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Maine Space Grant Consortium

Our mission is to: improve our affiliates' research infrastructure in areas of mutual interest to NASA and the State of Maine; encourage more students to consider careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM); (Continued on Schedule O)(Mission Statement Continued) and enhance NASA's presence throughout the…

$1.3M
Granted FY2025still arriving
18
Grants FY2025still arriving
4
States reached
$437k
Largest
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Education$6.9MAnimals$501kScience & Tech$211kEmployment$69kEnvironment$48k
02FY2025 · 18 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 18 grants below total $1,122,164, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,304,920 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $182,756 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k3 grants · $19k
  • $10k–50k11 grants · $247k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $419k
  • $250k+1 grant · $437k
$21,404
Median grant
4
States reached
$421k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
University of Maine$437,433
University of Southern Maine$200,062
College of the Atlantic$143,170
University of New England$75,718
Northeastern University$49,133
Maine Development Foundation$45,340
Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership$23,840
Educate Maine$23,720
Bowdoin College$21,404
Robotics Institute of Maine$17,000
Southern Maine Community College$16,664
Maine Maritime Academy$15,218
Teachers in Space Inc$12,800
Saint Joseph's College of Maine$12,000
Fathom Fishing Inc$10,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–25) land where the poverty rate runs at 13%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 80% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Northeastern University: $49k → 16%Teachers in Space Inc: $29k → 17%Teachers in Space Inc: $25k → 10%MaxIQ Corp: $46k → 22%Bowdoin College: $23k → 7%VALT Enterprises LLC: $43k → 9%Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership: $24k → 12%Unity College: $34k → 13%University of Maine: $740k → 15%Northeastern University: $41k → 16%MaxIQ Corp: $41k → 22%Bowdoin College: $21k → 7%College of the Atlantic: $143k → 11%Robotics Institute of Maine: $17k → 12%University of Maine: $526k → 15%Bowdoin College: $17k → 7%University of New England: $76k → 9%College of the Atlantic: $92k → 11%University of Maine: $513k → 15%Bowdoin College: $17k → 7%University of New England: $26k → 9%College of the Atlantic: $85k → 11%Colby College: $41k → 12%University of Maine: $457k → 15%University of New England: $18k → 9%College of the Atlantic: $57k → 11%University of Maine: $452k → 15%College of the Atlantic: $53k → 11%University of Maine: $437k → 15%College of the Atlantic: $49k → 11%University of Maine: $414k → 15%College of the Atlantic: $40k → 11%University of Maine: $386k → 15%College of the Atlantic: $33k → 11%University of Maine: $302k → 15%Saint Joseph's College of Maine: $27k → 7%York County Community College: $81k → 9%College of the Atlantic: $25k → 11%York County Community College: $24k → 9%Gulf of Maine Research Institute: $202k → 7%Gulf of Maine Research Institute: $183k → 7%Gulf of Maine Research Institute: $94k → 7%Educate Maine: $24k → 7%Gulf of Maine Research Institute: $23k → 7%Southern Maine Community College: $42k → 7%Southern Maine Community College: $34k → 7%Southern Maine Community College: $23k → 7%Southern Maine Community College: $17k → 7%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

97%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$7.6M · 16 repeat orgs$204k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +49% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

16 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2025, 5 since wound down; 6 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

16
4

Total granted

$7.6M
$98k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+49%
0%

Still filing today

63%
75%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 90% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $107k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
EducationCommunity ImprovementAnimalsEnvironmentOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC
    9× · 2017–2025 · $577k · revenue +45%
  • GO
    GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE
    4× · 2017–2020 · $501k · revenue +102%
  • University of New England
    8× · 2017–2025 · $177k · revenue +24%

Funded once

  • The President and Trustees of Colby College
    one grant, 2024 · $41k · revenue -7%
  • UE
    Unity Environmental Universitygraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $34k · revenue +176%
  • WN
    WELLS NATIONAL ESTUARINE
    one grant, 2018 · $14k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Reed Institute

The mission of Reed College is to provide education in the liberal arts and sciences.

Education
2
Maine Media College

Maine Media Workshops & College educates and inspires visual artists and storytellers to achieve their creative potential. We provide lifelong learning opportunities for those pursuing the fine arts and media-related professions. We are…

—
3
Roger Williams University

At Roger Williams University, students are prepared to be thinkers and doers ready to solve challenging problems with innovative solutions. RWU offers robust offerings of undergraduate, graduate and professional programs across eight…

Education
4
President and Fellows of Middlebury College

Through a commitment to immersive learning, we prepare students to lead engaged, consequential, and creative lives, contribute to their communities, and address the world's most challenging problems.

Education
5
Trustees of Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College educates the most promising students and prepares them for a lifetime of learning and of responsible leadership, through a faculty dedicated to teaching and the creation of knowledge.

Education
6
Webb Institute

To inspire and educate tomorrows leaders in an extraordinary learning community focused on engineering and design in the marine field.

