Virginia · Nonprofit
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON (Virginia) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $535,102 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($241,500). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.4M
- Funders on record
- 14
- Grants received
- $535k
- Net assets
- $1.8M
What Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington does
Mission
MoCA Arlington enriches community life by connecting the public with contemporary art and artists through exhibitions, education and public programs, and artist residencies.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Moca arlington serves hundreds of students each year through classes and workshops taught by professional art instructors yearround. These classes serve both children and adults, and new classes are offered each season including spring break camp and summer camp for children. Moca also offers individual workshops and after school enrichment at several area public schools. Rental space is available for community celebrations and events.
$292,867 spent$351,827 earned by the program28% of program spendingMoca arlington presents highly respected exhibitions featuring work by local, regional, national, and international artists who are primarily early to mid-career. Exhibitions in nine galleries rotate seasonally and are free to the public.
$268,666 spent$2,535 earned by the program26% of program spendingPublic Programs. The museum's public programs connect the community to contemporary art and artiststhrough a variety of free or low-cost activities, including art-making, community celebrations, performances, and art and wellness programs.
$246,190 spent24% of program spendingAnnex
$191,097 spent$4,482 earned by the program19% of program spendingMoca arlington's unique resident artists program provides subsidized studio space for twelve area artists selected through a competitive process. Moca offers 10 working studios, designed to allow artists to focus upon and produce work. Artists are asked to open their studios to the public periodically. Residencies last two years with an option to renew twice, for a total of six years. This allows studios to be accessible to a new group of artists, expanding the impact of moca arlington's residency program.
$32,485 spent$39,893 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,031,305.
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 2021 to 2022, from $1.0M to $2.5M (+145%).
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 7% · 2018 7% · 2019 7% · 2020 4% · 2021 27% · 2022 1% · 2023 17% · 2024 4% · 2025 12%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
68% of MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Jennifer Cosenza
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $28k → $86k.
7 of 14 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 65% 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 MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON’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
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON leans on a few funders — its largest provides 45% of grant income and the top three 75%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
65% 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 MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 93% · 2018 100% · 2019 63% · 2020 68% · 2021 59% · 2022 32% · 2023 35% — 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
67% of MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 71% 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
65% of MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $185k that is directly attributable, 76% of it comes from funders outside Virginia, across 5 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $350k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON has grown faster than half 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 MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON
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 Virginia
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
93%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 3 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON: 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 MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON?
- MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON (Virginia) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $535,102 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($241,500). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON have?
- IRS filings report 14 organizations giving $535,102 in grants to MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $241,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART ARLINGTON find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington →
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 14 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