Connecticut · Nonprofit
Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc
Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc (Connecticut) receives grants from 60 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,035,083 to it, the largest being STEVEN & ALEXANDRA COHEN FOUNDATION INC ($1,000,000). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $8.1M
- Funders on record
- 60
- Grants received
- $4.0M
- Net assets
- $16M
What Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc does
Mission
The Stamford Museum & Nature Center is a vital cultural and educational resource for the community, and a focal point for family activity and interaction. (continued on Schedule O)We seek to inspire creativity, foster self-discovery, promote environmental stewardship, and nurture an appreciation for lifelong learning through exhibitions, educational programs, and special events that enhance the visitor's experience of our unique site.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Early Childhood EducationThe Art, Nature & Me Preschool is a State of Connecticut licensed childcare program for children 3-5 years old. The 38-week program provides children with firsthand learning about the natural world through access to the SM&NC site. Ninety-six children participated in Pre-School programs. Attendance during the school year and summer camp sessions resulted in over 19,000 visits throughout the year.
$1,071,655 spent$974,631 earned by the program26% of program spendingNature EducationSM&NC provides nature education to public and private schools as well as the general community. Programs focus on the environment, astronomy, botany, geology, animal life and Indian lore. The SM&NC site serves as a dynamic teaching tool, with its 80 acres of hardwood forest trails, varied habitats, a working farm, and observatory. Over 30,000 participants shared in these educational programs.
$817,732 spent$376,107 earned by the program20% of program spendingFarm ProgramsThe SM&NC maintains a 16-acre working New England farm that is home to a variety of heritage breed farm animals. Heckscher farm is a tie to New England's agricultural past. This working farm allows visitors a unique look and interaction on the lessons of food production, animal care, and the inner-workings of a farm. Programs include a renowned Junior Curator program, various engaging school programs, summer camp, scout groups, and internships for students who aspire to learn about animal husbandry. Almost every visitor to the SM&NC tours the farm to experience this unique feature and variety of animals. Program attendance was well over 125,000 during the year.
$753,519 spent$187,269 earned by the program18% of program spendingOther ProgramsSM&NC offers a wide range of festivals, art exhibitions and other attractions that complement its educational programming. Enhanced weekend festivals attracted over 7,000 visitors. Museum exhibitions attracted over 17,000 visitors. Visitors also came for the Farm Market, Corporate Volunteer Projects, Family Campouts and Nature's Playground; an outdoor play space constructed of natural materials showcasing crow's nests, slides, and woodland perches. During the year over 200,000 visitors enjoyed the diverse activities at the SM&NC.
$1,489,211 spent$308,803 earned by the program36% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,132,117.
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 $15M to $22M (+47%).
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 34% · 2018 45% · 2019 58% · 2020 39% · 2021 40% · 2022 38% · 2023 39% · 2024 36% · 2025 53%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
70% of Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc’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. 1 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
Melissa H Mulrooney
CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 20 funders, grant income rose $181k → $360k.
9 of 60 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 22% 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 Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 60 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
Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% 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
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 Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 41% · 2018 17% · 2019 24% · 2020 21% · 2021 20% · 2022 47% · 2023 26% — 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
42% of Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% 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
80% of Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc's grant income comes from Connecticut funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $896k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters 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 Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $6.3M on record — $480k federal, $5.8M state.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$480k
- Pass thru Grant Non-State$5.1M
- State Aid Grants$607k
- Other Program Expenses$68k
- Client Services-General$5k
- Fellowships & Stipends$300
- Training Costs Non-Employees$250
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 Stamford Museum & Nature Center 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 Connecticut
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
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 Stamford Museum & Nature Center 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 Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc?
- Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc (Connecticut) receives grants from 60 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,035,083 to it, the largest being STEVEN & ALEXANDRA COHEN FOUNDATION INC ($1,000,000). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc have?
- IRS filings report 60 organizations giving $4,035,083 in grants to Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc, 32 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc?
- STEVEN & ALEXANDRA COHEN FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Stamford Museum & Nature Center Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Connecticut. 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 Stamford Museum & Nature 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 60 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