Maryland · Nonprofit
B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC
B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC (Maryland) receives grants from 52 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,336,037 to it, the largest being CSX FOUNDATION INC ($1,000,000). 30 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $7.3M
- Funders on record
- 52
- Grants received
- $4.3M
- Net assets
- $35M
What B&O Railroad Museum Inc does
Mission
To preserve the physical legacy and the experience of american railroading, to interpret and present its history to the widest possible audience and to develop programs which broaden and deepen public appreciation of the past, present and future significance of the railroad industry in the development of american life, especially in the city of baltimore, state of maryland, and the region.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Development of programs which broaden and deepen the public appreciation of the significance of the railroad industry in the development of american life by collecting, preserving, and interpreting historical railroad documents, data, etc. The museum offers regularly scheduled train rides, demonstrations of historic railroading equipment in the roundhouse, and tours of our shop facility where visitors can witness craftsmen actively restoring historic locomotives. The museum also offers major public programs focused on early childhood education and railroad culture.
$5,970,773 spent$2,516,027 earned by the program99% of program spendingTo operate and maintain an equestrian facility for museum programming and security
$50,673 spent1% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,021,446.
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 2024 to 2025, from $36M to $47M (+30%).
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 2% · 2018 0% · 2019 1% · 2020 2% · 2021 27% · 2022 27% · 2023 6% · 2024 4% · 2025 17%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
44% of B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM 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. 4 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
Kris Hoellen
Executive director
Board chair
Francis X Smyth
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 19 funders, grant income rose $22k → $569k.
10 of 52 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 16% 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 B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 52 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
B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 23% 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 28% · 2018 80% · 2019 56% · 2020 35% · 2021 30% · 2022 46% · 2023 44% — growing more concentrated.
“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
32% of B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
50% of B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC's grant income comes from Maryland funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $681k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters 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 B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.2M on record — $1.8M federal, $1.4M state.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$1.4M
- National Endowment for the Humanities$200k
- National Archives and Records Administration$195k
- Grant$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 B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM 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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
63%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- First Mile Stable Charitable Foundation LLC · disregarded
- B&O 200 Fund Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM 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 B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC?
- B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC (Maryland) receives grants from 52 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,336,037 to it, the largest being CSX FOUNDATION INC ($1,000,000). 30 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC have?
- IRS filings report 52 organizations giving $4,336,037 in grants to B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC, 30 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC?
- CSX FOUNDATION 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 B&O RAILROAD MUSEUM INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds B&O Railroad Museum →
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 52 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