California · Nonprofit
VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY (California) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,100 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($10,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 83% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $128k
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $12k
- Net assets
- $513k
What Vista Historical Society does
Mission
The vista ranchos historical society is specifically concerned with the discovery,recording, collecting and preservation of the historical facts, properties and other materials regarding the history of the southwestern united states,particularly the settlement and development of
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
The vista ranchos historical society is specifically concerned with the discovery,recording, collecting and preservation of the historical facts, properties and other materials regarding the history of the southwestern united statesparticularly the settlement and development of the city of vista and its surrounding areas within the county of san diego. The society has approximately 400 members and a 11 member board. Presently there are artifacts and historical information, objects and documents displayed in the museum for all to see.the museum is located within the city of vista and has one docent on staff who works 20 hours per week. The museum is open from 10:00 a.m. To 3:00 p.m. Wed,thurs., fri., and sat. Admission is free. Donations are accepted. A 30 minute documentary film called the history of vista, featuring interviews with several long-time residents, presents an interesting viewpoint of vista and the people who lived there during theearly formative year
$59,374 spent$78,252 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $59,374.
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 2024 to 2025, from $457k to $513k (+12%).
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 62%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
79% of VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2021: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $10k → $2k.
1 of 2 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 83% 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 VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY’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
VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 83% 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
83% 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 VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2021 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
83% of VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY'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 $2k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from California funders.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $10k 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.
Against its field
VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like VISTA 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% 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 VISTA 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 VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY (California) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,100 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($10,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 83% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $12,100 in grants to VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
- Who is the largest funder of VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $10,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Vista 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 2 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