California · Nonprofit
THE AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM
THE AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM (California) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $860,677 to it, the largest being AMERICAN GIFT FUND ($810,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 95% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $450k
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $861k
- Net assets
- $349k
What The American Bookbinders Museum does
Mission
We tell the story of the book, presenting the art of western bookbinding as a hand process through early mechanization, promoting a deeper understanding of the impact of book production on the american experience
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The American Bookbinders Museum is the only museum of its kind in north america. It celebrates and explores the history, culture and tools of bookbinding from its earliest forms through the changes and innovations of the industrial revolution. Once you visit The American Bookbinders Museum, you will never look at a book the same way. Open from 10m-4pm, tuesday through saturday, we offer audio and self-guided tours.
$301,450 spent100% of program spendingWe seek to expand the knowledge and understanding of bookbinding and the people who were master practitioners of this historical craft by offering public access to the museum's extensive collection of equipment, books and ephemera. The American Bookbinders Museum has a unique collection of books, publications and historical records about bookbinding, publishing, and labor history, the tools and materials used in bookbinding, and a collection of approximately 450 decorated publishers' bindings dating from 1830-1950. Access to the collection is available online to identify items for use onsite
We are proud to be a participating member in the nation-wide museums for all program, offering free admission to low-income families and the blue star program offering free admission to active duty military. The abm programs at least three temporary special exhibits annually, partnering with artisans, bookbinders, historians and collectors. Past exhibits have featured contemporary and historical artisanal bindings, historical events, specific binding styles and literary genres, appealing to book lovers young and old. In addition, we offer how-to, historical and binding related subjects as public lectures and special community events. Our ability to offer tours, lectures, workshops, and special exhibits and special events comes from public and private donations, underwriting all museum activities
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $301,450.
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 2018 to 2019, from $287k to $364k (+27%).
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: 2021 43% · 2022 8% · 2023 8% · 2024 7% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
74% of THE AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (64% 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $4k → $100k.
3 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 95% 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 AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM’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
THE AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM leans on a few funders — its largest provides 94% of grant income and the top three 99%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 82% · 2022 95% · 2023 100% — 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
40% of THE AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 38% 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
95% of THE AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM'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 $44k that is directly attributable, 66% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $817k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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 AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding THE AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $23k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$23k
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 AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM
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
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM: 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 AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM?
- THE AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM (California) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $860,677 to it, the largest being AMERICAN GIFT FUND ($810,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 95% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $860,677 in grants to THE AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM?
- AMERICAN GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $810,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE AMERICAN BOOKBINDERS MUSEUM 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 American Bookbinders 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 8 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