Iowa · Nonprofit
PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER
PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER (Iowa) receives grants from 31 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,111,058 to it, the largest being HUBBELL-WATERMAN FNDN ($605,000). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.9M
- Funders on record
- 31
- Grants received
- $4.1M
- Net assets
- $12M
What Putnam Museum and Science Center does
Mission
The putnam exists to: preserve our region's treasures - to care for and utilize them to illuminate our human and natural history, and to evoke the memories and stories the artifacts and specimens tell. Educate people of all ages in immersive and lasting ways with combined "hands-on, minds on" experiences that only the putnam can provide. Connect people to each other and to the history and science that shape the cultures and environments of the earth.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Giant screen theater: the putnam's giant screen theater offers educational and topical films and presentations. Examples include into america's wild, superpower dogs, back from the brink, volcanoes 3d, oceans: our blue planet 3d, and wild africa 3d. The films and presentations allow viewers to see nature in all its glory, to learn about history and other cultures, and to travel to all parts of the world. In an era when environmental awareness is part of the daily conversation and global cultures are increasingly interacting via technology, films that enlighten and educate the public about a variety of environments and cultures are significant to our ability to co-exist productively.
$145,171 spent$99,924 earned by the program6% of program spendingExhibits and education: the museum offers permanent and changing interactive, impressive exhibits, a hands-on science center, and educational programs related to history, cultures, and science. Examples include anne frank exhibit, junkraft, pollinators and keva planks exhibits, an innovation center with fabrication lab, coding classes, ocean experience, ancient egypt and our region and the civil war. Interaction with actual artifacts and educators in "character" provide dynamic learning experiences and real connections that cannot be obtained from textbooks or the internet. These experiences stimulate the desire for more knowledge and exploration.
$1,112,627 spent$410,224 earned by the program47% of program spendingVisitor services: between the giant screen theater, exhibits, and educational programs, the museum hosted more than 80,000 people this year. Customer service staff and amenities located in the museum's grand lobby space support and enhance the overall visitor experience.
$729,900 spent$11,085 earned by the program31% of program spendingCollections and curatorial services: an important part of the museum's missions is preserving the community's history. The museum houses approximately 170,000 cataloged items in its permanent collection. These items are expertly cared for, are available for research purposes, and many become part of permanent and temporary exhibits or are used to enhance educational programs. Membership services: the museum has approximately 1,348 memberships ranging from individuals to families and businesses. These memberships encompass more than 4,500 people. Members enjoy special benefits such as the first glimpse of a new film or exhibit.
$396,807 spent$50,983 earned by the program17% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,384,505.
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 $12M to $14M (+15%).
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.
82% of PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER’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. 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
Cinthia Diehl Yang
CEO
Board chair
Kerry Smith
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 14 funders, grant income rose $86k → $507k.
5 of 31 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 7% 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: $2.6M from 6 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Quad Cities Cultural & Educational Supporting Charitable Trust). These are real filings, and they are not money PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER raised.
From the IRS filings of PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 31 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
PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 15% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 60% · 2018 22% · 2019 36% · 2020 47% · 2021 51% · 2022 49% · 2023 39% — 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 PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER'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
90% of PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER's grant income comes from Iowa funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $282k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $436k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$286k
- Department of the Interior$150k
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 PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER
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 Iowa
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
84%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Putnam Museum Guild Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER: 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 PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER?
- PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER (Iowa) receives grants from 31 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,111,058 to it, the largest being HUBBELL-WATERMAN FNDN ($605,000). 21 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 31 organizations giving $4,111,058 in grants to PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER, 21 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER?
- HUBBELL-WATERMAN FNDN is the largest funder on record, with $605,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PUTNAM MUSEUM AND SCIENCE CENTER find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Iowa. 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 Putnam Museum and Science Center →
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 31 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