Grants for museums

2,674 museums received at least $406.6 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 7,854 grants made from 4,372 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 4,372 foundations, 68% made just a single grant to museums, and 7% made grants to four or more museums. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$406,614,817
Total grant dollars given to museums
7,854
Number of grants made annually to museums
4,372
Number of grantmakers funding museums
$1,000
Median grant size to museums

Foundations that support museums

Out of all grants made to museums, 82% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 74% of the dollar-value of grants to museums. Foundations funding museums also made grants to art museums, colleges, history museums, historical societies, and performing arts centers.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
3,608
Medium
 
470
Large
 
294
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
 
65
Private
 
3,923
Corporate
 
167
Other
 
217

Grants made

Grants made to museumsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
3,003
2-3
 
1,062
4-10
 
270
11+
 
37

Top 10 foundations supporting museums

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to museumsNumber of grants made to museumsMedian grant size
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%111$250
Community Foundation of Greater Des MoinesIAState0.3%107$1,000
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro0.4%89$1,500
Seattle FoundationWAState0.2%73$1,500
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.2%55$1,000
Baird FoundationWINational1.2%39$1,000
Charity Partners FoundationMANational0.9%38$10
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.2%36$1,000
Greater Tacoma Community Foundation (GTCF)WAMetro0.6%34$1,000
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.0%30$134

Museums grantees

Museums with more than $5 million in total revenues received 90% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 55% of all museums.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
7,816
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
38

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,000
$100k-$500k
 
$1,250
$500k-$1M
 
$1,250
$1M-$5M
 
$1,200
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
New York
 
1,444
California
 
732
Massachusetts
 
391
Texas
 
361
Other
 
4,926

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
1,264
Washington DC
 
387
Los Angeles
 
268
Boston
 
221
Other
 
5,109

Top 25 grants made to museums

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Museum of Fine Arts$105,485,818Cash and Net Asset ValueFidelity Non-Profit Management Foundation
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures$42,905,821FMVAcademy Foundation
Academy Museum of Motion Pictures$42,490,621Sup. of Related OrgAcademy Foundation
Whitney Museum of American Art$34,299,800Donation of Cash and Artworks By Roy Lichtenstein for the Museum's Collection of His WorkRoy Lichtenstein Foundation
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art$11,500,000Arts & CultureTown Branch Foundation
Taubman Museum of Art$11,005,187Operating ContributionTaubman Foundation for the Arts
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
Portland Art Museum$9,431,837Arts, Culture & HumanitiesThe Oregon Community Foundation
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art$8,000,000Arts & CultureThe Builders Initiative
Walt Disney Family Museum (WDFM)$7,361,417FMVWalt and Lilly Disney Foundation
Walt Disney Family Museum (WDFM)$7,361,417Education/artsWalt and Lilly Disney Foundation
Discovery Park of America$5,822,474EducationRobert E and Jenny D Kirkland Foundation
Denver Art Museum$5,500,000ConstructionUniversity of Denver (DU)
Grammy Museum Foundation$5,243,964Contributions and Program Service SupportRECORDING Academy
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art$5,200,000Capital CampaignCommunity Foundation of Greater Memphis
National Museum of World War II Aviation$5,120,000To Promote Further Understanding of American Wwii AviationSlattery Family Foundation
Museum of Fine Arts$5,000,000Construction, Organization SupportFidelity Non-Profit Management Foundation
Smithsonian Institution (SI)$5,000,000To Establish Endowments at the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Support of the Museum's Directorship and Curatorial Research CentersAndrew W. Mellon Foundation
Smithsonian Institution (SI)$3,705,652Sub-AwardJohns Hopkins University (JHU)
Museum of Automotive Icons$3,600,0002019 Automobile Collection Restricted GrantGreater Manhattan Community Foundation
Denver Art Museum$3,597,272General SupportThe Denver Art Museum 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
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum$3,078,000General SupportBurnett Foundation
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 "Museums" category for this page is determined by the "A50: Museums" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.