California · Nonprofit
SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC
SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC (California) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $225,579 to it, the largest being THE KENNETH T AND EILEEN L NORRIS FOUNDATION ($130,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.4M
- Funders on record
- 10
- Grants received
- $226k
- Net assets
- $1.8M
What San Diego Model Railroad Museum Inc does
Mission
To research, collect, preserve and present the heritage of american railroading using educational programs, displays, toy trains, and scale models of california railroads.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Our museum is open to the public six days each week and is staffed by 300 plus volunteers, 9 full-time staff and 23 part-time staff. The museum is the only model railroad museum in the u.s. That is fully accredited by the american alliance of museums. At 27,000 square feet of exhibit space, it is the largest museum of its type in north america.
$509,083 spent$784,285 earned by the program58% of program spendingOur museum store sells educational material, railroad books, publications and other railroad memorablia.
$247,921 spent$175,228 earned by the program28% of program spendingOur educational department works with school groups and other organizations to teach children about railroads, their importance to our nation, and to educate them about railroad safety. The museum also has a research library that has a large collection of railroad related books and publications that are available to the general public and museum members.
$115,399 spent$41,222 earned by the program13% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $872,403.
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 2021 to 2022, from $1.4M to $1.7M (+25%).
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 14% · 2018 8% · 2019 9% · 2020 12% · 2021 24% · 2022 46% · 2023 7% · 2024 7% · 2025 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
14% of SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue 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. 3 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
Anthony Ridenhour
Exec. DirECTOR
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $13k → $60k.
2 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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 SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC’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
SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 58% of grant income and the top three 80%; 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: 2019 80% · 2020 62% · 2021 61% · 2022 100% · 2023 42% — 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 SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 40% 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
93% of SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $10k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC runs a healthier operating margin than half 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 SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $22k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$22k
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 SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
67% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
80%
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 SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM 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 SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC?
- SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC (California) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $225,579 to it, the largest being THE KENNETH T AND EILEEN L NORRIS FOUNDATION ($130,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC have?
- IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $225,579 in grants to SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC?
- THE KENNETH T AND EILEEN L NORRIS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $130,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SAN DIEGO MODEL RAILROAD MUSEUM INC 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 San Diego Model Railroad 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 10 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