Colorado · Nonprofit
DENVER ART MUSEUM
DENVER ART MUSEUM (Colorado) receives grants from 285 organizations whose IRS filings report $99,414,553 to it, the largest being MERLE CHAMBERS FUND ($33,135,647). 190 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $87M
- Funders on record
- 285
- Grants received
- $99M
- Net assets
- $178M
What Denver Art Museum does
Mission
The primary mission of the Denver Art Museum is to enrich the lives of present and future generations through the acquisition, presentation, and preservation of works of art, supported by exemplary scholarship and public programs related both to its permanent collections and to temporary exhibitions presented by the museum.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Exhibitions and collections: each year, the Denver Art Museum (dam) presents temporary and traveling exhibitions of art from around the world. Among the highlights in 2025 were dawoud bey: street portraits, the life and art of tokio ueyama, lunar phases: korean moon jars, kent monkman: history is painted by the victors, and charles sandison: chamber. Shown in the textile art gallery in the martin building, confluence of nature: nancy hemenway barton features twelve textile wall sculptures and five works on paper by american artist nancy hemenway barton, each an exploration of the stunning locations from around the world that informed and inspired her artistic process. At the kirkland, vanity & vice: american art deco invites visitors to indulge in the glitz and glamour of the dynamic designs that came out of the rebellious years of 1920-1933. The exhibition features nearly 200 objects made in america that exemplify the period, all from the permanent collection. A major highlight of the year, wild things: the art of maurice sendak presented more than 450 artworks created by maurice sendak. One of the most versatile artists of the twentieth century, sendak is best known for picture…
$43,011,984 spent$5,514,968 earned by the program65% of program spendingPremises & buildings: these costs include all expenditures associated with the day-to-day operations of the museum's facilities. Exhibition and permanent galleries displayed a variety of artwork for the public's enjoyment while the museum's public spaces enable museum staff and volunteers to conduct frequent learning and engagement programs including tours, public talks, interpretive programs, art-making activities, and more. The premises and buildings provide ample space for mission-driven programming aimed at enriching the lives of this and future generations, and for which the museum has been internationally recognized.
$16,493,769 spent25% of program spendingLearning and engagement programs: at the Denver Art Museum (dam), we collaborate with communities to create art and creativity experiences that foster well-being, belonging, and empathy for all, while advancing innovative practices in the field. We do this to fulfill our vision of making a meaningful difference in peoples lives by celebrating creativity and inspiring greater understanding and connection with the world. The dams learning & engagement (l&e) department develops programs with two overarching goals: (1) increasing access to the museums collections and (2) cultivating a welcoming environment for individuals of all backgrounds, abilities, and perspectives. We collaborate with audiences and stakeholders using human-centered design principles, ensuring that nothing about a group occurs without their engagement and buy-in. We are committed to growing as leaders in creativity, experimentation, and innovation, and to fostering a culture of openness by sharing our processes, challenges, and successes with the field. Through its programs, the museum strives to nurture a sense of well-being in visitors at the museum and recipients of community-based programs. We aim to support…
$2,632,478 spent$349,454 earned by the program4% of program spendingOther program services included in this caption are the activities associated with the gift shop, restaurant, and other facilities designed to enhance the visitor's overall museum experience.
$4,512,211 spent7% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $66,650,442.
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 $119M to $166M (+40%).
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 13% · 2018 16% · 2019 16% · 2020 20% · 2021 16% · 2022 23% · 2023 29% · 2024 30% · 2025 15%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
87% of DENVER ART MUSEUM’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (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.
Board chair
Sarah Anschutz
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 86 funders to 123 funders, grant income rose $1.8M → $5.5M.
28 of 285 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 10% 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: $52M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Denver Art Museum Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money DENVER ART MUSEUM raised.
From the IRS filings of DENVER ART MUSEUM’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 285 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
DENVER ART MUSEUM has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 33% 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 22% · 2018 34% · 2019 47% · 2020 39% · 2021 23% · 2022 16% · 2023 18% — 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
50% of DENVER ART MUSEUM's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
83% of DENVER ART 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. $9.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 18 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
DENVER ART MUSEUM's funding base is broadening — from 86 funders to 123 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding DENVER ART MUSEUM receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.3M on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$1.5M
- National Endowment for the Humanities$584k
- National Endowment for the Arts$200k
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 DENVER ART 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
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
78%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 6 related entities
- Denver Art Museum Holdings LLC · disregarded
- Dam Office LLC · disregarded
- Dam Garage LLC · disregarded
- Bannock 1201 LLC · disregarded
- Denver Art Museum Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DENVER ART 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 DENVER ART MUSEUM?
- DENVER ART MUSEUM (Colorado) receives grants from 285 organizations whose IRS filings report $99,414,553 to it, the largest being MERLE CHAMBERS FUND ($33,135,647). 190 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DENVER ART MUSEUM have?
- IRS filings report 285 organizations giving $99,414,553 in grants to DENVER ART MUSEUM, 190 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DENVER ART MUSEUM?
- MERLE CHAMBERS FUND is the largest funder on record, with $33,135,647 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DENVER ART 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 Denver Art 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 285 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