ARIZONA SONORA DESERT MUSEUM

As filed

Subsection

03

NTEE code

A560

Classification

2000

Street

2021 N KINNEY RD

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2024

• THE ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM IS A WORLD-RENOWNED BIOPARK COMPRISED OF MULTIPLE COMPONENTS, INCLUDING REGIONAL ZOO, BOTANICAL GARDEN, AQUARIUM, RESEARCH ORGANIZATION, ART INSTITUTE, AND NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM. THE MUSEUM SITS ON 98 ACRES OF LEASED PROPERTY, 21 OF WHICH ARE ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC, WITH 2 MILES OF WALKING PATHS WHERE GUESTS VIEW EXHIBITS THAT REALISTICALLY RE-CREATE THE FLORA AND FAUNA OF THE VIBRANT SONORAN DESERT REGION. VISITORS MAY ENCOUNTER MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED ANIMAL SPECIES, CURATED GARDENS WITH OVER ONE THOUSAND VARIETIES OF PLANTS, TWO ART GALLERIES, AND A SIMULATED CAVE WITH A MINERAL GALLERY. THE MUSEUM IS OPEN FOR PUBLIC VISITATION EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR. SINCE ITS OPENING IN 1952, OVER 24 MILLION PEOPLE FROM AROUND THE WORLD HAVE VISITED THE MUSEUM. IN FISCAL YEAR 2025, ATTENDANCE AT THE MUSEUM WAS 393,926 VISITORS AND THERE WERE APPROXIMATELY 15,000 MEMBER HOUSEHOLDS. EXHIBITS AND GARDENS: THE MUSEUM'S LARGEST AND MOST IMPACTFUL PROGRAM IS ITS EXHIBITS AND GARDENS. THE MUSEUM MAINTAINS 21 INTERPRETED ACRES WITH TWO MILES OF WALKING PATHS THROUGH VARIOUS DESERT HABITATS, OVER TWO HUNDRED ANIMAL SPECIES, TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PLANT SPECIMENS FROM MORE THAN ONE THOUSAND TAXA, ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST COMPREHENSIVE REGIONAL MINERAL COLLECTIONS, AND TWO ART GALLERIES. EXIT SURVEYS REVEAL THE IMPACT OF A DESERT MUSEUM VISIT: VISITORS TELL US THAT THEY LEARN ABOUT NEW SUBJECTS AND ISSUES, THEY FEEL CLOSER TO NATURE, AND THEY HAVE A DEEPER APPRECIATION FOR THE SONORAN DESERT AFTER THEIR VISIT.

  Expenses $9,557,291 · Revenue $8,378,339

• CONSERVATION, EDUCATION AND SCIENCE PROGRAMSSINCE ITS FOUNDING IN 1952, THE ARIZONA-SONORA DESERT MUSEUM HAS PUT CONSERVATION EDUCATION AND SCIENCE AT THE CORE OF ITS MISSION. FROM HELPING TO ESTABLISH PROTECTED ISLANDS AND COASTAL WETLANDS IN THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA, TO BREEDING AND REINTRODUCTION PROGRAMS FOR ENDANGERED SPECIES SUCH AS THE MEXICAN GRAY WOLF, THICK-BILLED PARROT, AND NUMEROUS FISH, AMPHIBIANS, AND REPTILES, TO DOCUMENTING THE BIODIVERSITY THAT HELPED ESTABLISH THE IRONWOOD FOREST NATIONAL MONUMENT, THE MUSEUM'S CONSERVATION ACTIVITIES HAVE BEEN WIDELY RECOGNIZED FOR MANY DECADES. OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE ARE THE MUSEUM'S EDUCATION PROGRAMS WHICH TOUCH NEARLY 200,000 PEOPLE EACH YEAR, INCLUDING CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. THESE PROGRAMS HELP TO FOSTER LOVE, APPRECIATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF OUR DESERT HOME.

