Michigan · Nonprofit
THE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM
THE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM (Michigan) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $947,737 to it, the largest being IRVING S GILMORE FOUNDATION ($200,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $8.2M
- Funders on record
- 23
- Grants received
- $948k
- Net assets
- $18M
What The Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum does
Mission
Ignite curiosity, celebrate innovation, and connect hisotry and science through past, present, and future dreams of flight.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
The air zoo is a nationally acclaimed, smithsonian-affiliated, aerospace and science museum boasting a renowned collection of over 100 rare and historically significant aircraft, and more than 100,000 unique artifacts, displays and exhibits showcasing history, science, and technology. The air zoo stands apart from similar museums and learning centers of its kind, with a keen focus on hands-on learning and engaging educational programs. Our facilities include multiple classrooms for interactive lessons, an updated theater, state of the art flight simulators, and an exciting indoor amusement park. The museum's growing collection of permanent exhibits highlight the diverse contributions from men and women of aerospace history. The air zoo is also a national leader in long-term lost or damaged historical aircraft restoration. Through our active and innovative restoration process, our guests are able to witness and even participate in the rebuilding of planes long destroyed or lost. With our strong focus on education, the air zoo is a unique resource for organizations, students and teachers in our community. Through a focused education department, the air zoo provides countless…
$5,149,324 spent$2,528,035 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2023 Form 990. Program spending in total: $5,149,324.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $19M to $18M (−7%).
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 17% · 2021 22% · 2024 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 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
Troy A Thrash
President/CEO
Board chair
Jerry Culp
Chairperson
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 9 funders, grant income rose $16k → $160k.
6 of 23 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $25M from one payer (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest Air Zoo Legacy Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money THE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM raised.
From the IRS filings of THE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY 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 KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 65% · 2018 86% · 2019 95% · 2020 65% · 2021 51% · 2022 38% · 2023 44% — 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 THE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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
94% of THE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM's grant income comes from Michigan funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $45k 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.
Government funding THE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $461k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$461k
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 KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY 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 Michigan
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Air Zoo Legacy Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY 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 KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM?
- THE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM (Michigan) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $947,737 to it, the largest being IRVING S GILMORE FOUNDATION ($200,000). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM have?
- IRS filings report 23 organizations giving $947,737 in grants to THE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM?
- IRVING S GILMORE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $200,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE KALAMAZOO AVIATION HISTORY MUSEUM find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Michigan. 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 Kalamazoo Aviation History Museum →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 23 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