California · Nonprofit
PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION
PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 109 organizations whose IRS filings report $92,696,595 to it, the largest being MARGIE AND ROBERT E PETERSEN FOUNDATION CO THEODORE CALLETON ($76,491,600). 64 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $32M
- Funders on record
- 109
- Grants received
- $93M
- Net assets
- $186M
What Petersen Automotive Museum Foundation does
Mission
To explore and present the history of the automobile and its impact on global life and culture.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Exhibits programs present the museum and its collection to the general public. This includes the development, production, and implementation of permanent and rotating exhibits, as well as the dissemination of museum content through online channels.
$13,345,027 spent$5,403,258 earned by the program53% of program spendingCollections and curatorial programs provide for the acquisition and preservation of collection objects that advance the mission of the museum. These programs include the maintenance and restoration of collection vehicles and other objects. The museum also acquires, preserves, and archives two dimensional objections (printed matter, photographs, diagrams, etc.), books and films related to the automotive world. Curatorial staff conduct research and produce written content that interpret these objects for the public as well as for scholars.
$8,102,278 spent$5,541,752 earned by the program32% of program spendingEducational programs include museum endeavors to expose and teach children and adults about the automobile and its impact on the world and culture. Significant programs include tours for school children in support of their curricula, hands-on training on automotive repair and customization for teens, displaying vehicles in public automotive shows, as well as providing speakers, films, and other experiences for adults and children.
$3,681,173 spentof which $107,325 as grants$162,786 earned by the program15% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $25,128,478.
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 2024 to 2025, from $228M to $239M (+5%).
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 17% · 2022 7% · 2023 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
47% of PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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.
Chief executive
Terry Karges
Executive director
Board chair
Richard Varner
Chairman/director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 25 funders to 36 funders, grant income fell $75M → $2.2M.
19 of 109 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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 PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 109 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
PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 83% of grant income and the top three 89%; 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 99% · 2018 36% · 2019 69% · 2020 66% · 2021 39% · 2022 25% · 2023 29% — 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
40% of PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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
98% of PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 15 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
PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION 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
Organizations like PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION
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
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
58%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Petersen Drive LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION: 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 PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION?
- PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 109 organizations whose IRS filings report $92,696,595 to it, the largest being MARGIE AND ROBERT E PETERSEN FOUNDATION CO THEODORE CALLETON ($76,491,600). 64 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 109 organizations giving $92,696,595 in grants to PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION, 64 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION?
- MARGIE AND ROBERT E PETERSEN FOUNDATION CO THEODORE CALLETON is the largest funder on record, with $76,491,600 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PETERSEN AUTOMOTIVE MUSEUM FOUNDATION 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.
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 109 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