Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
THE SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY
THE SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 50 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,724,866 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($247,375). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.9M
- Funders on record
- 50
- Grants received
- $1.7M
- Net assets
- $18M
What The Supreme Court Historical Society does
Mission
The society is dedicated to the collection and preservation of the history of the supreme court of the united states. It was founded by chief justice warren e. Burger, who served as its first honorary chairman. The society accomplishes its mission by conducting educational programs, supporting historical research, publishing books, journals, and electronic materials, and by collecting antiques and artifacts related to the court's history. These activities and others increase the public's awareness of the court's contributions to our nation's rich constitutional heritage.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Educational programs:secondary school teachers: the society and street law, inc. Offer the supreme court summer institute for secondary school teachers. The institute improves the level of instruction on the judicial system at the secondary school level, reaching students while they are developing an awareness of their rights and duties as citizens. Teachers observe the court in session, review actual cases under consideration, and hear lectures by experts on the court. The teachers then produce lesson plans for classroom instruction and train other teachers in techniques for incorporating the court into the social studies curriculum. This program has more than 750 alumni from almost every state and u.s. Possession. The society and street law have collaborated to bring the supreme court institute to teachers around the country who might otherwise not be able to attend the summer program. Teachers in atlanta, new york and st. Louis have participated in the regional supreme court seminar.civics education: the supreme court and my hometown is the national civics program of The Supreme Court Historical Society. This initiative engages high school students in a thorough study of the…
$823,377 spent34% of program spendingSale of books and other items to help educate the public about the supreme court and to preserve the history of the supreme court.
$500,222 spent$656,950 earned by the program20% of program spendingMembership services and publications: program planning and managementpublication of schs quarterly - a member-oriented newsletter with informative articles on the court's past, and timely announcements of society activities and meetings.publication of the journal of supreme court history - a scholarly collection of articles on the court's history, its members and those who have appeared before it. The journal is published three times a year and is illustrated with many rare photographs, engravings, and drawings.
$432,065 spentof which $4,000 as grants$156,359 earned by the program18% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$700,249 spentof which $5,000 as grants29% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,455,913.
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 2020 to 2021, from $16M to $19M (+17%).
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 14% · 2022 9% · 2023 19%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 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
James C Duff
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 17 funders, grant income rose $78k → $177k.
13 of 50 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 37% 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 SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 50 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 SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 14% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
49% 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 SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 34% · 2018 33% · 2019 32% · 2020 16% · 2021 45% · 2022 22% · 2023 17% — 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
26% of THE SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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 SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 13 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $643k arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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 SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $30k on record.
- National Endowment for the Humanities$30k
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 SUPREME COURT 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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
80%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE SUPREME COURT 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 SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- THE SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 50 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,724,866 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($247,375). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 50 organizations giving $1,724,866 in grants to THE SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 31 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $247,375 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE SUPREME COURT HISTORICAL SOCIETY 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.
Play a game about who funds Supreme Court 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 50 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