Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA
THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 30 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,439,796 to it, the largest being ELKIN LEWIS FUND TW ($2,671,977). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.7M
- Funders on record
- 30
- Grants received
- $4.4M
- Net assets
- $33M
What The Athenaeum of Philadelphia does
Mission
The Athenaeum of Philadelphia nurtures curiosity in members and neighbors, strengthening community through learning, discourse and meaningful engagement. The athenaeum is a historic and vibrant philadelphia-centered and member-supported circulating library, research archive and cultural forum dedicated to harnessing our resources - our expert staff, our collections of books, art and architecture treasures and our national historic landmark building - to strengthen our growing community through ideas, cultural engagement and fellowship.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Museum/library building: the athenaeum's three largest program services, as measured by expenses in fye 2025 were 1) maintaining and operating the athenaeum's 1847 national historic landmark building and its circulating and special collections; 2) paying the salaries and benefits of the staff needed to provide programs and services to members and the public and care for the building and collections; and 3) provide public research support. 1) the athenaeum building and collections connected with the history and antiquities of america, and the useful arts, disseminate useful knowledge for public benefit requires care and upkeep. The special collections consist of more than 800,000 books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, and architectural drawings of particular value to architectural historians, historians, and preservationist. Thousands are available for research on two sites maintained by the athenaeum: philageohistory.org and philadelphiabuildings.org and were accessed by more than 150,000 people in fye 2025, while staff served more than 30 research requests in person, phone, or via email each month. The athenaeum's circulating collection of books, ebooks, audiobooks, and…
$1,423,179 spentof which $54,326 as grants100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,423,179.
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 $23M to $28M (+20%).
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 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
49% of THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 14 funders, grant income rose $283k → $376k.
3 of 30 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 THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA’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
THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA leans on a few funders — its largest provides 60% of grant income and the top three 93%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 94% · 2018 90% · 2019 92% · 2020 88% · 2021 80% · 2022 73% · 2023 85% — 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
53% of THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA draws 62% of its grant income from funders outside Pennsylvania, across 4 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $74k 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
THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 9,615 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,615 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA
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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
45%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 38 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA: 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 ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA?
- THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 30 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,439,796 to it, the largest being ELKIN LEWIS FUND TW ($2,671,977). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA have?
- IRS filings report 30 organizations giving $4,439,796 in grants to THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA, 19 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA?
- ELKIN LEWIS FUND TW is the largest funder on record, with $2,671,977 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE ATHENAEUM OF PHILADELPHIA find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 Athenaeum of Philadelphia →
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 30 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing