California · Nonprofit
ASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM
ASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM (California) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,547,198 to it, the largest being Silicon Valley Community Foundation ($2,317,359). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 92% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $856k
- Funders on record
- 24
- Grants received
- $4.5M
- Net assets
- $4.7M
What Association of the Los Altos Historical Museum Aka Los Altos History Museum does
Mission
The los altos history museum gathers and presents artifacts and stories to bridge the past and the present by fostering the creative energy of volunteers and staff to produce engaging educational programs and exhibits that challenge established narratives.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Exhibition productionthe museum displayed three exhibitions in our main gallery. One of the most popular exhibits was rooted in time: journey through hidden villa, which featured the history of the duveneck family and hidden villa on the occasion of its 100th anniversary. Another highlight included she sang me a good luck song: the california indian photographs of dugan aguilar, a rental exhibit to which the museum added a special display about the muwekma ohlone tribe's 2024 trail of truth journey to washington, d.c. In pursuit of federal recognition.the museum also hosted several exhibit-related programs as part of our popular third wednesday series that connected history to the present, including a neighborhood block party celebrating the history and residents of moody road near hidden villa, as well as a talk by charlene nijmeh, chairwoman of the muwekma ohlone tribe, about her experience on the trail of truth.the museum's exhibits and programs brought hundreds of visitors to the museum and fostered meaningful dialogues with and between community members. Related programs for all ages included in-gallery scavenger hunts as well as interactive art-making, contributing to the…
$125,183 spent29% of program spendingCollection carethe museum processed forty-six donations of items during this fiscal year, adding items to our library, photography collection, oral histories, and 3-d artifact collection. Staff is continuing to develop our inventory, our primary goal for the collection, in order to move closer to achieving accreditation by the american alliance of museums.we offered tours of our principal historic resource, the j. Gilbert smith house, to hundreds of visitors. We welcomed even more visitors to our multimedia permanent exhibition in our upper gallery, now in its third year. There, the community corner display featured objects from the collection related to los altos' sister cities. In december 2024, staff curated the display to highlight items connected to the history of los altos clubs.
$129,831 spent30% of program spendingEducational outreach the museum held three family-friendly community events during this fiscal year: the mid-autumn festival, co-hosted with the greater los altos chinese association on september 15, 2024, celebrating the harvest and chinese culture; train days on september 21 and 22, 2024, which offered train lovers the experience of model railroading and honored the history of the city as a former train stop; and rancho day on november 2, 2024, which enabled visitors to experience how california ranchos operated in the early 19th century.as they do each spring, dedicated members of our education committee led more than fifteen 3rd and 4th grade tours to teach local students about california and los altos history. We also welcomed a new cohort of local teens to our teen docent program in support of our vision to foster intergenerational connections. We were honored to continue our stewardship of the city heritage orchard, a vital historical landmark. Our orchard ambassadors facilitated the annual apricot harvest in late spring so that the entire community could enjoy the fruits of this resource.
$140,660 spent32% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$42,164 spent$2,789 earned by the program10% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $437,838.
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 $2.3M to $4.5M (+92%).
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 20% · 2018 12% · 2019 11% · 2020 8% · 2021 6% · 2022 3% · 2023 37% · 2024 20% · 2025 16%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
72% of ASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 9 funders, grant income rose $93k → $171k.
9 of 24 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 92% 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 THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM’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 THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM leans on a few funders — its largest provides 51% of grant income and the top three 89%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
93% 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 THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 63% · 2018 54% · 2019 78% · 2020 24% · 2021 90% · 2022 93% · 2023 48% — 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
44% of ASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
92% of ASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $357k that is directly attributable, 95% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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 THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like ASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
54% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
62%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM: 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 THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM?
- ASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM (California) receives grants from 24 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,547,198 to it, the largest being Silicon Valley Community Foundation ($2,317,359). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 92% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does ASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM have?
- IRS filings report 24 organizations giving $4,547,198 in grants to ASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM?
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $2,317,359 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ASSOCIATION OF THE LOS ALTOS HISTORICAL MUSEUM AKA LOS ALTOS HISTORY MUSEUM find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 24 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing