Colorado · Nonprofit
FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE MUSEUM
FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE MUSEUM (Colorado) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,854,251 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF NORTHERN COLORADO ($756,794). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.8M
- Funders on record
- 21
- Grants received
- $1.9M
- Net assets
- $6.3M
What Fort Collins Museum of Discovery Fka Discovery Center Science Museum does
Mission
The museum creates meaningful opportunities for people of all ages to learn, reflect and have fun through hands-on and collections-based explorations in science, history and culture.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
In a typical year, fort collins museum of discovery welcomes over 100,000 visitors and presents more than 400 unique programs in areas such as early childhood; art, science and literacy; music and film; and lectures on our archives and collections. The museum has nine long-term exhibits focused on music, science, local culture and history, two of which are bi-lingual. Our regularly changing special exhibits result in numerous local partnerships for enhanced content and programming. As we adjust to changing community need and interest, we strive to honor local history, inspire scientific inquiry, and offer free or reduced cost access to those in our community who otherwise may not be able to benefit from the museum.
$1,822,968 spent$1,054,892 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,822,968.
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 $6.9M to $7.8M (+13%).
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 2% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 42% · 2021 48% · 2022 19% · 2023 12% · 2024 11%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
40% of FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE MUSEUM’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 8 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 6 funders to 11 funders, grant income fell $125k → $109k.
5 of 21 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 47% 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 FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE 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
FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE MUSEUM leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 66%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
48% 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 FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE MUSEUM.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 49% · 2018 42% · 2019 34% · 2020 49% · 2021 39% · 2022 30% · 2023 25% — 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
77% of FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE 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
89% of FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE 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. $862k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE MUSEUM is better cushioned than half of the 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE 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
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
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 FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE 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 FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE MUSEUM?
- FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE MUSEUM (Colorado) receives grants from 21 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,854,251 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF NORTHERN COLORADO ($756,794). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE MUSEUM have?
- IRS filings report 21 organizations giving $1,854,251 in grants to FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE MUSEUM, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE MUSEUM?
- COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF NORTHERN COLORADO is the largest funder on record, with $756,794 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FORT COLLINS MUSEUM OF DISCOVERY FKA DISCOVERY CENTER SCIENCE 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 Fort Collins Museum of Discovery Fka Discovery Center Science Museum →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 21 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