Florida · Nonprofit
FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC
FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC (Florida) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,294,833 to it, the largest being HARRELL FAMILY CHARITIES INC ($2,000,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.4M
- Funders on record
- 18
- Grants received
- $6.3M
- Net assets
- $16M
What Florida Children's Museum Inc does
Mission
Curating the world for all children to explore
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Florida children's museum, inc. (the museum) curates the world for all children to explore. The museum, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, operates under seven guiding principles:1) we educate through play.2) we welcome all children.3) our people are our secret sauce.4) we are here to stay.5) we serve our community.6) our children are safe and secure.7) we serve the whole family.(continued on schedule o)the museum opened in downtown lakeland, florida, in 1991 and purchased the four-story historic kress building in 1998. A new facility debuted in late 2022 when the museum opened as florida children's museum at bonnet springs park in a new, state-of-the-art 47,800 square foot facility. The museum produces 2,600 educator-directed programs each year in addition to presenting world-class, hands-on exhibits. Funding for exhibits and programs is diversified and includes admission sales, sponsorships, grants, and private donations. The museum is a "museums for all" facility, providing access to families with ebt cards for $3 admission per person. Complimentary admissions comprised 15% of total admissions (2024-2025) as grants were obtained to admit children and their families for free.…
$2,724,912 spent$1,522,175 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $2,724,912.
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 2022 to 2023, from $9.8M to $19M (+98%).
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 14% · 2018 11% · 2019 7% · 2020 8% · 2021 4% · 2022 12% · 2023 5% · 2024 7% · 2025 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
31% of FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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
Kerry Falwell
Chief executive officer
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $179k → $991k.
3 of 18 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 31% 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 FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC’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
FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 32% of grant income and the top three 83%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
57% 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 FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 46% · 2018 58% · 2019 43% · 2020 56% · 2021 90% · 2022 81% · 2023 53% — 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
50% of FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
100% of FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC's grant income comes from Florida funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.9M 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
FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC is better cushioned than half of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $10k on record.
- National Endowment for the Arts$10k
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 FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC
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 Florida
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
62%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC: 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 FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC?
- FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC (Florida) receives grants from 18 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,294,833 to it, the largest being HARRELL FAMILY CHARITIES INC ($2,000,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC have?
- IRS filings report 18 organizations giving $6,294,833 in grants to FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC?
- HARRELL FAMILY CHARITIES INC 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 FLORIDA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Florida. 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 Florida Children's 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 18 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