Ohio · Nonprofit
THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC
THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC (Ohio) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,705,610 to it, the largest being DAYTON FOUNDATION DEPOSITORY ($565,520). 26 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 60% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $9.2M
- Funders on record
- 45
- Grants received
- $2.7M
- Net assets
- $36M
What The Air Force Museum Foundation Inc does
Mission
To assist in developing and increasing the facilities of the national museum of the united states air force and to portray and preserve the history of the united states air force and its predecessor services by exhibiting aeronautical items associated with celebrated events, important era and notable achievements of the air force.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Operation of a museum store (including a significant book store of usaf and related educational materials), air force museum theatre, simulators, and events in accordance with the foundation's exempt purpose. Operation of a small snack shop eating facility. Operations include publicizing the museum and furthering its educational benefits to nearly 1 million visitors/year.
$3,540,606 spent$4,156,975 earned by the program80% of program spendingProvide assistance for museum operations, including facility improvements, promotion of the museum and its many varied activities, support for the volunteer program and volunteer recognition, support for exhibits and restorations, support for traveling temporary exhibit, support for the museum educational programs including space camp, teacher training, home school events, and other educational activities and support for museum special events such as military group reunions, concerts, exhibit openings, etc.
$884,080 spent$10,993 earned by the program20% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,424,686.
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 $23M to $28M (+23%).
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: 2020 9% · 2021 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
36% of THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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
Ms Melinda Lawrence
(start 10/25) CEO & director, retail
Board chair
Cmsaf Ret Gerald R Murray
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2024 and FY2025 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 19 funders, grant income rose $195k → $438k.
16 of 45 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 60% 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 THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 45 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
THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% 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
60% 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 THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 37% · 2018 53% · 2019 29% · 2020 75% · 2021 34% · 2022 34% · 2023 39% — broadly stable.
“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
52% of THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
60% of THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC'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 $1.1M that is directly attributable, 85% of it comes from funders outside Ohio, across 13 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION 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 THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $13k on record.
- Department of Defense$13k
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 THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION 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 Ohio
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
63% 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 THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION 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 THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC?
- THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC (Ohio) receives grants from 45 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,705,610 to it, the largest being DAYTON FOUNDATION DEPOSITORY ($565,520). 26 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 60% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 45 organizations giving $2,705,610 in grants to THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC, 26 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC?
- DAYTON FOUNDATION DEPOSITORY is the largest funder on record, with $565,520 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE AIR FORCE MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 45 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