Massachusetts · Nonprofit
THE SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC
THE SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 38 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,743,888 to it, the largest being THE RED SOX FOUNDATION INC ($1,395,539). 29 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.9M
- Funders on record
- 38
- Grants received
- $3.7M
- Net assets
- $769k
What The Sports Museum of New England Inc does
Mission
The sports museum is committed to improving lives through the power of boston sports. We celebrate our rich sports heritage and use that platform to help strengthen and empower kids to develop positive social and emotional well-being.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Maintenance of facility for sports memorabilia (the museum) in the boston and new england area. Provide the public with the opportunity to enjoy and view the memorabilia.
$561,143 spent$607,826 earned by the program40% of program spendingStand strong revolves around five elements of character -determination, courage, teamwork, fairness, and responsibility. The program works with at-risk youth through involvement with museum activities, school sessions, field trips, community service projects and presentations from boston athletes to give them the tools to make the right choices in the face of drugs, violence, and other dangers.
$280,573 spent20% of program spendingBoston vs. Bullies is our award-winning bullying prevention program that features current athletes from boston's professional sports teams and leverages the powerful platform of boston sports in order to stop bullying in our schools and in our community.
$561,143 spentof which $2,500 as grants40% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,402,859.
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 2019 to 2020, from $1.3M to $570k (−55%).
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 16% · 2022 8% · 2023 5% · 2024 3% · 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
65% of THE SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than 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
Rusty Sullivan
Executive director
Board chair
Joe Preston
Chair, trustee
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 18 funders, grant income rose $121k → $525k.
7 of 38 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 10% 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 SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 38 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 SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 57%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
78% 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 SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 24% · 2018 59% · 2019 18% · 2020 88% · 2021 22% · 2022 17% · 2023 19% — 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
46% of THE SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 76% 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
89% of THE SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $374k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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 SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC 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 SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $75k on record.
- (PP) STATE AID/POL SUB$75k
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 SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND 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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
74% 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 SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND 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 SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC?
- THE SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 38 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,743,888 to it, the largest being THE RED SOX FOUNDATION INC ($1,395,539). 29 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC have?
- IRS filings report 38 organizations giving $3,743,888 in grants to THE SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC, 29 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC?
- THE RED SOX FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,395,539 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE SPORTS MUSEUM OF NEW ENGLAND INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 38 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