Ohio · Nonprofit
CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER
CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER (Ohio) receives grants from 138 organizations whose IRS filings report $18,162,147 to it, the largest being JOHN J & MARY R SCHIFF FOUNDATION ($2,000,000). 90 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $34M
- Funders on record
- 138
- Grants received
- $18M
- Net assets
- $315M
What Cincinnati Museum Center does
Mission
Cincinnati Museum Center inspires people of all ages to learn more about our world through science, regional history, and educational, engaging and meaningful experiences.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Three museums accredited by the american association of museums are open to the public 363 days each year. Cincinnati history museum, cincinnati museum of natural history and science, and duke energy children's museum provide public exhibits and interactive programming for visitors of all ages. We create exhibits that travel to other museums in north america and also host temporary exhibits that we rent from other organizations to supplement the topics presented in our permanent museum exhibits. Omnimax large-format film theater presents films on natural and cultural history topics. We have participated in the production of films shown worldwide. Films are often selected to complement current exhibit topics, enhancing our ability to provide meaningful educational opportunities to our regional audience.
$11,846,793 spentof which $625,997 as grants$15,016,068 earned by the program63% of program spendingCollections management and research. Preservation and conservation of objects in our collections for use by current and future generations of scientists and historians, as well as providing objects and information about them for our museum exhibits. Our staff conducts field investigations in paleontology, archaeology and zoology to increase our understanding of life processes, earth and human history. This research provides information and material for exhibits and for articles published in popular and scientific journals. 1.8 million objects, artifacts and documents are curated by cmc , including a number of exclusive and best in class collections.
$1,464,073 spent8% of program spendingEducational programs include classes, workshops, day camps, overnight camps, lectures and tours that interpret and expand on museum exhibit themes. One large and two small theater spaces are used for live performances that bring historical events to life, providing reinforcement of topics and an additional avenue for mission delivery. School group programs are provided in our museums and also at school sites. Docents are stationed in all museum exhibit areas to interact with visitors and enhance the visitor's learning opportunities.
$5,378,533 spent$814,967 earned by the program29% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $18,689,399.
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 2017 to 2018, from $136M to $222M (+63%).
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 78% · 2018 69% · 2019 54% · 2020 60% · 2021 58% · 2022 37% · 2023 11% · 2024 5% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
51% of CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% 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.
Chief executive
Elizabeth W Pierce
President & CEO
Board chair
Tim Steigerwald
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 27 funders to 59 funders, grant income rose $906k → $1.6M.
11 of 138 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $16M from 5 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Greater Cincinnati Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER raised.
From the IRS filings of CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 138 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
CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 11% of grant income, and it takes 8 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 8 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 55% · 2018 45% · 2019 38% · 2020 18% · 2021 16% · 2022 16% · 2023 13% — 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
47% of CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
82% of CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER's grant income comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $973k 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
CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 550 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 550 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.6M on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$1.3M
- National Endowment for the Humanities$499k
- National Science Foundation$405k
- Department of the Interior$382k
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 CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER
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
65% 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 2 states
Part of a family of 7 related entities
- Helen Steiner Rice Fund LLC · disregarded
- Cincinnati Museums Foundation · exempt
- National Underground Railroad Freedom Center · exempt
- End Slavery Now · exempt
- Union Terminal LLC · partnership
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER: 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 CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER?
- CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER (Ohio) receives grants from 138 organizations whose IRS filings report $18,162,147 to it, the largest being JOHN J & MARY R SCHIFF FOUNDATION ($2,000,000). 90 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 138 organizations giving $18,162,147 in grants to CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER, 90 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER?
- JOHN J & MARY R SCHIFF FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CINCINNATI MUSEUM CENTER 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.
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 138 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