Maryland · Nonprofit
NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC
NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC (Maryland) receives grants from 128 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,052,538 to it, the largest being THE KEITH CAMPBELL FOUNDATION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT INC ($2,400,000). 82 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $54M
- Funders on record
- 128
- Grants received
- $12M
- Net assets
- $56M
What National Aquarium Inc does
Mission
To connect people with nature to inspire compassion and care for our ocean planet
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Aquarium experience: the national aquarium is located in the heart of the inner harbor in baltimore, maryland. Situated on two city piers with the chesapeake bay on either side, the aquarium features three pavilions and a living collection that includes more than 10,000 animals from more than 500 species of fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals in award-winning habitats. The national aquarium is maryland's largest paid tourist attraction, welcoming more than 1.2 million visitors annually. More than 60 million guests have visited the aquarium since it opened in 1981, and aquarium staff members are committed to going to extraordinary lengths to delight guests and inspire them to act to conserve the world's aquatic treasures. As an organization accredited by the association of zoos and aquariums (aza), the national aquarium maintains the highest possible standards of excellence in all aspects of animal care in order to advance animal health, husbandry and welfare practices. In addition to providing the best possible care for all animals at the aquarium, staff conduct scientific research and field work to support species and habitat conservation, with a strong emphasis on the…
$34,012,161 spent$33,755,927 earned by the program81% of program spendingConservation & education: the national aquarium is a nonprofit organization focused on changing the way humanity cares for the ocean. What began over 40 years ago as a visitor attraction has evolved into a conservation organization that operates a world-class aquarium. Through unparalleled exhibits, science-based education programs and hands-on field initiatives, we are creating a global community of hopeful conservationists, united to restore our planet, driven by our mission to connect people with nature to inspire compassion and care for our ocean planet. We are at the forefront of efforts to increase public awareness of the challenges facing our coasts and oceans and to lead direct action to improve the health of the baltimore harbor, the chesapeake bay and oceans around the world. The national aquarium is also committed to educating students of all ages about the environment and the ocean. By getting their boots wet and their hands dirty, students who participate in the national aquarium's education programs have opportunities to explore their skills and interests, and make emotional connections to the environment and our blue planet. More than 56,000 maryland students visit…
$8,057,794 spentof which $50,604 as grants$526,712 earned by the program19% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $42,069,955.
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 2019 to 2020, from $105M to $92M (−12%).
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 3% · 2018 7% · 2019 5% · 2020 8% · 2021 31% · 2022 14% · 2023 9% · 2024 2% · 2025 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
30% of NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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
Colleen Dilenschneider
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 32 funders to 58 funders, grant income rose $617k → $1.6M.
18 of 128 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 22% 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: $18M from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest National Aquarium Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC raised.
From the IRS filings of NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 128 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
NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
29% 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 NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 49% · 2018 28% · 2019 24% · 2020 20% · 2021 15% · 2022 30% · 2023 21% — 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 NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC'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
84% of NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC's grant income comes from Maryland funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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
NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC's funding base is broadening — from 32 funders to 58 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 134 animals nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $7.7M on record — $2.0M federal, $5.7M state.
- Department of Commerce$1.0M
- Department of Education$402k
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$387k
- Department of the Interior$83k
- Department of Defense$71k
- Environmental Protection Agency$30k
- MD$5.7M
- NJ$6k
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 NATIONAL AQUARIUM 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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
69% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 37 states
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- Nani LLC · disregarded
- 2328 Cedley Street LLC · disregarded
- National Aquarium Foundation Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for NATIONAL AQUARIUM 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 NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC?
- NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC (Maryland) receives grants from 128 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,052,538 to it, the largest being THE KEITH CAMPBELL FOUNDATION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT INC ($2,400,000). 82 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC have?
- IRS filings report 128 organizations giving $12,052,538 in grants to NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC, 82 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC?
- THE KEITH CAMPBELL FOUNDATION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT INC is the largest funder on record, with $2,400,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like NATIONAL AQUARIUM INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 128 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