Illinois · Nonprofit
KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC
KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC (Illinois) receives grants from 74 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,616,204 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($2,001,000). 50 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $7.3M
- Funders on record
- 74
- Grants received
- $7.6M
- Net assets
- $19M
What Kohl Children's Museum of Greater Chicago Inc does
Mission
We are a place that provides experiences and memories to build a foundation for a lifetime of learning.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Situated on nearly nine acres of land, including two acres of bounded outdoor space, the museum features 17 interactive exhibits designed with expert knowledge of how children learn through self-directed play. Within this setting, the museum organizes enrichment activities andprograms specifically designed to address the developmental needs of children ages birth to eight.since its inception, the museum has emerged as a leader in the creation of engaging exhibits and innovative programs that nurture a love of learning in young children. For more than a quarter of a century, it has elevated the importance of play as a critical learning tool, aided parents in their important role as a child's first - and most important - teacher, and provided tools to teachers that augment the formal learning environment.because there are children, families, and teachers whose economic or personal circumstances prevent them from visiting, the museum removes as many barriers as possible to ensure that all children can learn from a full museum experience. From programs such as early childhoodconnections, which brings proven teaching strategies to classrooms serving children in need, to play for all,…
$3,931,529 spent$2,777,869 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $3,931,529.
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 $15M to $17M (+16%).
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 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 0% · 2020 1% · 2021 29% · 2022 30% · 2023 4% · 2024 19% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
60% of KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC’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. 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
Michael Delfini
President & CEO
Board chair
Tim Hannahs
Chairman of the board
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 18 funders to 31 funders, grant income rose $426k → $870k.
13 of 74 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 37% 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 KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 74 funders by total. 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
KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
42% 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 KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 57% · 2019 59% · 2020 18% · 2021 29% · 2022 19% · 2023 29% — 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
40% of KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 68% 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
86% of KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC's grant income comes from Illinois funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.9M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters 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
Organizations like KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO 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 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
79%
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 KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO 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 KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC?
- KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC (Illinois) receives grants from 74 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,616,204 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($2,001,000). 50 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC have?
- IRS filings report 74 organizations giving $7,616,204 in grants to KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC, 50 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC?
- NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $2,001,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like KOHL CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF GREATER CHICAGO INC 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.
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 74 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