New York · Nonprofit
THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY
THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY (New York) receives grants from 118 organizations whose IRS filings report $35,578,748 to it, the largest being GILDER FOUNDATION INC ($5,750,000). 64 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $12M
- Funders on record
- 118
- Grants received
- $36M
- Net assets
- $79M
What The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History does
Mission
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History was founded in 1994 by richard gilder and lewis e. Lehrman, visionaries and lifelong supporters of american history. The institute is the leading nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to k-12 history education.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Teacher programs in american history:in 2025 over 100,000 k-12 teachers utilized the institute's teaching resources and primary source documents. Teacher professional development programs served 25,000 teachers. Over the summer, the institute offered distinct professional development opportunities, ranging from intensive in-person seminars at partner institutions to accessible online professional development, for which we received nearly 4,000 registrations and applications. The gettysburg college gilder lehrman ma in american history, an affordable, fully online master's degree program, led by renowned, award-winning historians served 1,150 educators.
$3,686,086 spentof which $12,750 as grants$2,909,355 earned by the program39% of program spendingStudent programs in american history: see schedule o.
$1,610,336 spentof which $24,996 as grants17% of program spendingMuseum collections, exhibitions and primary source document educational resources:the gilder lehrman collection is central to our mission of integrating primary sources into the educational process. It includes over 87,000 items relating to american history from 1493 to twentieth century. The digital collection currently has over 70,000 items allowing online access to the documents. Pop-up panel exhibitions on major topics in american history are in circulation and visited schools and libraries across the country. A new exhibition was released this year titled declaration 1776: the big bang of modern democracy as part of the institute's efforts to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the declaration of independence. Gilder lehrman collection's primary sources are also on display in physical exhibition spaces such as george washington's mount vernon, gettysburg national military park, museum of the city of new york, national constitution center, museum of the american revolution, charleston museum and the morgan library & museum. The live, online program inside the vault: highlights from the gilder lehrman collection, has been viewed by nearly 50,000 teachers, students, scholars,…
$1,050,109 spentof which $500 as grants$164,151 earned by the program11% of program spendingOther programs include national history teacher of the year award, four national book prize awards, scholarly & college fellowship awards, and book breaks live, weekly online program.
$3,098,602 spentof which $156,375 as grants$11,184 earned by the program33% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $9,445,133.
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 2017 to 2018, from $39M to $51M (+32%).
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 9% · 2019 1% · 2020 1% · 2021 10% · 2023 14% · 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
46% of THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Basker James G
President & CEO
Board chair
Lehrman Lewis E
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024, and between the FY2024 and FY2025 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 28 funders to 41 funders, grant income fell $3.1M → $2.5M.
22 of 118 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 25% 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 GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 118 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 GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY 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
25% 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 GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 45% · 2018 31% · 2019 33% · 2020 23% · 2021 67% · 2022 23% · 2023 23% — 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
33% of THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% 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
61% of THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $8.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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 GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 3,794 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,794 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $4.3M on record.
- Department of Education$1.9M
- Department of Veterans Affairs$1.2M
- National Endowment for the Humanities$1.1M
- Department of the Interior$96k
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 GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY
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 York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
69%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 35 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY: 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 GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY?
- THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY (New York) receives grants from 118 organizations whose IRS filings report $35,578,748 to it, the largest being GILDER FOUNDATION INC ($5,750,000). 64 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY have?
- IRS filings report 118 organizations giving $35,578,748 in grants to THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY, 64 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY?
- GILDER FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $5,750,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE GILDER LEHRMAN INSTITUTE OF AMERICAN HISTORY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 118 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