Ohio · Nonprofit
WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY
WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Ohio) receives grants from 104 organizations whose IRS filings report $15,973,736 to it, the largest being THE CLEVELAND FOUNDATION ($7,833,805). 64 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 55% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $7.5M
- Funders on record
- 104
- Grants received
- $16M
- Net assets
- $49M
What Western Reserve Historical Society does
Mission
Western Reserve Historical Society preserves and uses its collections, historic sites, and museums to inspire people to discover the american experience by exploring the tangible history of northeast ohio.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Cleveland history center the cleveland history center houses the history museum, research library/archives & genealogical center, crawford auto aviation museum, kidzibits family education center, and the institution's administrative offices. The cleveland history center includes two early 20th century mansions, the hay mckinney and bingham-hanna mansions, along with galleries that connect the historic mansions. The collections and archives are among the most extensive of any regional history center in the united states, a reflection of over 150 years of collecting. Wrhs was founded in 1867 to preserve the history of the connecticut western reserve, the name for the land on the western edge of the connecticut territory which is now northeast ohio. Today, wrhs collects, preserves, and presents the history of northeast ohio to connect with people, inspiring them to discover themselves, their families and communities by exploring the past and imagining the future. This is achieved through a combination of exhibits, programs, and events for all ages and interests. The wrhs collections are vast and varied. The library/archives hold millions of items including books, photographs,…
$4,743,590 spent76% of program spendingHale farm & village hale farm & village, in scenic cuyahoga valley south of cleveland, is an outdoor living history museum of the Western Reserve Historical Society. Nineteenth century life is presented at hale to engage, stimulate, and challenge visitors to suspend their disbelief, step back in time, and use the lessons of the past to make informed decisions about the present and the future. The 90-acre site is comprised of 32 historic, restored 19th century structures; a modern visitor's center with gift shop and caf; several gardens, heritage livestock breeds; and the early american craft and trade program featuring glassblowing, blacksmithing, pottery, candle, broom and basket making; and hearth and woodstove cooking. Four generations of the hale family used the land and resources to carve out a niche for themselves in the cuyahoga valley. The museum builds its programming and operations with reverence for the hales' entrepreneurial spirit combined with a deep respect for the past. The goal is to build sustainable operations through engaging educational, family, and community programs. The year-round program calendar follows the seasonal cycle of rural life in northeast ohio.…
$1,384,894 spent22% of program spendingOther properties shandy hall is an 1815 home on 115 acres of land in ashtabula county, and consists of a main house and several outbuildings. The home was occupied by seven generations of the same family and contains original furnishings. The site is open to the public for tours by appointment only. Loghurst, in mahoning county, sits on 7.5 acres and includes a circa 1805 log house, believed to be the oldest such structure in northeast ohio. Wrhs enjoys a co-stewardship arrangement with the canfield heritage foundation to operate the site on a seasonal basis. Handyside house is a victorian-style century home located in bedford, ohio. The property is listed in the national register of historic places.
$123,740 spent2% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,252,224.
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 2023 to 2024, from $43M to $56M (+28%).
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 6% · 2018 6% · 2019 4% · 2020 7% · 2021 11% · 2022 25% · 2023 17% · 2024 14% · 2025 17%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
60% of WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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.
Board chair
David Stahl
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 27 funders to 54 funders, grant income rose $383k → $2.2M.
10 of 104 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 55% 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 WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 104 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
WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 49% of grant income and the top three 72%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
57% 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 WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 13% · 2018 70% · 2019 71% · 2020 46% · 2021 56% · 2022 66% · 2023 66% — 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
60% of WESTERN RESERVE 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
55% of WESTERN RESERVE 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 $7.1M that is directly attributable, 93% of it comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $8.9M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY is better cushioned than half of the 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3k on record.
- Department of Veterans Affairs$3k
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 WESTERN RESERVE 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 Ohio
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
77%
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 WESTERN RESERVE 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 WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY (Ohio) receives grants from 104 organizations whose IRS filings report $15,973,736 to it, the largest being THE CLEVELAND FOUNDATION ($7,833,805). 64 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 55% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 104 organizations giving $15,973,736 in grants to WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 64 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY?
- THE CLEVELAND FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $7,833,805 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WESTERN RESERVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 Western Reserve 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 104 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