Virginia · Nonprofit
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS (Virginia) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,365,556 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,650,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $11M
- Funders on record
- 43
- Grants received
- $6.4M
- Net assets
- $7.0M
What American Association of Museums does
Mission
Champion equitable and impactful museums by connecting people, fostering learning and community, and nurturing museum excellence.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Learning, meetings and professional education: captures the alliance's commitment to the advancement, professional development, and networking of the museum community. The alliance's annual meeting is the largest cultural meeting that brings together all disciplines of museum management, and represents the broad spectrum of alliance members, from aquariums and art museums to science centers and zoos. The meeting is also the largest exposition of its kind featuring companies and products serving the museum industry. The future of museums summit is a virtual conference devoted to current topics, trends and issues facing museums now and in the future.
$2,742,535 spentof which $136,800 as grants$2,913,711 earned by the program38% of program spendingField-wide services: include those services which directly address the alliance's commitment to championing equitable and impactful museums. Programs included the continuum of excellence (accreditation, museum assessment program, and core documents verification), inclusion, social impact, and grant funded initiatives.
$2,129,594 spent$816,243 earned by the program30% of program spendingPublications and business enterprises - includes titles developed and sold through the aam bookstore, in partnership with aam's co-publisher, museum magazine, the alliance's job board, and advertising opportunities for museum industry partners.
$852,087 spent$720,465 earned by the program12% of program spendingMembership is the hub of the alliance's customer service center for member inquiries and assistance, and the coordination of member benefits.advocacy efforts ensure that museums' stories are told to policymakers, the press, and the public. Activities include museums advocacy day, monthly advocacy alerts, and publications that encourage museums to speak up for themselves and the field.center for the future of museums helps museums navigate the future through blog posts, annual publication of economic and cultural trends, and specialized reports and research.
$1,428,859 spentof which $1,200 as grants$3,417,554 earned by the program20% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,153,075.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $11M to $16M (+40%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 10% · 2018 3% · 2019 3% · 2020 7% · 2021 15% · 2022 8% · 2023 7% · 2024 13%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
25% of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Board chair
Jorge Zamanillo
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 11 funders, grant income fell $355k → $293k.
6 of 43 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 43 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 55% · 2018 68% · 2019 98% · 2020 39% · 2021 47% · 2022 25% · 2023 34% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
29% of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 33% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Virginia, across 16 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $91k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $6.4M to it.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $6.7M on record — $6.7M federal, $895 state.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$3.9M
- Department of the Interior$2.2M
- National Endowment for the Humanities$409k
- Smithsonian Institution$111k
- National Endowment for the Arts$40k
- Department of Defense$9k
- Dues$895
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
67% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
75%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 30 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS?
- AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS (Virginia) receives grants from 43 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,365,556 to it, the largest being THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION ($1,650,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS have?
- IRS filings report 43 organizations giving $6,365,556 in grants to AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS?
- THE ANDREW W MELLON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,650,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 43 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing