California · Nonprofit
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $62,036 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($20,695). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $639k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $62k
- Net assets
- $458k
What Southern California Historical Aviation Foundation does
Mission
SCHAF is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and displaying the Southern California aerospace legacy providing educational outreach to children and serving as a resource for community events related to aerospace.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Museum Operations: After COVID restrictions were lifted the museum reopened to the public 4 days a week. While we were open experienced docents were available to lead tours through the museum and provide information on the exhibits. The exhibits included full scale aircraft display models actual aircraft engines space exhibits and videos. Two aircraft were available for visitors to actually sit in the cockpit. Tour groups both large and small were welcome.
$263,115 spent$51,787 earned by the program70% of program spendingEducational Outreach: Education is a significant focus of SCHAF. The Foundation works with local schools and youth organizations to provide museum experiences including STEM activities.
$56,382 spent15% of program spendingCommunity Outreach: Aerospace related events are a major part of the museum program. A Celebrity Lecture is held one Saturday a month and speakers cover a wide range of aerodynamic topics from World War II fighter pilots to test pilots to engineers involved in developing aircraft spacecraft and more. We also publish videos on various aircraft developments to send to our members and publish on the internet for the general public in order to provide education to the community.
$56,381 spent$2,355 earned by the program15% 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: $375,878.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2023 to 2024, from $222k to $598k (+169%).
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: 2020 5% · 2021 9% · 2022 0% · 2023 4% · 2024 1% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
81% of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 6 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
Cindy Macha
Executive Director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $5k → $211.
4 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 76% 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 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION’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
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 33% of grant income and the top three 90%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
100% 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 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 50% · 2021 62% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — 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
76% of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION'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 $15k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside California, across 1 state.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $47k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION
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
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
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 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION: 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 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION?
- SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $62,036 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($20,695). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 76% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $62,036 in grants to SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $20,695 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL AVIATION FOUNDATION 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 Southern California Historical Aviation →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 5 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