California · Nonprofit
PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM
PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM (California) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,086,916 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION ($250,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.9M
- Funders on record
- 22
- Grants received
- $1.1M
- Net assets
- $27M
What Palo Alto History Museum does
Mission
The palo alto museum will bring to life a historic landmark as a vibrant place to discover, connect, and create. Shaped by, with, and for the community, the museum will celebrate our past, strengthen our community today, and inspire a brighter future. Through dynamic exhibits, events, and experiences for all ages, we will help turn ideas into impactfor palo alto and the world.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Museum building renovation and programmatic infrastructure :during the fiscal year, the palo alto museum's primary program activity was completion of a multi-year renovation to prepare the facility for operation as a public museum. Programmatic improvements included installation and coordination of museum-appropriate lighting, hvac, electrical, data, and security systems to support future exhibitions, collections care, education programs, and public use. These activities support the museum's ability to operate in accordance with professional museum standards.
$90,484 spent$67,561 earned by the program52% of program spendingCollections development and digital cataloging:during the fiscal year, the palo alto museum initiated foundational collections work focused on organization and documentation of materials related to palo alto history. The museum began cataloging its collection in a digital collections management system to support responsible stewardship and future access for exhibitions, research, and educational use.
$56,614 spent33% of program spendingExhibition and education planning and public outreach:during the fiscal year, the palo alto museum engaged in preliminary exploration related to future exhibitions, education programs, and audience engagement. In may 2025, the museum conducted public outreach through its first public open house in the recently renovated building to share information with the community and inform future programming.
$20,712 spent12% of program spendingSpace rentals:during the fiscal year, the palo alto museum engaged in preliminary exploration related to a program for renting out space at the museum to community groups.
$5,795 spent$1,670 earned by the program3% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $173,605.
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 2022 to 2023, from $2.4M to $15M (+510%).
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: 2021 29% · 2022 19% · 2023 91% · 2024 82% · 2025 90%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (63% 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.
Board chair
Doug Kreitz
Nominating chair, teen cou
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $20k → $114k.
10 of 22 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 50% 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 PALO ALTO HISTORY 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
PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 23% 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
52% 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 PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 49% · 2019 60% · 2020 51% · 2021 90% · 2022 98% · 2023 88% — 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
18% of PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 27% 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
100% of PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $542k arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters 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
Government funding PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.0M on record.
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$3.0M
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 PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
37% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
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 PALO ALTO HISTORY 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. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM?
- PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM (California) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,086,916 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION ($250,000). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM have?
- IRS filings report 22 organizations giving $1,086,916 in grants to PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM?
- THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $250,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PALO ALTO HISTORY MUSEUM find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Palo Alto History 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 22 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