American Studio will advance American principles through scholarship, publication, litigation and activism.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
80¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 5 volunteers and 4 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2024 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
4 of 4
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $758K a year · 58% of revenue · last 4 filings
Looks good: a surplus in 4 of the last 4 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 4 filings
Spent on programs
80%
of spending
Looks good: 80% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$282K
to officers and key staff · 35% of spending
Concern: pay to officers and key staff is 35% of spending; over 30%.
Pt VII · Sec A
42 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 42.4 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
9
named funders · $1.2M
Looks good: 9 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$15K
0.5% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 0% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
0
of 5 voting members
Concern: none of 5 voting members are independent.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$1.2M
-14% vs prior year
Spent
$815K
To programs
80%
Net assets
$3.0M
By yearFY2021–FY2024
Revenue
$1.2M
FY2024▼ -14%
Tap a bar for its year
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2021$15K
FY2022$2.5M
FY2023$1.4M
FY2024$1.2M
Expenses
$815K
FY2024▲ +5%
Tap a bar for its year
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2021$914
FY2022$603K
FY2023$778K
FY2024$815K
Net assets
$3.0M
FY2024▲ +16%
Tap a bar for its year
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2021$0
FY2022$2.0M
FY2023$2.6M
FY2024$3.0M

From the FY2024 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

990 PDF Claim

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Jul 2021.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

80 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 80% · $654K Management & general 20% · $161K

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

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Who runs it and what they're paid

5 people listed on the 990; $282K paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
President & CEO
$282,308Pt VII · Sec A
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Vice President
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Secretary
$0Pt VII · Sec A
Treasurer
$0Pt VII · Sec A

Christopher Rufo’s $282K as President & CEO is at the 96th percentile of top reported officer pay among 3924 $1–10M arts & culture nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 1 named individual · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2023FY2022
Christopher Rufo$282,308$250,000$242,308

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aNo

Programs and updates

Promotes American principles through research, writing, legal action, and public engagement.

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Provided by the organization

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1 program · $654K · in their own filed words · FY2024
01

Donations

$654Kprogram expense

Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · funders on record
Grants received · FY2024
See all 9 funders →

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$1.2M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$1.2M
Money outPt IX
$815K
Ln 25
Programscol B$654K
Managementcol C$161K
Owns and owesPt X
$3.0M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$2.9M
Total assetsLn 16$3.0M
LiabilitiesLn 26$15K
PeoplePt VI, VII
5
listed · VII A
PaidVII A1
Voting boardVI 1a5
IndependentVI 1b0
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$1.2M
Gains on assetsLn 7$0
Total revenueLn 12$1.2M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$467K
SavingsLn 2$2.4M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$2.9M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$0
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$30K
Other assetsLn 15$100K
Total assetsLn 16$3.0M
LiabilitiesLn 26$15K
Net assetsLn 32$3.0M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 54
VolunteersI 65
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aNo
Whistleblower policyVI 13No
Records policyVI 14No
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$2.5M$2.9M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$0
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$34K$30K
Total assetsLn 16$2.6M$3.0M
LiabilitiesLn 26$11K$15K
Net assetsLn 32$2.6M$3.0M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$0
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$10K$10K
Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3$0
Benefits paid to or for membersLn 4$0
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$282K$226K$56K
Pay of disqualified personsLn 6$0
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$105K$84K$21K
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$0
Other employee benefitsLn 9$0
Payroll taxesLn 10$23K$19K$5K
Management feesLn 11a$0
Legal feesLn 11b$7K$6K$1K
Accounting feesLn 11c$8K$7K$2K
Lobbying feesLn 11d$0
Professional fundraising feesLn 11e$0
Investment management feesLn 11f$0
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$2K$1K$309
Advertising and promotionLn 12$11K$9K$2K
Office expensesLn 13$22K$18K$4K
Information technologyLn 14$0
RoyaltiesLn 15$0
OccupancyLn 16$27K$21K$5K
TravelLn 17$29K$23K$6K
Travel and entertainment for public officialsLn 18$0
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$0
InterestLn 20$0
Payments to affiliatesLn 21$0
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$9K$7K$2K
InsuranceLn 23$849$679$170
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$240K$192K$48K
All other expensesLn 24e$38K$31K$8K
Total functional expensesLn 25$815K$654K$161K$0

