Ohio · Nonprofit
BUCKEYE IMAGINATION MUSEUM
BUCKEYE IMAGINATION MUSEUM (Ohio) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,064,058 to it, the largest being RICHLAND COUNTY FOUNDATION ($3,719,550). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 96% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2026
- $739k
- Funders on record
- 14
- Grants received
- $5.1M
- Net assets
- $2.5M
What Buckeye Imagination Museum does
Mission
To create extraordinary learning experiences across the arts, sciences and humanities that have the power to transform the lives of children and families.
As stated on its FY2026 Form 990.
Program
To create extraordinary learning experiences across the arts, sciences and humanities that have the power to transform the lives of children and families.
$813,483 spent$346,510 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $813,483.
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 $721k to $2.5M (+251%).
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: 2021 1% · 2022 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
53% of BUCKEYE IMAGINATION MUSEUM’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 10 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
Ann Downs
Board member - board chair
As listed on its FY2026 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $41k → $416k.
7 of 14 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 96% 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 BUCKEYE IMAGINATION 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
BUCKEYE IMAGINATION MUSEUM leans on a few funders — its largest provides 73% of grant income and the top three 95%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
98% 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 BUCKEYE IMAGINATION MUSEUM.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 69% · 2018 48% · 2019 65% · 2020 97% · 2021 99% · 2022 96% · 2023 85% — 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
57% of BUCKEYE IMAGINATION MUSEUM's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 57% 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
96% of BUCKEYE IMAGINATION 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 $221k that is directly attributable, 89% of it comes from funders outside Ohio, across 3 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.8M 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
BUCKEYE IMAGINATION MUSEUM has grown faster than half of the 630 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 630 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2026
Organizations like BUCKEYE IMAGINATION 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 Ohio
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
83%
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 BUCKEYE IMAGINATION 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 BUCKEYE IMAGINATION MUSEUM?
- BUCKEYE IMAGINATION MUSEUM (Ohio) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,064,058 to it, the largest being RICHLAND COUNTY FOUNDATION ($3,719,550). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 96% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does BUCKEYE IMAGINATION MUSEUM have?
- IRS filings report 14 organizations giving $5,064,058 in grants to BUCKEYE IMAGINATION MUSEUM, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BUCKEYE IMAGINATION MUSEUM?
- RICHLAND COUNTY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,719,550 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BUCKEYE IMAGINATION MUSEUM find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 Buckeye Imagination Museum →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2026 (financials across 2017–2026), and the filings of 14 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