Who funds large science organizations
The funders that back large science organizations are specialists, not generalists: Hudsonalpha Foundation gives them 54.6× the national rate, with 100% of its grants going here. Large science institutions draw a deep funder base, 10 on average, so the competition for their attention is intense.
The short version
- 7,340 funders gave $12.7B to 742 large science organizations (large ($10M and up)) across recent IRS filings.
- The most focused funder is Hudsonalpha Foundation, giving 54.6× the national rate to large science organizations.
- The largest non-DAF funder is Johns Hopkins University, at $379M.
- The large science organization drawing the most is Navigation Charitable Fund, at $1.3B.
Funders most focused on large science organizations
Not the biggest checks, the most committed: each gives this size and cause an outsized share of its budget against the national rate, shrunk toward that rate so a small specialist needs real volume to rank.
Largest funders by dollars
Real grantmakers giving the most to large science organizations (donor-advised and mega-funds excluded).
Large science organizations that draw the most
Sized by grant dollars received. Pick one to see exactly who funds it.
Questions and answers
- How do I find funders for a large science nonprofit?
- Start with the funders most focused on large science organizations, currently Hudsonalpha Foundation, American Society for Technion Israel Institute of Technology Inc, The Donald Bren Foundation. Donor-advised funds and mega-funds are excluded, so these are funders that genuinely back organizations your size, not pass-through accounts.
- What counts as a large organization here?
- Size is the organization's median total revenue across its filings: large ($10M and up). Cause is where each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear.
- How much grant money goes to large science organizations?
- $12.7B reached 742 large science organizations from 7,340 funders. Money parked in the regranting layer is netted out.
- How recent is this data?
- It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings across recent fiscal years. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.
More from the funding graph
Size is median total revenue; each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear. Read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML across recent fiscal years, among (c)(3) funders and recipients resolved by EIN, with the regranting layer netted out. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.