Society of American Archivists

What Society of American Archivists does

The Society of American Archivists (SAA) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit professional membership association founded in 1936 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It is North America's oldest and largest national archival professional association, serving a community of more than 5,000 working archivists, students, early-career professionals, allied professionals, and archival institutions across academic, government, corporate, and nonprofit sectors. Its mission centers on standards development, professional development, federal advocacy for archival funding, and public awareness of archives' value.

SAA's core products span peer-reviewed publishing (American Archivist journal, Archival Outlook newsletter, book publishing program), reference resources (Dictionary of Archives Terminology), professional credentialing (Digital Archives Specialist and Arrangement & Description certificate programs), online and in-person continuing education delivered through the PathLMS platform, an SAA Connect member community platform, the SAA Bookstore, the Careers.archivists.org job board, and the annual ARCHIVES*RECORDS conference rotating through U.S. cities. The affiliated SAA Foundation operates as a fundraising and grantmaking entity supporting scholarships, research grants, and emergency assistance.

The revenue model is a diversified mix of recurring individual, student, associate, and institutional membership dues; publication and merchandise sales; fee-based continuing education and certificate programs; annual conference registration; Career Center job posting fees charged to employers; and tax-deductible donations routed through the SAA Foundation. GTM motion is community-led, relying on social media awareness campaigns (#AskAnArchivist Day, American Archives Month), email newsletters, peer-reviewed publications, and the annual conference to acquire and retain members. No revenue figure is publicly disclosed.

Name

Society of American Archivists

Legal name

Society of American Archivists

Website

https://www2.archivists.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1936

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Society of American Archivists is a 501(c)(3) professional membership association founded in 1936 that serves over 5,000 archivists and archival institutions across North America through standards development, peer-reviewed publishing, certificate programs, federal advocacy, and the annual ARCHIVES*RECORDS conference.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Association Services

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Libraries, Archives & Special Collections (BPAGAHAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA), Scholarly Society & Association Publishing (EDAGAFAK)

Keywords

• Archival professional association
• Continuing education programs
• Professional certification programs
• Archival standards advocacy
• Scholarly publishing archives

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Individual, student, associate, and institutional membership fees with various dues categories
2. Publications Sales: Bookstore sales including the Archival Fundamentals Series, Trends in Archives Practice, and other professional publications; journal subscriptions to American Archivist
3. Continuing Education: Fee-based courses, workshops, certificate programs (DAS, Arrangement & Description), and online learning via PathLMS platform
4. Annual Meeting: Conference registration fees for ARCHIVES*RECORDS annual meeting
5. Career Center: Job posting fees charged to employers through the SAA Career Center
6. Donations/Foundation: Tax-deductible donations to SAA Foundation supporting scholarships, grants, and emergency funds

