Ohio · Nonprofit
CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART
CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART (Ohio) receives grants from 245 organizations whose IRS filings report $68,467,472 to it, the largest being THE KELVIN & ELEANOR SMITH FOUNDATION ($9,210,000). 174 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $84M
- Funders on record
- 245
- Grants received
- $68M
- Net assets
- $1.3B
What Cleveland Museum of Art does
Mission
The mission of the Cleveland Museum of Art (cma) is to fulfill its dual roles as one of the world's most distinguished comprehensive art museums and as one of northeastern ohio's principal civic and cultural institutions. The museum, established in 1913 "for the benefit of all the people forever," * seeks to bring the pleasure and meaning of art to the broadest possible audience in accordance with the highest aesthetic, intellectual and professional standards. Toward this end the museum augments, preserves, exhibits and fosters understanding of the outstanding collections of world art it holds in trust for the public and presents complementary exhibitions and programs. The Cleveland Museum of Art embraces its leadership role in collecting, scholarship, education and community service. (* j.h. Wade ii, act of conveyance of land to be used for the cma.)
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Art acquisitions (see schedule o).
$38,298,266 spent43% of program spendingCuratorial, conservation, registrar and library (see schedule o).
$13,071,648 spent$145,104 earned by the program15% of program spendingSpecial exhibitions the museum is a significant international forum for exhibits. The improved and expanded special exhibition spaces makes cleveland a desirable destination for preeminent loan exhibitions, bringing the best art from around the world to the people of the region. Historically, the museum has showcased between 13 and 17 special exhibitions per year, staging temporary exhibitions that draw from its permanent collection as well as showcasing international loan shows.
$5,939,690 spent$1,184,238 earned by the program7% of program spendingUsing its collection and other resources, the museum has a commitment to serve a variety of audiences, always seeking a dynamic interaction between the visitors and the works of art. Museum staff endeavor to create a range of programs that enlighten and delight both a broad audience and visitors with more specific interests. Information on the collection and the continuing research thereon by the professional staff is disseminated through educational activities and publications. The museum presents programs in related areas such as music and film since they can contribute to a broader understanding of the arts. Education & community programs Cleveland Museum of Art's education and academic affairs team creates dynamic programming, thoughtful content, and meaningful collaborations that teach, inspire, and support visitors and the community to engage with the museum's collection, feel a connection to it and, ultimately, enhance their lives through art. In the galleries the museum offers a number of ways to connect with art and each other. The artlens app allows visitors to learn about the artwork on their own, or visitors can take a free tour led by trained docents. Visitors can…
$31,683,362 spentof which $35,620 as grants$3,372,838 earned by the program36% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $88,992,966.
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 $1.1B to $1.3B (+16%).
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 6% · 2018 7% · 2019 2% · 2020 3% · 2021 8% · 2022 5% · 2023 2% · 2024 3% · 2025 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
63% of CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (58% 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.
Board chair
Ellen Stirn Mavec
Chair & board member
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 61 funders to 111 funders, grant income rose $3.0M → $12M.
20 of 245 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 15% 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: $72M from 18 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust); $39M from 2 payers (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest John L Severance). These are real filings, and they are not money CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART raised.
From the IRS filings of CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 245 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
CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 13% of grant income, and it takes 9 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 9 funders to its left
34% 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 CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 23% · 2018 32% · 2019 19% · 2020 20% · 2021 18% · 2022 13% · 2023 25% — 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.
How long its funders stay
54% of CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 71% 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
67% of CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART's grant income comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $10M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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
CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART has grown faster than half of the 570 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.6M on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$926k
- National Endowment for the Arts$360k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$295k
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 CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART
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
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
61%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 3 states
Part of a family of 15 related entities
- John Huntington Art & Polytechnic Trust · exempt
- Horace Kelley Art Foundation · exempt
- Bertha Aiken McMyler Trust 20-0920980 · exempt
- Cma-Hinman Hurlbut 20-0937060 · exempt
- John L Severance Tw 20-0940020 · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART: 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 CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART?
- CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART (Ohio) receives grants from 245 organizations whose IRS filings report $68,467,472 to it, the largest being THE KELVIN & ELEANOR SMITH FOUNDATION ($9,210,000). 174 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART have?
- IRS filings report 245 organizations giving $68,467,472 in grants to CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART, 174 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART?
- THE KELVIN & ELEANOR SMITH FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $9,210,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART 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 245 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