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South Carolina · Nonprofit

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION (South Carolina) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $678,549 to it, the largest being ROBERT ARIAIL IRREV TR FBO SC STATE MUSEUM ($251,582). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$1.9M
Funders on record
10
Grants received
$679k
Net assets
$6.1M
5/10 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 20%
01What it does

What South Carolina State Museum Foundation does

Mission

To support and promote the purpose of the south carolina state museum.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Program

  1. Exhibit costs for the south carolina state museum and membership and other services for the South Carolina State Museum Foundation.

    $1,203,605 spentof which $96,625 as grants
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,203,605.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($1.6M) Expenses 100 ($4.5M) Net assets 100 ($3.6M)2018 Revenue 70 ($1.1M) Expenses 21 ($941k) Net assets 106 ($3.8M)2019 Revenue 76 ($1.2M) Expenses 24 ($1.1M) Net assets 111 ($4.0M)2020 Revenue 88 ($1.4M) Expenses 25 ($1.2M) Net assets 117 ($4.2M)2021 Revenue 68 ($1.1M) Expenses 27 ($1.2M) Net assets 128 ($4.6M)2022 Revenue 72 ($1.1M) Expenses 30 ($1.4M) Net assets 104 ($3.8M)2023 Revenue 68 ($1.1M) Expenses 27 ($1.2M) Net assets 105 ($3.8M)2024 Revenue 176 ($2.8M) Expenses 26 ($1.2M) Net assets 155 ($5.6M)2025 Revenue 120 ($1.9M) Expenses 33 ($1.5M) Net assets 170 ($6.1M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (120)Expenses (33)Net assets (170)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $4.0M to $5.8M (+45%).

$3.9M
$4.1M
$4.3M
$4.4M
$4.8M
$4.0M
$4.0M
$5.8M
$6.4M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

80% of SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 5,377 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

−$3.0M
’17
$155k
’18
$116k
’19
$220k
’20
−$147k
’21
−$233k
’22
−$145k
’23
$1.6M
’24
$381k
’25
8.6
months of
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

Rita Caughman

Board chair

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed262524242726252525
Joined·+10+3+4+6+4+9+6+2
No longer listed·1144351062
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $34k → $211k.

2 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 33% 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 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION’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

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

36% 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 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION.

37%
largest funder
96%
top three
~3
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 97% · 2018 100% · 2019 97% · 2020 50% · 2021 65% · 2022 66% · 2023 71% — 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

57% of SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y

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

60% of SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION's grant income comes from South Carolina funders.

NY
CT
VA
NC
SC
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
South Carolina out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $223k 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.

Operating margin20% · top quartile
Months of reserve8.6mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)2% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Government funding SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.3M on record.

Federal$1.3M
grants $1.3Mcontracts $0
18
20
22
24
26
Top agencies
  • Institute of Museum and Library Services$1.3M

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 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 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 South Carolina

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

80% of spending goes to programs.

Program 80%Management 7%Fundraising 12%

Governance

23
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

SC

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • South Carolina State Museum · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SOUTH CAROLINA STATE 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION?
SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION (South Carolina) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $678,549 to it, the largest being ROBERT ARIAIL IRREV TR FBO SC STATE MUSEUM ($251,582). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION have?
IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $678,549 in grants to SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION?
ROBERT ARIAIL IRREV TR FBO SC STATE MUSEUM is the largest funder on record, with $251,582 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like SOUTH CAROLINA STATE MUSEUM FOUNDATION find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in South Carolina. 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 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