  Expenses $1,997,213 · Revenue $953,383

• ART INSTITUTETHE MISSION OF THE ASDM ART INSTITUTE IS "CONSERVATION THROUGH ART EDUCATION." WE SEEK TO ENGAGE PEOPLE IN NATURE-FOCUSED ART CLASSES AND INSPIRE NEW CONSERVATION ADVOCATES. TO THIS END, WE OFFER ART CLASSES, ART EXHIBITS, AND STEWARDSHIP OF THE MUSEUM'S ART COLLECTION. ART CLASSES:ART PROFESSIONALS TEACH ALL ART CLASSES, AND CLASS CONTENT EMPHASIZES OUR LIVING COLLECTIONS AND SONORAN DESERT SETTING. IN FISCAL YEAR 2025, THE ART INSTITUTE SERVED 1,261 STUDENTS ON-SITE. 27 INSTRUCTORS TAUGHT 174 DIFFERENT ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY CLASSES. FOUR STUDENTS GRADUATED FROM THE NATURE ART CERTIFICATE PROGRAM AND 112 BRAND NEW STUDENTS ENTERED THE PROGRAM. ON OUR WEBSITE, WE OFFER 10 FREE VIDEOS, VIEWED BY OVER 1,200 PEOPLE. WE ALSO PROVIDE A VIDEO CLASS SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE; IT CURRENTLY HAS 114 SUBSCRIBERS AND 258 VIDEOS.TOTAL AUDIENCE SERVED IN 2025: 2,575PERMANENT COLLECTION:VANISHING CIRCLES IS A PERMANENT ART COLLECTION COMPRISING 92 ORIGINAL PAINTINGS DEPICTING DISAPPEARING WILDLIFE, PLANTS, AND HABITATS OF THE SONORAN DESERT. IN ADDITION, THE MUSEUM HAS A SMALL PERMANENT COLLECTION OF 49 ART PIECES NAMED THE BALDWIN COLLECTION. WE ALSO HAVE A COLLECTION OF 73 WORKS BY SHERIDAN OMAN, 108 BY MANABU SAITO, AND 68 BY RHONDA SPENCER. IN 2020, WE ACQUIRED A COLLECTION OF 23 ORIGINAL SCRATCHBOARD PIECES BY PRISCILLA BALDWIN DEPICTING ANIMALS FROM THE MUSEUM. THIS COLLECTION IS NOW ON PERMANENT DISPLAY IN THE BALDWIN BUILDING. IN 2024 WE PURCHASED A SCULPTURE FOR THE GROUNDS CALLED "MORE BEES PLEASE" IT SERVES TO CALL AWARENESS TO OUR POLLINATOR GARDENS. IN 2025 THREE MORE PIECES BY PRISCILLA BALDWIN WERE DONATED TO THE COLLECTION.TOTAL PIECES IN THE ART COLLECTION IN 2025: 435GALLERY EXHIBITS:WE HOST 8 TO 12 UNIQUE ART EXHIBITS ANNUALLY IN THE IRONWOOD GALLERY AND BALDWIN EDUCATION GALLERY. THESE ART EXHIBITS SERVE THE MISSION OF THE DESERT MUSEUM BY REVEALING THE BEAUTY OF THE SONORAN HABITAT AND WILDLIFE TO OUR VISITORS THROUGH VISUAL ARTS. IN 2025, WE HAD 51,435 VISITORS IN OUR IRONWOOD GALLERIES AND 4,545 IN OUR BALDWIN GALLERIES. IN TOTAL, WE PRODUCED AND OPENED ELEVEN UNIQUE ART EXHIBITS. THESE LIVE SHOWS ARE AVAILABLE VIRTUALLY ON OUR WEBSITE, MAKING THEM ACCESSIBLE TO AUDIENCES WORLDWIDE.THIRTY-SIX VOLUNTEERS STAFF OUR GALLERIES. THEIR JOB IS TO FACILITATE ENGAGEMENT BETWEEN GUESTS AND EXHIBITS; THEY HELP VISITORS DEEPEN THEIR UNDERSTANDING OF THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN ART, SCIENCE, AND CONSERVATION.IN 2025, WE HOSTED A MUSEUM WIDE STEEL SCULPTURE EXHIBITION. THE ARTIST LOANED US THE FOUR INTERACTIVE STEEL SCULPTURES AT NO COST TO THE MUSEUM.

  Expenses $635,103 · Revenue $202,710

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

The first 25 listed. Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

• 2024

  Revenue

  $23,837,802

  Expenses

  $15,332,356

  Contributions

  $12,282,566

  Grants paid

  $0

• 2023

  Revenue

  $16,249,415

  Expenses

  $14,645,596

  Contributions

  $5,712,960

  Grants paid

  $0

• 2022

  Revenue

  $15,241,912

  Expenses

  $13,451,999

  Contributions

  $5,173,981

  Grants paid

  $0

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

• 2024 · 990-T

  Revenue

  — not reported

  Expenses

  — not reported

  Assets (EOY)

  — not reported

• 2023 · 990-T

  Revenue

  — not reported

  Expenses

  — not reported

  Assets (EOY)

  — not reported

• 2022 · 990-T

  Revenue

  — not reported

  Expenses

  — not reported

  Assets (EOY)

  — not reported

• 2021 · 990

  Revenue

  $28,343,419

  Expenses

  $12,733,839

  Assets (EOY)

  $51,306,918

• 2021 · 990-T

  Revenue

  — not reported

  Expenses

  — not reported

  Assets (EOY)

  — not reported

• 2020 · 990

  Revenue

  $19,725,526

  Expenses

  $9,766,868

  Assets (EOY)

  $40,175,504

• 2020 · 990-T

  Revenue

  — not reported

  Expenses

  — not reported

  Assets (EOY)

  — not reported

• 2019 · 990

  Revenue

  $11,636,364

  Expenses

  $10,335,527

  Assets (EOY)

  $30,740,049

• 2018 · 990

  Revenue

  $11,651,195

  Expenses

  $11,357,898

  Assets (EOY)

  $28,529,202

• 2017 · 990

  Revenue

  $12,985,043

  Expenses

  $10,627,964

  Assets (EOY)

  $28,513,346

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all. Showing the 10 most recent; the API carries the rest.

Grants made

No itemized grants to organizations. Schedule I is filed only by organizations that granted more than $5,000 to a recipient, so most filers have none.

Grants received

• THOMAS R BROWN FAMILY FOUNDATION

  $1,750,000

  2022 · Support

• FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

  $335,595

  2024 · For grant recipient's exempt purposes

• AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF ZOOLOGICAL PARKS AND AQUARIUMS INC

  $114,609

  2022 · ENDANGERED SPECIES COVID RELIEF

• FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

  $97,150

  2023 · For grant recipient's exempt purposes

• FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

  $66,262

  2022 · For grant recipient's exempt purposes

• AMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION

  $65,000

  2024 · ARTS, CULTURE

• DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING

  $47,444

  2023 · ARTS, CULTURE & HUMANITIES

• DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING

  $41,069

  2022 · ARTS, CULTURE & HUMANITIES

• DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING

  $39,450

  2024 · ARTS, CULTURE & HUMANITIES

• AMERICAN ENDOWMENT FOUNDATION

  $25,000

  2023 · ARTS, CULTURE

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Other IRS files