Massachusetts · Nonprofit
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE (Massachusetts) receives grants from 209 organizations whose IRS filings report $137,678,023 to it, the largest being THE BLOOMBERG FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ($81,240,000). 143 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $56M
- Funders on record
- 209
- Grants received
- $138M
- Net assets
- $492M
What Museum of Science does
Mission
The mission of the Museum of Science is to inspire a lifelong love of science in everyone. Through exhibits, curricula, programs, and events, both live and virtual, we aim to make science and scientific thinking accessible, engaging, and relevant. We collaborate across disciplines to help people everywhere see and appreciate the science in everything. Our vision is a world in which science belongs to each of us for the good of all of us.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Exhibits include over 900 standing exhibits, housed in 132,000 sq ft of gallery and related space, providing hands-on experiences in all areas of science, technology, and their social impact. The museum creates permanent and travelling exhibits both on its own and in collaboration with other institutions, and is one of leadership partners in the national informal stem education network (nisenet), a network of approximately 600 museums, colleges/universities, libraries, scientific professional organizations, and research institutions which creates and shares exhibits and programs relating to important current science and technology topics. A museum-produced traveling exhibit called the science behind pixar highlights the math and science skills pixar filmmakers use in bringing their films to life. Two copies of this exhibit are currently touring other us and international museums. The museum also hosts traveling exhibits produced by other institutions. Traveling exhibits hosted by the museum this year included: the science behind pixar which closed in sept 2021; resilient venice; ne climate stories; all aboard! Trains at science park; emotions at play with pixar's inside out; gaia…
$18,611,486 spentof which $13,100 as grants$804,241 earned by the program36% of program spendingPublic programs include exhibit interpretation, lecture series, live animal demonstrations (the museum is accredited by the association of zoos and aquariums), physical science demonstrations, lightning shows in the thomson theater of electricity, special events, demonstrations and podcasts relating to topics of current science and technology, hands-on desgn challenges. (906,900 onsite visitors and online visitors served.)
$14,001,559 spentof which $430,676 as grants$10,082,275 earned by the program27% of program spendingTheaters include the charles hayden planetarium, offering presentations, events, and demonstrations of astronomy and space science topics, current discoveries, and other science/technology-inspired programming. The mugar omni theater, the largest domed imax theater in new england, offers digital documentary and science-fiction inspired films and presentations, while a smaller 4-d theater offers short 3-d films on a range of science and nature topics augmented by sensory effects such as wind, mist, and smell. Planetarium shows this year included: big bird's adventure: one world, one sky; destination mars: the new frontier; from dream to discovery: inside nasa; explore our changing earth; explore the universe; moons: worlds of mystery; undiscovered worlds: the search beyond our sun; the beyonce experience; the fleetwood mac experience; pink floyd: the wall; the prince experience; the radiohead experience imax films included: ancient caves; back from the brink: saved from extinction; rocky mountain express; superpower dogs. Omni sci-fi films: dune; matrix: resurrections 4d theater films included: sharks: a 4-d experience; ice worlds: 4d; penguins: 4d; polar express: 4d; splash &…
$7,765,515 spentof which $18,221 as grants$2,298,575 earned by the program15% of program spendingServices provided primarily for the benefit of our members include our parking facility, membership office, and gift shop. (32,885 member households)
$6,319,094 spentof which $78,790 as grants$4,840,370 earned by the program12% of program spendingEducation programs include field trips programs for school groups, curriculum materials under our eie. The museum is part of an award-winning division, eie, that develops foundational skills in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (stem) subjects for all students. The research-based, hands-on curricula are designed to best innovate for the reality of today's educational landscape and to engage all students. Recently mos partnered with kahoot to create exciting, engaging and fun learning experiences for learners grades 1-8. Since its inception, eie has reached an estimated 20 million students and 200,000 educators in all 50 states.
$5,679,672 spentof which $536,260 as grants$3,608,735 earned by the program11% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $52,377,326.
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 2023 to 2024, from $357M to $513M (+44%).
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 5% · 2018 6% · 2019 4% · 2020 7% · 2021 8% · 2022 10% · 2023 4% · 2024 2% · 2025 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
30% of MUSEUM OF SCIENCE’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 54 funders to 110 funders, grant income rose $3.9M → $16M.
24 of 209 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 19% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $4.2M from 6 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Boston Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money MUSEUM OF SCIENCE raised.
From the IRS filings of MUSEUM OF SCIENCE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 209 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
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 59% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 39% · 2018 48% · 2019 45% · 2020 20% · 2021 31% · 2022 24% · 2023 20% — 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
62% of MUSEUM OF SCIENCE'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
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE draws 78% of its grant income from funders outside Massachusetts, across 23 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $27M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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 SCIENCE holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 570 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding MUSEUM OF SCIENCE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $15.5M on record — $11.1M federal, $4.4M state.
- National Science Foundation$3.7M
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$3.1M
- Department of Justice$2.0M
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$1.5M
- Department of Commerce$709k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$50k
- MA$4.4M
- FL$85k
- OK$400
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 MUSEUM OF SCIENCE
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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
36%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 41 states
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Science Museum Exhibit Collaborative · exempt
- Charitable Remainder Unitrust (3) · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MUSEUM OF SCIENCE: 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 SCIENCE?
- MUSEUM OF SCIENCE (Massachusetts) receives grants from 209 organizations whose IRS filings report $137,678,023 to it, the largest being THE BLOOMBERG FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ($81,240,000). 143 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MUSEUM OF SCIENCE have?
- IRS filings report 209 organizations giving $137,678,023 in grants to MUSEUM OF SCIENCE, 143 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MUSEUM OF SCIENCE?
- THE BLOOMBERG FAMILY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $81,240,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MUSEUM OF SCIENCE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 209 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing