South Carolina · Nonprofit
THE SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
THE SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY (South Carolina) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,128,987 to it, the largest being THE SANDERS FAMILY FOUNDATION ($447,000). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.6M
- Funders on record
- 35
- Grants received
- $1.1M
- Net assets
- $11M
What The South Carolina Historical Society does
Mission
The schs mission is to expand, preserve, and make accessible our invaluable collection, and to encourage interest and pride in the rich history of our state.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Archivalthe society has approximately 3,000 manuscript collections that include letters, diaries, legal papers, and other documents dating from 1670 to the present and more than 10,000 oversized plats, monuments, maps and drawings. Over 30,000 photographs, prints, and other visual items are maintained, as well as a research library containing nearly 5,000 books selected to add contextual evidence that enhances the manuscript and other archival holdings. The collection also includes more than 45,000 historical pamphlets and printed materials as well as hundreds of files and books pertaining to genealogy. The collection also includes numerous artifacts ranging from oversized, unique battle flags to small, personal items. Most of the collection is housed at the college of charleston's addlestone library special collections area. With the museum installation in 2018 selected items are exhibited in the fireproof building. Also, some administrative records are maintained in the society's headquarters.the board of managers adopted the policy to not capitalize its collection because it is impracticable to attempt to assign values to the collection because each item has certain attributes,…
$386,997 spent$13,330 earned by the program23% of program spendingOutreach, education, and public programming The South Carolina Historical Society (schs) educates and engages the public about south carolina history and its collections through a comprehensive outreach, education, and public programming initiative. Schs utilizes a website (https://schistory.org/), active social media platforms (instagram and facebook), virtual and in-person programs, lectures, and publications to reach audiences statewide. Publishing south carolina history is central to the society's mission. Schs began publishing its collections prior to the civil war and has published the south carolina historical magazine since 1900. The magazine is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal overseen by an editorial board of leading historians and publishes eight articles annually, along with approximately fifty book reviews and twenty newly processed manuscript listings in quarterly issues. Schs also publishes carologue, a popular history magazine featuring accessible articles, photo essays, and updates on society programs and events. Schs provides educational programming for teachers, students, and lifelong learners, including its traveling archive program, which brings reproductions…
$474,346 spent$65,683 earned by the program29% of program spendingFireproof building and museum: the building was designed by robert mills, a native south carolinian and the first professionally trained american architect. Mills also designed the washington monument -his most famous work- and numerous buildings throughout south carolina and as far north as massachusetts. The fireproof building was the first in america designed to limit the spread of fire. The drivers of architectural design in charleston today are earthquakes and hurricanes. In the early nineteenth century, the major concern for urban architecture was fire. During the colonial period, charleston (and many other cities) experiencednumerousfires in which large parts of the city were destroyed. Mills wanted to create a building that couldcontaina blaze and prevent it from spreading to other buildings in the city. To make the building as "fireproof" as possible, mills had chalmers street widened to provide a better firebreak. He had allotherbuildings on and around the site removed. During the 2016-2018 renovation, crews found foundations of dwellings that datedto ca.1700-1720. Mills also designed washington square, which would serve as a firebreak on either side of the building.…
$447,758 spent$47,654 earned by the program27% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$339,620 spent21% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,648,721.
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 2021 to 2022, from $11M to $9.8M (−13%).
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: 2017 1% · 2018 0% · 2019 29% · 2020 15% · 2021 12% · 2022 2% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
85% of THE SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Elizabeth Chew
CEO and ex-officio
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018, and between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 11 funders, grant income fell $191k → $78k.
6 of 35 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 34% 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 SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 35 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 SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 40% of grant income and the top three 74%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
35% 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 SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 52% · 2018 37% · 2019 52% · 2020 40% · 2021 63% · 2022 46% · 2023 64% — growing more concentrated.
“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 SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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
70% of THE SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY's grant income comes from South Carolina funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $380k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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 SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY is better cushioned than half of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
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 South Carolina
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
88%
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 THE SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: 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 SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- THE SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY (South Carolina) receives grants from 35 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,128,987 to it, the largest being THE SANDERS FAMILY FOUNDATION ($447,000). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 35 organizations giving $1,128,987 in grants to THE SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- THE SANDERS FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $447,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE SOUTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in South Carolina. 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 South Carolina Historical Society →
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 35 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