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 Latest Viewing $1.2M$815K$412K$3.0M 990 PDF
FY2023 $1.4M$778K$658K$2.6M 990 PDF
FY2022 $2.5M$603K$1.9M$2.0M 990 PDF
FY2021 $15K$914$14K$0 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons I · Grants A · Public support J · Pay O · Explanations
See the full FY2024 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $1,227,704 revenue, 12 lines filed
I-8 Contributions and grantsPrior year $1,435,141$1,227,704
I-9 Program service revenue$0
I-10 Investment incomePrior year $576$0
I-11 Other revenue$0
I-12 Total revenuePrior year $1,435,717$1,227,704
I-13 Grants and similar amounts paidPrior year $3,500$10,100
I-14 Benefits paid to members$0
I-15 Salaries and benefitsPrior year $364,892$411,023
I-16a Professional fundraising fees$0
I-17 Other expensesPrior year $409,272$394,137
I-18 Total expensesPrior year $777,664$815,260
I-19 Revenue less expensesPrior year $658,053$412,444
Part VI · Governance 0 of 5 board members independent, 4 to look at
VI-1a Voting members of the governing body5
VI-1b Independent voting members0
VI-12a Written conflict of interest policyNo
VI-13 Written whistleblower policyNo
VI-14 Document retention and destruction policyNo
VI-15a Process for setting top official's payNo
VI-2 Family or business relationship among officers or directorsNo
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $1,227,704 across 8 lines filed
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$1,227,704
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$1,227,704
VIII-3 Investment income$0
VIII-5 Royalties$0
VIII-6 Net rental income or loss$0
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assets$0
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising events$0
VIII-12 Total revenue$1,227,704
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $815,260 across 31 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizations$0
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $10,100$10,100
IX-3 Grants and assistance to foreign recipients$0
IX-4 Benefits paid to or for members$0
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $225,846 · Management $56,462$282,308
IX-6 Pay of disqualified persons$0
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $84,232 · Management $21,058$105,290
IX-8 Pension plan contributions$0
IX-9 Other employee benefits$0
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $18,740 · Management $4,685$23,425
IX-11a Management fees$0
IX-11b Legal feesPrograms $5,754 · Management $1,438$7,192
IX-11c Accounting feesPrograms $6,760 · Management $1,690$8,450
IX-11d Lobbying fees$0
IX-11f Investment management fees$0
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $1,236 · Management $309$1,545
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $8,681 · Management $2,170$10,851
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $17,784 · Management $4,446$22,230
IX-14 Information technology$0
IX-15 Royalties$0
IX-16 OccupancyPrograms $21,345 · Management $5,336$26,681
IX-17 TravelPrograms $23,484 · Management $5,871$29,355
IX-18 Travel and entertainment for public officials$0
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetings$0
IX-20 Interest$0
IX-21 Payments to affiliates$0
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $7,277 · Management $1,819$9,096
IX-23 InsurancePrograms $679 · Management $170$849
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $191,692 · Management $47,923$239,615
IX-24e All other expensesPrograms $30,620 · Management $7,653$38,273
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $654,230 · Management $161,030 · Fundraising $0$815,260
Part X · Balance sheet $3,045,140 assets, 18 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $745,762$467,003
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $1,716,661$2,416,661
X-3 Pledges and grants receivable$0
X-4 Accounts receivable$0
X-8 Inventories for sale or use$0
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $31,520$31,520
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $34,296$29,956
X-11 Publicly traded securities$0
X-12 Other securities$0
X-13 Program-related investments$0
X-14 Intangible assets$0
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $100,000$100,000
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $2,628,239$3,045,140
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $10,555$15,012
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $10,555$15,012
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $2,617,684$3,030,128
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $2,617,684$3,030,128
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $2,628,239$3,045,140
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $3,030,128 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$1,227,704
XI-2 Total expenses$815,260
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$412,444
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$2,617,684
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$3,030,128

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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