Iowa · Nonprofit
THE IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM
THE IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM (Iowa) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,436,428 to it, the largest being CHARLES STEWART MOTT FOUNDATION ($575,000). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.0M
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $1.4M
- Net assets
- $3.3M
What The Iowa Children's Museum does
Mission
To inspire every child to imagine, create, discover, and explore through the power of play.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
The Iowa Children's Museum (the icm) has five educational initiatives that informs the creation of all programs and exhibits. These include stem (science, technology, engineering & math), financial literacy, school readiness, healthy kids and arts & culture. The active learning experiences that are associated with these initiatives embody best practices of informal education and advance 21st century skills. In fy25, the museum served more than 190,000 individuals over the course of the year. Some of the museum's specific community-based programs and accomplishments are as follows:25th anniversary and "potential space" exhibit: during fy25, the icm celebrated its 25th anniversary at coral ridge mall. The commemoration of this milestone included a gathering of friends and supporters at a ribbon cutting for a traveling exhibit. "potential space" is a photography exhibition created by california-based artist nancy richards farese. The exhibit features a range of framed photographs, banners, floor decals and vinyl wall art depicting children playing in more than a dozen countries. The exhibit was on display for seven weeks -- made available to regular visitors on a daily/weekly basis…
$1,630,955 spent$1,206,806 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,630,955.
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 $2.1M to $7.0M (+235%).
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 22% · 2018 27% · 2019 20% · 2020 28% · 2021 48% · 2022 36% · 2023 29% · 2024 16% · 2025 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
41% of THE IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM’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. 5 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
Capps Jeff
Executive director
Board chair
Mahon Nick
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2022 and FY2023 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 10 funders, grant income rose $56k → $134k.
6 of 26 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 THE IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 25 of 26 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 IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM leans on a few funders — its largest provides 40% of grant income and the top three 64%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
48% 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 IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 27% · 2018 56% · 2019 50% · 2020 44% · 2021 78% · 2022 27% · 2023 22% — 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
44% of THE IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
THE IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM draws 69% of its grant income from funders outside Iowa, across 7 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $311k arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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 IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM is better cushioned than half of the 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,430 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding THE IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $812k on record.
- National Science Foundation$812k
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 IOWA CHILDREN'S 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 Iowa
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
91%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 3 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE IOWA CHILDREN'S 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 IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM?
- THE IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM (Iowa) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,436,428 to it, the largest being CHARLES STEWART MOTT FOUNDATION ($575,000). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $1,436,428 in grants to THE IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM?
- CHARLES STEWART MOTT FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $575,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE IOWA CHILDREN'S MUSEUM find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Iowa. 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 Iowa Children's 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 26 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing