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California · Nonprofit

KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION

KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $722,660 to it, the largest being THE VIRGINIA AND ALFRED HARRELL FOUNDATION ($171,159). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$1.4M
Funders on record
16
Grants received
$723k
Net assets
$3.0M
10/16 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 13%
01What it does

What Kern County Museum Foundation does

Mission

The specific purpose of the foundation is to raise, gather, collect and receive funds, equipment, donated services and similar contributions for the support, enhancement and enrichment of the kern county museum and to provide operational support by employing staff and engaging in the day-to-day operations of the museum.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Day-to-day operations and management of the kern county museum, under contract with the county of kern, including admissions, special events, and the ongoing repair, maintenance, and restoration activites of the museum.

    $78,098 spent$390,139 earned by the program
    49% of program spending

  2. Educational programs - include school field trips and admissions to the museum, including the grounds, the lori brock children's discovery center, kid city, and art safari.

    $80,840 spent$45,000 earned by the program
    51% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $158,938.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($1.3M) Expenses 100 ($1.1M) Net assets 100 ($3.0M)2018 Revenue 92 ($1.2M) Expenses 108 ($1.2M) Net assets 99 ($2.9M)2019 Revenue 94 ($1.2M) Expenses 109 ($1.2M) Net assets 97 ($2.8M)2020 Revenue 80 ($1.0M) Expenses 106 ($1.2M) Net assets 90 ($2.7M)2021 Revenue 93 ($1.2M) Expenses 89 ($994k) Net assets 104 ($3.1M)2022 Revenue 96 ($1.2M) Expenses 116 ($1.3M) Net assets 102 ($3.0M)2023 Revenue 102 ($1.3M) Expenses 131 ($1.5M) Net assets 97 ($2.9M)2024 Revenue 106 ($1.3M) Expenses 120 ($1.3M) Net assets 98 ($2.9M)2025 Revenue 112 ($1.4M) Expenses 131 ($1.5M) Net assets 102 ($3.0M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (112)Expenses (131)Net assets (102)Peer revenue range

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 $2.9M to $3.3M (+14%).

$3.1M
$3.0M
$3.1M
$2.9M
$3.3M
$3.3M
$3.0M
$3.0M
$3.2M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 26% · 2018 28% · 2019 27% · 2020 32% · 2021 55% · 2022 27% · 2023 33% · 2024 32% · 2025 37%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

64% of KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 5,377 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$145k
’17
−$56k
’18
−$33k
’19
−$165k
’20
$185k
’21
−$75k
’22
−$174k
’23
−$2k
’24
−$50k
’25
2.0
months of
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

Michael Mccoy

Executive director

Board chair

Sheryl Barbich

Chairman

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed91099101010109
Joined·+2+2+0+2+2+1+0+2
No longer listed·13012103
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 8 funders to 7 funders, grant income fell $162k → $82k.

Funder
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24*
'25*
total
funders
8
7
5
7
5
6
7
4
2

4 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 24% 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 KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION’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

KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 24% 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

40% 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 KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION.

24%
largest funder
64%
top three
~6
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 37% · 2018 52% · 2019 45% · 2020 47% · 2021 90% · 2022 45% · 2023 49% — 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

42% of KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

97% of KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION's grant income comes from California funders.

NV
CA

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $176k 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $723k to it.

Operating margin−4% · below the median
Months of reserve2.0mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)1% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Organizations like KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION

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 California

Kern Community Foundation87%United Way of Central Eastern California Dba United Way of Kern County86%The California Museum for History Women and the Arts84%Napa Valley Museum84%Museum of Sonoma County83%Monterey County Youth Museum83%California Nature Art Museum83%Children's Discovery Museum of the Desert82%

Nationally

Kern Community Foundation87%United Way of Central Eastern California Dba United Way of Kern County86%Kemper Museum Operating Foundation86%The California Museum for History Women and the Arts84%Napa Valley Museum84%Museum of Sonoma County83%Field Museum of Natural History83%Kohl Children's Museum of Greater Chicago Inc83%
05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

11% of spending goes to programs.

Program 11%Management 89%Fundraising 0%

Governance

8
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

96%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

CA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION: 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.

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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 KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION?
KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $722,660 to it, the largest being THE VIRGINIA AND ALFRED HARRELL FOUNDATION ($171,159). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $722,660 in grants to KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION?
THE VIRGINIA AND ALFRED HARRELL FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $171,159 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like KERN COUNTY MUSEUM FOUNDATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Kern County 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 16 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