Montana · Nonprofit
The Paradise Center
The Paradise Center (Montana) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $193,887 to it, the largest being M J MURDOCK CHARITABLE TRUST ($62,500). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $100k
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $194k
- Net assets
- $455k
What The Paradise Center does
Mission
To preserve the 114-year old school building in Paradise, MT (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) and repurpose it as a community center, visitor center, and art center
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Year-round art programs including live performances, local theatrical group; adult and youth classes, summer youth art camp, displays, outreach to county schools. New theater audio equipment was purchased in 2025
$25,260 spentof which $25,000 as grants$18,072 earned by the program44% of program spendingGeneral maintenance of the historical building, auditorium, replica railroad roundhouse, and the grounds. A retaining wall was built in the parking lot and more security cameras were installed in the buildings. The replica 1930s roundhouse that was constructed to display large and historically significant railroad items related to the railroad history of Paradise, MT got siding and windows installed in 2025.
$17,253 spentof which $38,206 as grants30% of program spendingCuration and upkeep of multiple exhibits and displays to showcase the history of Paradise, MT and the surrounding area. Some of the exhibits include a Model Railroad Exhibit including a replica of the town of Paradise and the Tie Treating Plant, a topographical recreation of Glacial Lake Missoula, an exhibit of large and historically significant railroad items related to the railroad history of Paradise, a Veterans Memorial with emphasis on local veterans and a handmade display depicting an Old Western town.
$14,333 spentof which $14,460 as grants$2,152 earned by the program25% of program spendingRounding
$1 spent0% of program spendingProvision of space for rent for community events
$1,770 earned by the program
The 5 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $56,847.
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 $51k to $229k (+347%).
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: 2023 46% · 2024 17% · 2025 11%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
78% of The Paradise Center’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (78% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $5k → $37k.
2 of 13 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.
From the IRS filings of The Paradise Center’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 Paradise Center leans on a few funders — its largest provides 32% of grant income and the top three 68%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
25% 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 Paradise Center.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 99% · 2021 78% · 2022 82% · 2023 56% — 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
25% of The Paradise Center's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 23% 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 Paradise Center's grant income comes from Montana funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $10k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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 Paradise Center runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 10,242 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 10,242 arts & culture nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Government funding The Paradise Center receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $25k on record.
- Department of Agriculture$25k
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 Paradise Center
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 Montana
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
64% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
92%
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 Paradise Center: 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 Paradise Center?
- The Paradise Center (Montana) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $193,887 to it, the largest being M J MURDOCK CHARITABLE TRUST ($62,500). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does The Paradise Center have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $193,887 in grants to The Paradise Center, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The Paradise Center?
- M J MURDOCK CHARITABLE TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $62,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The Paradise Center find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Montana. 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 Paradise 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 13 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