Virginia · Nonprofit
ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC
ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC (Virginia) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,270,782 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($1,000,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.2M
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $2.3M
- Net assets
- $2.4M
What Association of Children's Museums Inc does
Mission
The association of children's museums will strengthen all children's museums through leadership, advocacy, professional development and service.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Education and child development - connecting children's museums through initiatives that focus on prioritizing education and child development through mission-aligned playful learning opportunities.
$1,054,869 spentof which $536,300 as grants$281,171 earned by the program31% of program spendingMembership services - supporting children's museums to create a world that prioritizes the rights of all children to playful learning and a healthy, safe, and equitable future.
$789,205 spent$548,903 earned by the program23% of program spendingMeetings and conferences - various meetings including annual conference and programs that provide professional development for children's museums staff at all levels.
$661,980 spentof which $500 as grants$736,675 earned by the program20% of program spendingOrganizational leadership & education - professional development opportunities for children's museum professionals that includes knowledge-sharing and resource development to offer effective practices for the field.
$139,212 spentof which $10,032 as grants$100,137 earned by the program4% of program spendingMuseums of all- a cooperative initiative with imls to ensure that every family, child, and individual has access to a high-quality museum experience by offering deeply discounted admission to low-income families and individuals.
$216,729 spentof which $4,600 as grants$171,687 earned by the program6% of program spendingResearch - co-creating research-based resources that draw attention to emerging trends and opportunities for elevating the children's museum field.
$491,090 spentof which $2,000 as grants15% of program spendingCultural understanding - connecting children's museums with resources and effective practices that help them develop experiences that equip families to better navigate a globally connected world.
$10,628 spent$8,784 earned by the program0% of program spending
The 7 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,363,713.
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 2020 to 2021, from $2.1M to $4.0M (+87%).
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: 2020 12% · 2021 18% · 2022 25% · 2023 20% · 2024 20% · 2025 24%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
55% of ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 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.
Chief executive
Arthur Affleck
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $6k → $1.0M.
3 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 29% 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 ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 44% of grant income and the top three 74%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
32% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 99% — broadly stable.
“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.
Where its funders are
ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Virginia, across 4 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $651k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.8M on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$2.4M
- National Science Foundation$1.4M
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 ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC
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
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
66%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 7 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC: 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 ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC?
- ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC (Virginia) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,270,782 to it, the largest being LILLY ENDOWMENT INC ($1,000,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $2,270,782 in grants to ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC?
- LILLY ENDOWMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ASSOCIATION OF CHILDREN'S MUSEUMS INC 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 7 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