 million views in 2025- 800 academic contributors- 4,000 essays and videos- 365,000 youtube subscribers- 60 museums and cultural institutions have partnered with smarthistory- 600 universities, libraries, and research institutions recommend smarthistory

    $1,093,739 spent
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,093,739.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($678k) Expenses 100 ($513k) Net assets 100 ($872k)2018 Revenue 198 ($1.3M) Expenses 143 ($736k) Net assets 169 ($1.5M)2019 Revenue 121 ($819k) Expenses 162 ($834k) Net assets 168 ($1.5M)2020 Revenue 152 ($1.0M) Expenses 206 ($1.1M) Net assets 165 ($1.4M)2021 Revenue 259 ($1.8M) Expenses 226 ($1.2M) Net assets 233 ($2.0M)2022 Revenue 145 ($981k) Expenses 257 ($1.3M) Net assets 195 ($1.7M)2023 Revenue 147 ($997k) Expenses 263 ($1.3M) Net assets 155 ($1.4M)2024 Revenue 163 ($1.1M) Expenses 226 ($1.2M) Net assets 148 ($1.3M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (163)Expenses (226)Net assets (148)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $884k to $1.5M (+70%).

$884k
$1.5M
$1.5M
$1.5M
$2.1M
$1.7M
$1.4M
$1.3M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 18% · 2018 10% · 2019 20% · 2020 9% · 2021 10% · 2022 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

82% of SMARTHISTORY INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 5,377 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$165k
’17
$606k
’18
−$15k
’19
−$25k
’20
$599k
’21
−$336k
’22
−$353k
’23
−$57k
’24
13
months of
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.

Board chair

Elizabeth Macaulay

Chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed99999101110
Joined·+0+0+2+2+1+2+1
No longer listed·0022012
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 9 funders, grant income rose $321k → $920k.

4 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 2% 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 SMARTHISTORY 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

SMARTHISTORY INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 42% of grant income and the top three 82%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

42%
largest funder
82%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 62% · 2018 67% · 2019 83% · 2020 55% · 2021 41% · 2022 68% · 2023 46% — 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

40% of SMARTHISTORY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

SMARTHISTORY INC draws 71% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 7 states in all.

IL
NY
OH
CA
CO
AR
TX

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
New York out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $102k 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

SMARTHISTORY INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−5% · below the median
Months of reserve12.8mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)7% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Government funding SMARTHISTORY INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $311k on record.

Federal$311k
grants $311kcontracts $0
19
21
Top agencies
  • National Endowment for the Humanities$311k

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 SMARTHISTORY 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 York

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

86% of spending goes to programs.

Program 86%Management 7%Fundraising 8%

Governance

9
board members
78%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

28%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

NY

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SMARTHISTORY 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.

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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 SMARTHISTORY INC?
SMARTHISTORY INC (New York) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,193,838 to it, the largest being THE BENIFICUS FOUNDATION ($2,156,364). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does SMARTHISTORY INC have?
IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $5,193,838 in grants to SMARTHISTORY INC, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of SMARTHISTORY INC?
THE BENIFICUS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,156,364 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like SMARTHISTORY INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 Smarthistory →

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 16 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