Georgia · Nonprofit
Society of Biblical Literature
Society of Biblical Literature (Georgia) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $415,624 to it, the largest being The Henry Luce Foundation Inc ($200,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.3M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $416k
- Net assets
- $10M
What Society of Biblical Literature does
Mission
Foster academic scholarship in biblical studies and cognate areas across global boundaries.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Press. Sbl press, the publishing department of the society, is a member of the association of american university presses, and publishes peer-reviewed books and journals for the academic community and libraries. The press acquires, develops, produces, and markets 22 book series, the flagship journal of the field, and a journal for book reviews. To do so the press has professional staff and over 130 volunteer members who serve as general editors, as series editors, and on editorial boards. Sbl press's annual book output is 35 titles, in addition to the two major journals. The press also partners with other presses to publish major resources and reference works. Press also maintains the bible odyssey website which is used to provide the general public with information about the bible, its contents, background and cultural impact.
$1,485,637 spent$777,315 earned by the program42% of program spendingConferences. Sbl organizes three major annual academic conferences each year, one in the united states, one outside the u.s, and one virtual global conference. The major u.s. Meeting brings together more than half of its members as well as members of affiliate organizations to present over 1,000 scholarly papers of new research in hundreds of program unit sessions. The conference also provides an exhibit hall for academic publishers and a job service for academic institutions who interview and hire members. These annual conferences are held in order to accomplish sbl's strategic vision statements: organizing congresses for scholarly exchange; facilitating broad and open discussion from a variety of critical perspectives; and promoting cooperation across global boundaries.
$1,315,143 spent$1,537,857 earned by the program37% of program spendingProfessions. Sbl offers a broad range of activities that support its members' professional development and advocate for the academic field in higher education. It hosts an employment service, provides workshops at its meetings, partners with related organizations, collaborates with organizations in humanities and higher education (such as the national humanities alliance and the american council of learned societies), and fosters participation through program units that enlist over 3,000 of its members as chairs, presenters, presiders, or panelists.
$502,581 spentof which $38,563 as grants$71,833 earned by the program14% of program spendingThe society has approximately 7,500 members. The membership fee provides a myriad of member services. Members receive discounts on journals, meeting registrations, and books. Members participate in the governance and provide direction through their work on committees. Over 3,000 members participate as chairs, presenters, presiders, or panelists at the eleven regional meetings, the international meeting, and the annual meeting; over 5,700 members attend those meetings. The Society of Biblical Literature is made up of a community of member scholars volunteering their time and talents to further biblical scholarship for many years to come and to pass along their knowledge to those who will follow in their footsteps.
$209,603 spent$658,013 earned by the program6% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,512,964.
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 $9.1M to $11M (+23%).
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: 2021 9% · 2022 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
1% of Society of Biblical Literature’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. 2 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
Steed V Davidson
Treasurer, Exec Director
Board chair
Hugh Rowland Page Jr
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $18k → $26k.
2 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% 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 Society of Biblical Literature’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
Society of Biblical Literature leans on a few funders — its largest provides 48% of grant income and the top three 98%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 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 Society of Biblical Literature.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 96% · 2021 97% · 2022 60% · 2023 99% — broadly stable.
“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
Society of Biblical Literature draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Georgia, across 4 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $26k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
Society of Biblical Literature runs a healthier operating margin than half 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 Society of Biblical Literature
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 Georgia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
95% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
83%
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 Society of Biblical Literature: 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 Society of Biblical Literature?
- Society of Biblical Literature (Georgia) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $415,624 to it, the largest being The Henry Luce Foundation Inc ($200,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Society of Biblical Literature have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $415,624 in grants to Society of Biblical Literature, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Society of Biblical Literature?
- The Henry Luce Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $200,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Society of Biblical Literature find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Georgia. 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 Society of Biblical Literature →
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 6 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