New Mexico · Nonprofit
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY (New Mexico) receives grants from 64 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,021,187 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($3,665,573). 41 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 84% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $15M
- Funders on record
- 64
- Grants received
- $5.0M
- Net assets
- $73M
What The Archaeological Conservancy does
Mission
To acquire and preserve america's most important archaeological sites. The conservancy identifies important endangered sites, acquires the property by purchase, gift, or bargain sale from donors, secures the property, stabilizes the cultural resources at the site, manages the archaeological preserve as part of a long-term plan, and educates the general public and local officials about the destruction of our cultural heritage and how to preserve what remains.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Acquisition, conservation, and management: during the year ending july 31, 2025, the conservancy completed the acquisition and protection of 11 endangered archaeological sites, which are now managed as archaeological preserves. Over 25 more sites and conservation easements are in various stages of acquisition. In total, the conservancy has protected over 590 archaeological sites across the country. The conservancy regularly conducts stewardship and maintenance activities to ensure the continued protection and management of each site.
$1,823,492 spent57% of program spendingEducation: during the year ending july 31, 2025, the conservancy published four issues of "american archaeology" magazine, which were distributed throughout the country with a total distribution of 20,600 copies per issue. Additionally, the conservancy conducted 9 archaeological travel seminars during the fiscal year with over 200 participants.
$1,384,503 spent$645,518 earned by the program43% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,207,995.
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 $62M to $73M (+19%).
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: 2018 8% · 2021 5% · 2022 2% · 2023 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
Board chair
Vin Steponaitis
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 22 funders, grant income rose $352k → $503k.
14 of 64 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 84% 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 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 64 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
THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 73% of grant income and the top three 82%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
85% 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 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 75% · 2018 80% · 2019 92% · 2020 55% · 2021 88% · 2022 77% · 2023 62% — 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
43% of THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
84% of THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY'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 $783k that is directly attributable, 70% of it comes from funders outside New Mexico, across 25 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $160k on record.
- VT$110k
- MD$50k
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 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY
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 Mexico
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY: 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 THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY?
- THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY (New Mexico) receives grants from 64 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,021,187 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($3,665,573). 41 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 84% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY have?
- IRS filings report 64 organizations giving $5,021,187 in grants to THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY, 41 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $3,665,573 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVANCY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New Mexico. 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 Archaeological Conservancy →
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 64 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