Education
7
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rensselaer educates the leaders of tomorrow for technologically based careers. We celebrate discovery and the responsible application of technology to create knowledge and global prosperity.

Education
8
New England Lawboston

New england law/boston dedicates itself to preparing students to be successful lawyers and leaders in the public and private sectors through integrated practical, theoretical and ethical education of the highest caliber and to contributing…

Education
9
New England College

New England College emphasizes experiential learning as an essential component in the development of an enduring academic community. Building upon a strong liberal arts foundation, we challenge our students to reach their full potential…

Education
10
Maine Space Grant Consortium

Our mission is to: improve our affiliates' research infrastructure in areas of mutual interest to NASA and the State of Maine; encourage more students to consider careers in fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics…

Science & Tech
11
Goucher College

Goucher College provides an innovative liberal arts education that prepares students with a broad, humane perspective for a life of inquiry, creativity, and critical and analytical thinking. The College's vision is to become a top-100…

Education
12
Bryant University

Bryant University's mission is to educate and inspire students to discover their passion and become innovative leaders with character around the world.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Northeastern University; the most unlike its peers is The Challenger Learning Cntr of Me. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

17 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 17 of the 26 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
10/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF MAINE SYSTEM INC: $5,334,752 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MAINE SYSTEM INCCOLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC: $576,562 · OtherCOLLEGE OF THE ATLANTICMaine Community College System: $235,716 · Other+7 more: $226,997 · OtherUniversity of New England: $176,776 · EducationUniversity …Bowdoin College: $154,222 · EducationBowdoin Col…Trustees of Saint Joseph's College Saint Joseph's College of Maine: $108,206 · EducationTrustees of…NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $98,505 · EducationNORTHEASTER…TEACHERS IN SPACE INC: $82,800 · EducationTEACHERS IN…The President and Trustees of Colby College: $41,214 · EducationMaine Mathematics & Science Alliance: $39,468 · EducationEducate Maine: $34,842 · EducationUnity Environmental University: $34,063 · Education+3 more: $44,796 · Education+3 moreGULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $501,296 · AnimalsMaine Development Foundation: $45,340 · Community ImprovementMaine Manufacturing Extension Partnership: $23,840 · Community ImprovementSCHOODIC INSTITUTE AT ACADIA NATIONAL PARK: $7,943 · Environment
Other$6,374,027Education$814,892Animals$501,296Community Improvement$69,180Environment$7,943

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCOLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC: $576,562 over 9y, 0.4% of budgetGULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $501,296 over 4y, 1.6% of budgetUniversity of New England: $176,776 over 8y, 0.0% of budgetBowdoin College: $154,222 over 9y, 0.0% of budgetTrustees of Saint Joseph's College Saint Joseph's College of Maine: $108,206 over 9y, 0.1% of budgetNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $98,505 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTEACHERS IN SPACE INC: $82,800 over 4y, 12% of budgetThe President and Trustees of Colby College: $41,214 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMaine Mathematics & Science Alliance: $39,468 over 5y, 0.5% of budgetEducate Maine: $34,842 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetUnity Environmental University: $34,063 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMaine Manufacturing Extension Partnership: $23,840 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetPRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF BATES COLLEGE: $22,495 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSCHOODIC INSTITUTE AT ACADIA NATIONAL PARK: $7,943 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE CHALLENGER LEARNING CNTR OF ME: $5,301 over 1y, 0.2% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds COLLEGE OF THE ATLANTIC ↗
  • Who funds GULF OF MAINE RESEARCH INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds University of New England ↗
  • Who funds Bowdoin College ↗
  • Who funds Trustees of Saint Joseph's College Saint Joseph's College of Maine ↗
  • Who funds NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds TEACHERS IN SPACE INC ↗
  • Who funds Maine Development Foundation ↗
  • Who funds The President and Trustees of Colby College ↗
  • Who funds Maine Mathematics & Science Alliance ↗
  • Who funds Educate Maine ↗
  • Who funds Unity Environmental University ↗
  • Who funds Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership ↗
  • Who funds PRESIDENT AND TRUSTEES OF BATES COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds Robotics Institute of Maine ↗
  • Who funds SCHOODIC INSTITUTE AT ACADIA NATIONAL PARK ↗
  • Who funds THE CHALLENGER LEARNING CNTR OF ME ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Maine Community Foundation IncME20.4× affinity8 shared granteesties to 9 of 9Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Maine Community Foundation Inc · Harold Alfond Foundation · Davis Family Foundation · Melmac Education Foundation · Onion Foundation · Bangor Savings Bank Foundation · The Blackbaud Giving Fund · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Maine Space Grant Consortium funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Maine Space Grant Consortium. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%1%4%8%15%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Maine Space Grant Consortium?

Find your warmest path to Maine Space Grant Consortium through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 26 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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