Grants for history museums

1,410 history museums received at least $142.7 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 2,781 grants made from 1,990 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 1,990 foundations, 82% made just a single grant to history museums, and 3% made grants to four or more history museums. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$142,732,562
Total grant dollars given to history museums
2,781
Number of grants made annually to history museums
1,990
Number of grantmakers funding history museums
$1,000
Median grant size to history museums

Foundations that support history museums

Out of all grants made to history museums, 82% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 94% of the dollar-value of grants to history museums. Foundations funding history museums also made grants to historical societies, colleges, art museums, universities, and food banks.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
1,639
Medium
 
192
Large
 
159
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation typeNumber of grantmakers
Community
 
44
Private
 
1,782
Corporate
 
71
Other
 
93

Grants made

Grants made to history museumsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
1,641
2-3
 
280
4-10
 
57
11+
 
12

Top 10 foundations supporting history museums

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to history museumsNumber of grants made to history museumsMedian grant size
Community Foundation of Greater Des MoinesIAState0.1%40$1,000
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.1%36$1,000
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%29$240
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.1%21$1,000
Seattle FoundationWAState0.0%18$2,000
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro0.1%16$1,382
Arkansas Community FoundationARState0.1%15$2,660
Community Foundation of North Texas (NTXCF)TXState0.1%14$750
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.0%12$150
Community Foundation for the Greater Capital RegionNYMetro0.6%11$1,241

History museums grantees

History museums with more than $5 million in total revenues received 77% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 36% of all history museums.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
2,769
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
12

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,000
$100k-$500k
 
$1,000
$500k-$1M
 
$1,000
$1M-$5M
 
$1,000
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
New York
 
304
California
 
212
District of Columbia
 
206
Virginia
 
197
Other
 
1,862

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
Washington DC
 
249
New York City
 
180
New Orleans
 
102
Virginia Beach
 
85
Other
 
1,832

Top 25 grants made to history museums

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures$42,905,821FMVAcademy Foundation
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures$42,490,621Sup. of Related OrgAcademy Foundation
The Gilcrease Museum Management Trust The University of Tulsa$10,000,000Campaign for GilcreaseA. R. and Marylouise Tandy Foundation
South Boston-Halifax County Museum of Fine Arts and History$10,000,000The Acquisition of the Howard Greenberg CollectionPhillip Leonian and Edith Rosenbaum Leonian Charitable Trust
Discovery Park of America$5,822,474EducationRobert E and Jenny D Kirkland Foundation
Grammy Museum Foundation$5,243,964Contributions and Program Service SupportRECORDING Academy
National Museum of World War II Aviation$5,120,000To Promote Further Understanding of American Wwii AviationSlattery Family Foundation
Museum of Automotive Icons$3,600,0002019 Automobile Collection Restricted GrantGreater Manhattan Community Foundation
Medal of Honor Museum Foundation$3,500,000ArchitecturalArlington Tomorrow Foundation
The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education$3,235,705General SupportJewish Federation of Cincinnati
Dallas Holocaust Museum$3,005,096Arts, CultureSouthwest Community Foundation (DJCF)
National Mounted Warfare Foundation$2,800,000General FundThe Frank W and Sue Mayborn Foundation
Old Sturbridge Village (OSV)$5,000Core ProgramsRockwell Foundation
Montpelier Foundation$5,000Unrestricted GivingCharlottesville Area Community Foundation
Edmonds South Snohomish County Historical Society$5,000Edmonds Historical NorthHubbard Family Foundation
Thomas Jefferson Foundation$5,000General & UnrestrictedConroy Family Foundation
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)$5,000Never Again: What You Do Matters CampaignRhoda and David Chase Family Foundation
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)$5,000Unrestricted PurposeCheryl Chase and Stuart Bear Family Foundation
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM)$5,000Unrestricted PurposeSandra and Arnold Chase Family Foundation
Cotton Museum$5,000Annual Harvest PartyThe Turley Foundation
Palo Alto Museum$5,000Arts, Culture, and HumanitiesSanta Barbara Foundation
Computer History Museum (CHM)$5,000GeneralJewish Community Foundation of San Diego
Congressional Medal of Honor Society of the United States of America$5,000To Provide Appropriate Aid To All Persons To Whom the Medal Has Been Awarded, Their Widows Or Their Children.The Orchard Farm Foundation
Thomas Jefferson Foundation$5,000EducationThe Richard and Leslie Gilliam Foundation
The Mark Twain House and Museum$5,000To Foster An Appreciation of the Legacy of Mark TwainTrinity Health of New England Corporation
Methodology: To determine grants and grantees, Cause IQ analyzes electronically-filed Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF financial disclosure documents, matching grantees to specific organizations using EINs and fuzzy matching logic. The "History museums" category for this page is determined by the "A54: History Museums" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.