California · Nonprofit
SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (California) receives grants from 106 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,474,152 to it, the largest being SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION ($5,872,886). 74 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $10M
- Funders on record
- 106
- Grants received
- $16M
- Net assets
- $92M
What Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History does
Mission
The following three guiding principles are the foundation for all of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History's activities: inspiring an awe for nature and a thirst for discovery; promoting sustainability; and connecting our communities. Through these principles we strive to foster a community that explores, understands, and protects the natural world.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Collections & research:this program encompasses the activities of six research departments with a staff of curators and assistants. Each department is continually involved in developing and conserving extensive collections of specimens, artifacts, books and manuscripts, etc., that number over 3.5 million items, as well as making these resources accessible to researchers, either during actual visits or through web-based services. Expenses include staff salaries, collection acquisition, conservation, biodiversity and archaeological research, production of publications, ecological field surveys, public exhibit development and community outreach.library:this was a year of change for the library. It began with staff preparing for a book sale, space planning for a move, and weeding periodicals in preparation for library construction. The library building was to gain a new roof, reinforcement of the ceiling trusses, heating and air conditioning in the main reading room, librarian's and archives & manuscripts offices, updated stair treads, and new flooring in the basement. By the second week of april, library staff had vacated the library building and set up new work areas on the second…
$2,723,389 spent$106,175 earned by the program39% of program spendingB. Exhibits and visitor services:the museum has two sites. Its mission canyon campus and the sea center located on stearns wharf.gate attendance at the mission canyon campus in 2023 was 108,000. In addition, 8506 children and adults attended educational programs, 20 came for community uses and 28 came specifically for research, for a total attendance at the mission canyon campus of 116554. (not counting the nature adventures campers - see below)gate attendance at the sea center in 2023 was over 113,000. In addition, over 2000 children and adults attended educational programs and over 1400 attended community events (festivals and beach clean up) for a total attance at the sea center of 116,400+.butterflies alive!:the museum opened its outdoor butterfly pavilion in a way that allows guests to experience an up-close interaction. Guests are able to move through a beatutiful garden while approximately 1000 live butterflies flutter freely. The exhibit features dazzling varieties of butterflies from costa rica and florida. Visitors learn about the life cycle and behavior of these spectacular invertebrates while observing them up close.0 to 60: an underwater adventure from the equator to…
$2,866,606 spent$2,168,114 earned by the program41% of program spendingC. Education:the museum's educational programs promote scientific literacy and instill a passion for nature and a commitment to learning. These rich educational experiences are provided to school children and community members.the museum participates in the "no child left inside" movement and a regional leader of the national children and nature network.teen programs - quasars to sea stars:the museum runs a nationally recognized program, quasars to sea stars, which offer four years of year-round education and work experiences for 16 high school students. Through mentorship, research opportunities, work shifts and volunteer activities, the teens learn and develop time management, public speaking, project management, and scientific research skills. Throughout the year, teens assist in the butterfly pavilion, museum backyard, sea center interpretations and aquarium duties.during the summer, freshmen quasars took weekly classes of museum 101, taught by department heads throughout the museum. The former used their gained knowledge of museum operations and history to construct their own hypothetical museum. Quasars logged a total of 2,452 volunteer hours during the year: 481 in spring,…
$1,456,444 spent$319,692 earned by the program21% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,046,439.
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 2020 to 2021, from $86M to $97M (+13%).
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 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 1% · 2020 14% · 2021 15% · 2022 2% · 2023 3% · 2024 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
47% of SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY’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 8 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
Luke Swetland
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 32 funders to 57 funders, grant income fell $1.7M → $1.6M.
21 of 106 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 54% 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 SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 106 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
SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 36% 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
55% 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 SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 53% · 2018 45% · 2019 42% · 2020 42% · 2021 35% · 2022 31% · 2023 31% — 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
61% of SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 70% 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
54% of SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $7.5M that is directly attributable, 80% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $9.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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
SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY receives grants from 106 organizations whose IRS filings report $16M to it.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.0M on record.
- Department of Commerce$374k
- National Science Foundation$367k
- Department of the Interior$251k
- Department of Agriculture$16k
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 SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
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
42% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
71%
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 SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY: 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 SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY?
- SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (California) receives grants from 106 organizations whose IRS filings report $16,474,152 to it, the largest being SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION ($5,872,886). 74 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY have?
- IRS filings report 106 organizations giving $16,474,152 in grants to SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, 74 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY?
- SANTA BARBARA FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $5,872,886 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SANTA BARBARA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 106 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