Illinois · Nonprofit
ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY
ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY (Illinois) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $207,908 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($90,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 57% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $626k
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $208k
- Net assets
- $3.2M
What Illinois State Museum Society does
Mission
The Illinois State Museum Society, established in 1952, is a charitable organization recognized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. It plays a crucial role in supporting the illinois state museum by providing financial resources and advocating for its programs, exhibitions, and operations. The society also offers opportunities for individuals and organizations interested in exploring and researching illinois' cultural and natural heritage.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The society has developed a strong partnership with the illinois state museum and its community partners. It runs a membership program and both online and physical retail operations. Additionally, funding from the society supports curation, digitization, educational programming, and the promotion of the illinois state museum system.funding from grants, fundraisers, and individual donors allows the museum to create new exhibitions each year and host community events like the annual da de los muertos family day and noir art show. Together, we secure significant grants for transformative projects, including the 1908 footprint at the springfield-sangamon county transportation hub.
$341,850 spent$51,998 earned by the program73% of program spendingThe society manages the membership program for the illinois state museum, providing individuals and families with the opportunity to engage with illinois' rich natural and cultural heritage. Members receive invitations to exhibition openings and special events, allowing them to interact with curators, join field trips, and enjoy behind-the-scenes tours for a more in-depth exploration and understanding of illinois' history.
$123,955 spent27% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $465,805.
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 2018 to 2019, from $2.3M to $3.2M (+37%).
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 37% · 2018 40% · 2019 15% · 2020 17% · 2021 29% · 2022 31% · 2023 33% · 2024 49% · 2025 28%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
62% of ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (64% 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
Jamila Wicks
Executive director
Board chair
Matt Berry
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 5 funders, grant income rose $22k → $78k.
4 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 57% 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 ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY’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
ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 43% of grant income and the top three 84%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
98% 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 ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 55% · 2018 62% · 2019 62% · 2020 100% · 2021 80% · 2022 100% · 2023 71% — 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 ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
57% of ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $89k that is directly attributable, 96% of it comes from funders outside Illinois, across 3 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $119k 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
ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY is better cushioned than half of the 12,262 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 12,262 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.1M on record.
- Department of Defense$789k
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$179k
- Department of the Interior$97k
- Department of Agriculture$8k
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 ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
83%
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 ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY: 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 ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY?
- ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY (Illinois) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $207,908 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($90,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 57% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $207,908 in grants to ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY?
- The Chicago Community Trust is the largest funder on record, with $90,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ILLINOIS STATE MUSEUM SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 Illinois State Museum Society →
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 8 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