Colorado · Nonprofit
COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM
COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM (Colorado) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $500,641 to it, the largest being HARRIS FAMILY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($351,658). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $405k
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $501k
- Net assets
- $1.2M
What Colorado Model Railroad Museum does
Mission
To provide a model railroading experience that educates, inspires, and brings joy to all ages.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Maintained railroad artifacts, train models, and layouts for viewing by the public to provide educational opportunities for the community.
$210,754 spent$240,811 earned by the program60% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$140,502 spent40% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $351,256.
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 $807k to $1.1M (+41%).
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 0% · 2021 4% · 2022 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
22% of COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (64% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Michelle Kempema
Executive director
Board chair
John Cochran
Board president
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $7k → $29k.
4 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 28% 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 COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD 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
COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM leans on a few funders — its largest provides 70% of grant income and the top three 97%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
28% 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 COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 85% · 2019 100% · 2020 42% · 2021 56% · 2022 62% · 2023 66% — 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.
Where its funders are
98% of COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM's grant income comes from Colorado funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $141k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM has grown faster 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 COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD 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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
93%
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 COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD 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 COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM?
- COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM (Colorado) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $500,641 to it, the largest being HARRIS FAMILY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION ($351,658). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $500,641 in grants to COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM?
- HARRIS FAMILY CHARITABLE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $351,658 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like COLORADO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. 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 Colorado Model 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 7 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