Grants for children's museums

244 children's museums received at least $18.4 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 543 grants made from 441 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,500. Of these 441 foundations, 91% made just a single grant to kids museums, and 1% made grants to four or more kids museums. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$18,413,828
Total grant dollars given to children's museums
543
Number of grants made annually to children's museums
441
Number of grantmakers funding children's museums
$1,500
Median grant size to children's museums

Foundations that support children's museums

Out of all grants made to children's museums, 72% 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 kids museums. Foundations funding kids museums also made grants to multiservice human service organizations, food banks, theaters, boys and girls clubs, and student service providers.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
318
Medium
 
59
Large
 
64
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
 
20
Private
 
341
Corporate
 
39
Other
 
41

Grants made

Grants made to kids museumsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
403
2-3
 
30
4-10
 
6
11+
 
2

Top 10 foundations supporting children's museums

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to kids museumsNumber of grants made to kids museumsMedian grant size
Carmax FoundationVANational0.2%15$500
Westrock FoundationGANational0.0%11$24
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.1%10$1,750
Greater Tacoma Community Foundation (GTCF)WAMetro0.2%10$1,500
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%10$500
Charity Partners FoundationMANational0.2%7$12
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro0.0%6$750
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.0%5$250
Charlottesville Area Community FoundationVAMetro0.1%3$5,000
Lumina FoundationINNational0.0%3$3,750

Children's museums grantees

Children's museums with more than $5 million in total revenues received 95% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 27% of all kids museums.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
540
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
3

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$2,750
$100k-$500k
 
$1,050
$500k-$1M
 
$2,000
$1M-$5M
 
$1,500
>$5M
 
$2,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
California
 
54
New York
 
35
Florida
 
34
Virginia
 
32
Other
 
388

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
29
Seattle
 
22
Providence
 
21
San Francisco
 
18
Other
 
417

Top 25 grants made to children's museums

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
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
Tulsa Children's Museum$2,510,064General OperationsTulsa Community Foundation
Stepping Stones Museum for Children$5,000Grant Recommended By Daf; Grant To Support Mutt-I-Grees Program in NCNew Canaan Community Foundation
Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum$5,000General SupportNSF International (NSF)
Virginia Discovery Museum$5,000Sponsored Admission ProgramCharlottesville Area Community Foundation
Virginia Discovery Museum$5,000General PurposeCharlottesville Area Community Foundation
Virginia Discovery Museum$5,000Sponsored Admission ProgramCharlottesville Area Community Foundation
Connecticut Childrens Museum$5,000Dedicated To Enhancing the Quality of Life of the Residents of the State of ConnecticutTrinity Health of New England Corporation
Pretend City Children's Museum$5,000General & UnrestrictedCraig and Gisele Barto Family Foundation
Omaha CHILDREN'S Museum$5,000SupportGilbert C Swanson Foundation
Children's Museum of Denver$5,000To Support ProgramThe Colorado Trust
Marbles Kids Museum$5,000General PurposeTriangle Community Foundation
Children's Museum of Tacoma$5,000More Than A Museum CampaignGreater Tacoma Community Foundation (GTCF)
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis$5,000Local CommunityJewish Federation of Greater Indianapolis (JFGI)
San Antonio Children's Museum$5,000For General Operating ExpensesSan Antonio Area Foundation Group Return
Bay Area Discovery Museum (BADM)$5,000Fort BakerArkansas Community Foundation
Chicago Children's Museum$5,000Unrestricted for General Use of CharityJohn R Halligan Charitable Fund
Hands on Discovery Center$5,000Hands on Discovery CenterThe Powell Foundation
Great Explorations Children's Museum$5,000Support Children and Youth ProgramsGuardian Trust Foundation
Montshire Museum of Science$5,000Arts and CultureGulf Coast Community Foundation
Children's Museum$5,000"science Achievement for All" Program Delivery for K-8 Manchester StudentsHartford Foundation for Public Giving (HFPG)
Children's Museum$5,000EducationHartford Foundation for Public Giving (HFPG)
The Children's Museum at Saratoga$5,000Making ConnectionsCommunity Foundation for the Greater Capital Region
Marbles Kids Museum$5,000Help Kids DevelopmentYaoqing & Shouying Huang Family 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 "Children's museums" category for this page is determined by the "A52: Childrens Museums" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.