Virginia · Nonprofit
THE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM
THE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM (Virginia) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $509,000 to it, the largest being THE BESSEMER GIVING FUND ($500,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 98% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $250k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $509k
- Net assets
- $2.1M
What The Vernacular Architecture Forum does
Mission
To bring together a variety of academic and professional communities who share an interest in the field of architecture. It is dedicated to the appreciation and study of ordinary buildings and landscapes.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Conferences to benefit members' knowledge of subject matter. The 2024 conference was held in keweenaw, mi on june 12-15, 2024. The conference included many relevant speakers and topics, including field tours of frontier ports to northwoods resorts and mine towns.
$113,296 spent$117,068 earned by the program70% of program spendingAwards and fellowships to promote and support vernacular architectural fieldwork and scholarship, as well as the dissemination of research.
$30,024 spentof which $30,024 as grants19% of program spendingPublications including journal, book series, and e-newsletter
$18,743 spent12% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $162,063.
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 2022 to 2023, from $1.6M to $2.0M (+24%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 8 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $5k → $100k.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 98% 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 VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM’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 VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM leans on a few funders — its largest provides 98% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
99% 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 VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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.
Where its funders are
98% of THE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $9k that is directly attributable, 56% of it comes from Virginia funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $500k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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.
Organizations like THE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM
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 Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
95% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
73%
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 VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM: 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 VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM?
- THE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM (Virginia) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $509,000 to it, the largest being THE BESSEMER GIVING FUND ($500,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 98% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $509,000 in grants to THE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM?
- THE BESSEMER GIVING FUND is the largest funder on record, with $500,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE FORUM find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 3 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