Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC
THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 84 organizations whose IRS filings report $56,620,402 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($8,788,440). 44 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $9.9M
- Funders on record
- 84
- Grants received
- $57M
- Net assets
- $20M
What The Better Angels Society Inc does
Mission
The better angels society supports outstanding american history documentaries to inspire lifelong learning, promote civic engagement, and encourage civil discourse.the organization advances this mission by raising funds to support individual documentary films focused on u.s. History and characterized by thorough archival research and engaging storytelling; awarding the annual library of congress lavine/ken burns prize for film and better angels lavine fellowship to provide resources, recognition, and mentorship to outstanding u.s. History documentaries; and creating partnership programs to engage young people in making documentaries about u.s. History to build skills in critical thinking, communications, research, history, and civics.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The better angels society provided $9,066,941 in funding for the development, production, and associated educational and engagement programs for documentary films that focused on u.s. History, the majority of which are broadcast free to the public and widely available to millions of americans. In 2025, these films included the american revolution, central park, crime & punishment in america, emancipation to exodus, henry david thoreau, inside the oval: decisions of consequence, lbj & the great society, and w.e.b. Du bois. Through the library of congress lavine/ken burns prize for film, the society provided support and national recognition for outstanding american history documentaries, selected by peer reviewers and juries with expertise in filmmaking, archival resources, and u.s. History.
$9,501,700 spentof which $9,066,941 as grants90% of program spendingIn 2025, the better angels society provided $450,000 to support training, networking, and mentorship to ensure that thoroughly researched and engaging documentaries about american history continue to be created. The society led the fifth year of the better angels lavine fellowship program, a mentoring program for documentaries-in-process, selected from applicants for the prize for film. The society also supported educational programs that build junior high, high school, and college-age students' skills in critical thinking, history, civics, research, and communications through the process of making documentaries about the history of the united states. These programs, in collaboration with national history day and the lincoln presidential foundation, provided free training sessions, mentorship from experts in historical research and filmmaking, and public recognition to promote outstanding american history documentaries and inspire participation in this discipline. The society also provided support to film festivals to highlight outstanding historical documentaries, encourage civil discourse related to them, and encourage best practices in their creation.
$1,012,340 spentof which $450,000 as grants10% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $10,514,040.
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 2018 to 2019, from $22M to $31M (+41%).
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 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
93% of THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations 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. 6 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
Katherine Malone-France
President and CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 21 funders to 24 funders, grant income fell $6.5M → $4.2M.
24 of 84 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 48% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $6.4M from one payer (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest Crimson Lion Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC raised.
From the IRS filings of THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 84 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 BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
50% 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 BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 31% · 2018 14% · 2019 19% · 2020 26% · 2021 25% · 2022 19% · 2023 28% — 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
35% of THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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 BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 24 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $27M arriving through sponsors registered in 17 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 BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $567 on record.
- REFUNDS - GENERAL $567
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 BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY 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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
90% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
63%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 33 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY 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.
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 BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC?
- THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 84 organizations whose IRS filings report $56,620,402 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($8,788,440). 44 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC have?
- IRS filings report 84 organizations giving $56,620,402 in grants to THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC, 44 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $8,788,440 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE BETTER ANGELS SOCIETY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
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 84 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