Maine · Nonprofit
MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM
MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM (Maine) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $623,306 to it, the largest being Penobscot Foundation for Developmental Services ($137,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
Against its field
MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM's funding base is broadening — from 5 funders to 10 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,123 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Three funders worth looking at
Grantmakers with no record of funding this organization, ranked by how strongly the co-funder graph and the mission embeddings agree. The evidence is in section 03.
- Onion Foundationshared fundersportfolio match
- Anne R Henry Charitable Foundationshared funders
- Association of Children's Museums Incportfolio match
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.
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 1% · 2018 13% · 2019 11% · 2020 20% · 2021 63% · 2022 5% · 2023 23% · 2024 18%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
54% of MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM’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. 7 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $53k → $107k.
5 of 22 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 33% 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 MAINE DISCOVERY 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
MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 22% 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
72% 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 MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 38% · 2018 50% · 2019 38% · 2020 30% · 2021 39% · 2022 46% · 2023 23% — 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
46% of MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 64% 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
71% of MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM's grant income comes from Maine funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $205k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 statesis 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.
Funders to approach
Grantmakers that don’t fund you yet, surfaced two ways: they back organizations that share your funders, or their grantees resemble your mission. The ones both signals agree on come first. Your 22 funders put you typical among the 400 organizations that share them.
- Onion Foundationshared fundersportfolio matchME · backs 115 organizations that share your funders · its grantees resemble your mission
- Anne R Henry Charitable Foundationshared fundersME · backs 15 organizations that share your funders
- Association of Children's Museums Incportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Morton-Kelly Charitable Trustportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Mr Metzger Family Foundation Incportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- The Bank of Maine Charitable Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- United Way Incshared fundersME · backs 57 organizations that share your funders
- Wescustogo Foundationshared fundersFL · backs 23 organizations that share your funders
- Sam L Cohen Foundationshared fundersME · backs 96 organizations that share your funders
- Vincent B and Barbara G Welch Supporting Organizationshared fundersME · backs 47 organizations that share your funders
- Heart of Maine United Wayshared funderslocalME · backs 24 organizations that share your funders · funds 25 organizations near you
- Elmina B Sewall Foundationshared fundersME · backs 120 organizations that share your funders
From the co-funder graph (funders backing at least two comparable organizations, shrunk for grantee count, donor-advised and mega-funds excluded) and the universe embeddings. A research starting point; overlap is association, not a guarantee of fit.
Government funding MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $60k on record.
- Department of Agriculture$50k
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$10k
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 MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM
Nonprofits whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over the universe of US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Maine
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
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 MAINE DISCOVERY 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. How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM?
- MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM (Maine) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $623,306 to it, the largest being Penobscot Foundation for Developmental Services ($137,000). 14 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM have?
- IRS filings report 22 organizations giving $623,306 in grants to MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM, 14 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM?
- Penobscot Foundation for Developmental Services is the largest funder on record, with $137,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MAINE DISCOVERY MUSEUM find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maine. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 22funders 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 August 27, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing