Nova Scotia · Registered charity
THE DISCOVERY CENTRE
THE DISCOVERY CENTRE (Nova Scotia) receives grants from 30 organizations whose Canada Revenue Agency filings report C$5,541,582 to it, the largest being J and W Murphy Foundation (C$3,000,000). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
Against its field
THE DISCOVERY CENTRE's revenue fell 52% between 2017 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 690 public amenities nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Three funders worth looking at
Grantmakers with no record of funding this organization, ranked by how strongly the co-funder graph and the mission embeddings agree. The evidence is in section 03.
- Craig Foundationlocal
- The Canadian Association of Science Centres L'Association Canadienne Des Centre de Sciencesportfolio match
- The Toronto Star Children's Charitiesportfolio match
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.
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 70% · 2018 35% · 2019 37% · 2020 22% · 2021 46% · 2022 63% · 2023 55% · 2024 46%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
30% of THE DISCOVERY CENTRE’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (5% for the typical peer).
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
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 12 funders to 10 funders, grant income fell C$588k → C$68k.
From the CRA filings of THE DISCOVERY CENTRE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024 is still being filed and is shown unshaded; it does not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
THE DISCOVERY CENTRE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 54% of grant income and the top three 68%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 DISCOVERY CENTRE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 34% · 2018 86% · 2019 54% · 2020 43% · 2021 40% · 2022 26% · 2023 30% — 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 is still being filed and is shown unshaded; it does not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
30% of THE DISCOVERY CENTRE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
71% of THE DISCOVERY CENTRE's grant income comes from Nova Scotia funders.
In-province vs out-of-province, by year
Funder regions come from each funder’s own filing. C$439k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 regions 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 is still being filed and is shown unshaded; it does not move any figure on this page.
Funders to approach
Grantmakers that don’t fund you yet, surfaced two ways: they back organizations that share your funders, or their grantees resemble your mission. The ones both signals agree on come first. Your 30 funders put you under-funded among the 400 organizations that share them.
- Craig FoundationlocalNS · funds 11 organizations near you
- The Canadian Association of Science Centres L'Association Canadienne Des Centre de Sciencesportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- The Toronto Star Children's Charitiesportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Td Friends of the Environment Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Clifford and Lily Fielding Charitable Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Canadian Wildlife Federation/Fédération Canadienne de la Fauneportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Helen McCrea Peacock Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- The Rogers Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Judy and Wilmot Matthews Foundationportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Black Family Foundationshared funderslocalNS · backs 41 organizations that share your funders · funds 8 organizations near you
- Donovan Family Foundation IncorporatedlocalNS · funds 3 organizations near you
- Fred and Edith Greene FoundationlocalNS · funds 4 organizations near you
From the co-funder graph (funders backing at least two comparable organizations, shrunk for grantee count, donor-advised and mega-funds excluded) and the universe embeddings. A research starting point; overlap is association, not a guarantee of fit.
Government revenue THE DISCOVERY CENTRE reports
Federal, provincial and municipal funding on the organization’s own T3010 return.
- 46% of FY2024 revenue
- As filed, not traced to an award
Organizations like THE DISCOVERY CENTRE
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every charity on the CRA register — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Nova Scotia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own T3010 return, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Questions and answers
- Who funds THE DISCOVERY CENTRE?
- THE DISCOVERY CENTRE (Nova Scotia) receives grants from 30 organizations whose Canada Revenue Agency filings report C$5,541,582 to it, the largest being J and W Murphy Foundation (C$3,000,000). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE DISCOVERY CENTRE have?
- Canada Revenue Agency filings report 30 organizations giving C$5,541,582 in grants to THE DISCOVERY CENTRE, 19 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE DISCOVERY CENTRE?
- J and W Murphy Foundation is the largest funder on record, with C$3,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE DISCOVERY CENTRE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Nova Scotia.
Play a game about who funds Discovery Centre →
These figures are read directly from the CRA's published T3010 data: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 30 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 September 23, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · View the T3010 on the CRA register