Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM
INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $72,567,035 to it, the largest being THE MILTON AND TAMAR MALTZ FAMILY FOUNDATION ($39,800,000). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $32M
- Funders on record
- 29
- Grants received
- $73M
- Net assets
- $99M
What International Spy Museum does
Mission
The International Spy Museum creates compelling exhibitions and other learning experiences that shed light on the shadow world of espionage and intelligence, educating and challenging each of us to engage critically with the complex world around us.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
"the International Spy Museum has the largest collection of historic espionage artifacts on public display. In 2024, the museum's displays, media and interactive experiences featured the history, people, tradecraft and impact of intelligence on the world. In 2024, the museum welcomed a record of over 700,000 visitors. It hosted over 400 onsite and virtual public programs including many educaional offerings for area schools and a community night for ward 6 residents.changes to the permanent exhibition included a new exhibit on wwii spy virginia hall. The museum also redesigned an interactive that allows our visitors to create spy disguise selfies using a unique face altering software. In addition, the museum launched its first temporary exhibition: bond in motion. This popular exhibition featured 6 decades of cars and vehicles from the world's most famous spy, james bond. The project was a partnership with the ian fleming foundation and eon productions. It will be open through september 1, 2025.in addition to exhibition and programs work, the museum also made progress on the inventory of its collection. The collection, which was moved into the museum during the covid pandemic, was…
$23,207,482 spent$24,592,629 earned by the program96% of program spending"access to spy: opening our doors to communities facing barriers is a series of programs for people with physical, cognitive, and financial challenges. In 2024 the museum supported these communities through both onsite and virtual programming. 330 individuals participated in programming for the autism community, and 223 adults with memory care issues and their caregivers were reached through 15 programs. In addition, 51 free programs for adults served 7,668 attendees from the united states and 30 countries. Our popular podcast, "spycast" delivered 51 programs and was downloaded 1.3 million times. "
$275,469 spent$291,911 earned by the program1% of program spending"student workshops & resources: the International Spy Museum offers a wide variety of workshops (onsite and virtual) & downloadable resources that encourage active learning and meet national curriculum and common core standards. Designed for grades 3 - 12, subjects range from history & government to science & technology and address skill building in the areas of critical & creative thinking, problem solving, and teamwork. Since 2011, more than 94,000 students and educators have attended workshops. In 2024 the museum taught 280 workshops to 7,336 students around the world: 145 were on-site workshops, and 135 were provided virtually via our distance learning program. 635 teachers were provided professional development both onsite and virtually "
$638,113 spent$676,199 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $24,121,064.
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 $100M to $141M (+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: 2021 28% · 2022 15% · 2023 4% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
9% of INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue 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 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.
Chief executive
Christopher Costa
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 9 funders, grant income fell $42M → $2.0M.
10 of 29 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 42% 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 INTERNATIONAL SPY 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
INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM leans on a few funders — its largest provides 55% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
43% 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 INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 94% · 2018 99% · 2019 41% · 2020 65% · 2021 56% · 2022 62% · 2023 89% — 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
25% of INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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
INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 11 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $31M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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
INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 772 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $17k on record.
- Department of Justice$17k
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 INTERNATIONAL SPY 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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
88%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 28 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for INTERNATIONAL SPY 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 INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM?
- INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $72,567,035 to it, the largest being THE MILTON AND TAMAR MALTZ FAMILY FOUNDATION ($39,800,000). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM have?
- IRS filings report 29 organizations giving $72,567,035 in grants to INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM, 15 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM?
- THE MILTON AND TAMAR MALTZ FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $39,800,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 International Spy 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 29 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