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Society of American Archivists is a non-profit professional membership association that delivers continuing education (certificate programs in Digital Archives and Arrangement & Description), peer-reviewed publications (American Archivist journal, Archival Outlook newsletter, Dictionary of Archives Terminology), standards development, federal advocacy, and career services to archivists and the institutions that employ them. It operates as the largest U.S. national body representing the archival profession, providing training, credentialing, and community for individual and institutional members.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• American Archivist Journal Official peer-reviewed scholarly journal of SAA, publishing articles, reviews, and research on archival theory and practice for the professional community.
• Archival Outlook Newsletter SAA's newsletter providing news, updates, and practical information for archivists and archival institutions.
• Dictionary of Archives Terminology Online dictionary providing standardized definitions of archival terms, serving as a reference standard for the professional community.
• Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Certificate Program Professional certification program providing curriculum and training for digital archives management, delivered through a structured set of courses.
• Arrangement & Description (A&D) Certificate Program Professional certification program focused on archival arrangement and description practices for working archivists.
• SAA Career Center Online job board and career services platform connecting archivists with employment opportunities and offering paid internship listings for employers.
• Online Learning (PathLMS) SAA's webcast and on-demand continuing education catalog delivered through the PathLMS online learning platform.
• Continuing Education Live Courses Fee-based live continuing education courses and workshops offered regionally through host organizations for the archival profession.
• ARCHIVES*RECORDS Annual Meeting Annual conference of the Society of American Archivists featuring sessions, an expo hall, and networking, rotating through U.S. cities (2025 location TBD, 2026 in New Orleans).
• Book Publishing Program Publishing program producing books including the Archival Fundamentals Series III, Trends in Archives Practice, and Archival Futures series, sold through the SAA Bookstore.
• SAA Memberships Annual membership program with Individual, Student, Associate, and Institutional categories providing access to SAA Connect, publications, member discounts on courses and events, and advocacy representation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Advocacy secured $1.1 million in Congressional earmarks for member projects in FY2022
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• National Coalition for History (NCH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAA is a proud Policy Board member of the National Coalition for History, a consortium of more than 50 organizations advocating on federal legislative and regulatory issues affecting historians, archivists, researchers, teachers, students, preservationists, political scientists, museum professionals, genealogists, and other stakeholders. SAA collaborates on advocacy for federal funding for NHPRC, NEH, National Archives, and IMLS.
• Council of State ArchivistscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAA partners with the Council of State Archivists on joint initiatives including American Archives Month, #ERecsDay (Electronic Records Day), and advocacy for state and federal archival funding. The Council maintains an online directory of state Archives Week/Month activities.
• National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAA advocates for funding for the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the grant-making arm of NARA. Collaboration on standards development and public awareness initiatives including #AskAnArchivist Day.
• National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAA advocates for continued NEH funding as a critical federal entity supporting humanities programs and archival preservation. NEH provides grants for preservation, education, and digital archives projects.
• Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAA advocates for IMLS funding as a primary source of federal support for libraries and museums, many of which maintain archives and special collections. IMLS supports digitization and digital preservation initiatives.
• Allied Professional OrganizationsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAA maintains a directory of Allied Professional Organizations (APOs) including Association of Professional Genealogists, American Association for History and Computing, Association for Documentation, and others working on related archival and historical activities.
• National History DaymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSAA endorses National History Day and encourages member archives to serve as resources for students preparing for National History Day projects, which provide opportunities for students to work with and analyze primary source materials.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• American Library Association: The largest U.S. professional membership association for librarians, with a directly analogous model: membership dues, peer-reviewed journal, advocacy, annual conference, continuing education, and standards development. Operates as a parallel authority institution serving an adjacent (and overlapping) information-profession community.
• International Council on Archives: The global professional association for archivists, operating on the same association-of-professionals model across international membership tiers. Directly comparable as a peer-association body defining standards and professional practice for the same core discipline.
• Council of State Archivists: The national association representing state government archivists; a documented SAA strategic partner co-hosting American Archives Month and Electronic Records Day. Matches SAA on professional association structure, federal funding advocacy (NHPRC/NEH), and shared member community.
• National Association of Government Archivists and Records Administrators (NAGARA): U.S. professional association for government archives and records administrators, with a near-identical mission: advocacy, continuing education, publications, and community for archivists working in state and local government repositories.

Emerging players

• Digital Preservation Coalition: An international coalition focused specifically on digital preservation, a core curriculum area for SAA's DAS certificate program. A partial-overlap peer addressing the same emerging professional-development need inside the broader archival community.
• Oral History Association: A smaller professional association focused on oral history methodology, often hosted in archival collections. Comparable as a niche membership association in an archive-adjacent discipline, with overlapping membership and standards-development activities.

Broad incumbents

• American Historical Association: The largest U.S. academic-professional association for historians, sharing a scholarly-society model (peer-reviewed journal, annual meeting, advocacy, awards). Closely aligned with SAA's research community and co-member base of historians using archival materials.
• American Alliance of Museums: The largest U.S. association for museum professionals, with a parallel institutional-membership and accreditation-driven model. Comparable as a cultural-heritage authority organization that shares SAA's institutional members and advocacy positioning.
• Association of Research Libraries: A membership association of the largest research libraries in North America, with overlapping institutional membership base and analogous advocacy function in federal funding for libraries/archives. Comparable as a higher-tier institutional-membership association serving research-heritage institutions.
• Special Libraries Association: A larger professional association serving information professionals across corporate, government, and research library contexts. Comparable through its association business model (membership, certification, conferences, publications) and overlap with SAA's institutional member segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/archivists_org
• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=ZlQ91ty-spo&t=6s
• Facebookfacebook.com/archivists
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/society-of-american-archivists

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Society of American Archivists