Michigan · Nonprofit
MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC
MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC (Michigan) receives grants from 73 organizations whose IRS filings report $41,425,230 to it, the largest being THE RALPH C WILSON JR FOUNDATION ($5,001,000). 35 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $14M
- Funders on record
- 73
- Grants received
- $41M
- Net assets
- $60M
What Motown Historical Museum Inc does
Mission
The organization collects documents, objects, pictures, clothing, and artifacts which depict and demonstrate the history, and preserve the legacy and tradition, of a musical era for display to the public.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Motown museum engages visitors from around the world in an experiential and educational celebration of the iconic motown legacy and its cultural, social and historical impact. We protect and preserve hitsville u.s.a. - the birthplace of motown records to document the humble beginnings of the artists' collective contribution to music that revolutionized an industry.
$1,929,897 spent$1,887,791 earned by the program52% of program spendingThe organization operates a souvenir shop to provide documents, objects, pictures, clothing, and artifacts which depict and demonstrate the history, and preserve the legacy and tradition, of a musical era for display to the public.
$1,026,558 spent27% of program spendingMotown provides various programs to engage our youth in the history and story that is motown. This includes two summer programs, one for high school students and a second for middle students in the community. In addition, a motown mic spoken word competition and amplify, the second of detroit, which seeks to build on the rich legacy of motown, celebrate the unique voices of detroit and the creative synergy of the artists past, present, and emerging.
$783,965 spent21% of program spendingThe organization operates a souvenir shop to provide documents, objects,pictures, clothing, and artifacts which depict and demonstrate the history,and preserve the legacy and tradition, of a musical era for display to the public.
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,740,420.
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 2020 to 2021, from $25M to $36M (+45%).
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 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 1% · 2021 2% · 2022 14% · 2023 52% · 2024 9% · 2025 31%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
63% of MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
Board chair
Robin Terry
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 10 funders to 24 funders, grant income rose $263k → $9.9M.
10 of 73 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% 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 MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 73 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
MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 12% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
30% 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 MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 25% · 2018 26% · 2019 25% · 2020 19% · 2021 50% · 2022 25% · 2023 30% — 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
30% of MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 48% 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
63% of MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC's grant income comes from Michigan funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $11M 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
MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 550 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 550 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $11.0M on record.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$10.0M
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$884k
- National Endowment for the Arts$75k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$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 MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM 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 Michigan
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
50% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
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 MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM 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 MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC?
- MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC (Michigan) receives grants from 73 organizations whose IRS filings report $41,425,230 to it, the largest being THE RALPH C WILSON JR FOUNDATION ($5,001,000). 35 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC have?
- IRS filings report 73 organizations giving $41,425,230 in grants to MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC, 35 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC?
- THE RALPH C WILSON JR FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $5,001,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MOTOWN HISTORICAL MUSEUM INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Michigan. 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 Motown Historical 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 73 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