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Seti Institute at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Seti Institute

To explore, understand and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe and the evolution of intelligence.

$2.7M
Granted FY2025still arriving
29
Grants FY2025still arriving
16
States reached
$197k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Science & Tech$18MYouth Development$3.5MEducation$1.7MHealth$84k
02FY2025 · 29 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 29 grants below total $2,034,080, the rows itemized in this filing. The $2,716,545 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $682,465 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 $10k5 grants · $41k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $256k
  • $50k–250k14 grants · $1.7M
$38,012
Median grant
16
States reached
$247M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BAJA TECHNOLOGY LLC$196,500
PLANETARY SCIENCE INSTITUTE$187,842
WEST ED$175,432
SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE (SWRI)$172,064
SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION$159,176
CHABOT SPACE & SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION$149,135
PURDUE UNIVERSITY$132,676
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES$111,303
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA BOARD OF TRUSTEES$97,360
THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT RIVERSIDE$86,445
OTHER ORB LLC$84,000
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS - AMHERST$78,243
BAY AREA ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE$57,223
CORNELL UNIVERSITY$50,000
LEIDEN MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY$38,012
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 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 81% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%BAJA TECHNOLOGY LLC: $144k → 11%THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: $148k → 15%WEST ED: $210k → 10%GIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $171k → 10%CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $111k → 10%THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT RIVERSIDE: $129k → 11%UNIV OF HAWAII: $150k → 9%GIRL SCOUTS OF THE USA: $825k → 17%HONEYBEE ROBOTICS: $790k → 20%SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INSTITUTE (SWRI): $172k → 16%UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: $107k → 14%PURDUE UNIVERSITY: $133k → 19%TRILLIUM TECHNOLOGIES INC: $918k → 14%JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY APPLIED PHYSICS LABORATORY LLC: $91k → 6%SPACE TELESCOPE SCIENCE INSTITUTE: $95k → 19%DARTMOUTH COLLEGE: $100k → 10%BAJA TECHNOLOGY LLC: $120k → 11%THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: $129k → 15%WEST ED: $137k → 10%GIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $160k → 10%WEST ED: $231k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII: $123k → 9%GIRL SCOUTS OF THE USA: $686k → 17%HONEYBEE ROBOTICS: $611k → 20%PURDUE UNIVERSITY: $100k → 19%TRILLIUM: $241k → 14%THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: $108k → 15%GIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $158k → 10%WEST ED: $221k → 10%UNIV OF HAWAII: $97k → 9%GIRL SCOUTS OF THE USA: $683k → 17%HONEYBEE ROBOTICS: $347k → 20%THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: $91k → 15%GIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $117k → 10%ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC: $213k → 10%HONEYBEE ROBOTICS LTD: $356k → 17%HONEYBEE ROBOTICS: $137k → 20%GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: $98k → 14%WEST ED: $175k → 10%GIRL SCOUTS OF THE USA: $330k → 17%SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $159k → 10%GIRL SCOUTS OF THE USA: $295k → 17%LEIDEN MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY: $137k → 10%HONEYBEE ROBOTICS LTD: $136k → 17%THE REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT RIVERSIDE: $127k → 10%CHABOT SPACE & SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION: $149k → 10%ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC: $104k → 10%ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC: $90k → 10%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.

Which US states its grants reach

NH
ID
MT
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
NV
WY
IA
IN
PA
CA
CO
KY
VA
MD
AZ
NM
TN
DC
HI
OK
GA
TX
FL

Grants abroad, by region: $583k on the FY2025 return

Schedule F, as filed: 4 regions, $563k to organizations and $21k to individuals. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.

Sub-Saharan Africa$422k · 72% · 2 grants

Stated purpose: CLOSING THE NETTECHNOSIGNATURES IN THE LAST FRONTIERS OF RADIO ASTRONOMY · ADVANCE PAYMENT FOR LOGISITIC SUPPORT OF THE TAWANI EXPEDITION

Europe (including Iceland and Greenland)$75k · 13% · 2 grants · 2 people

Stated purpose: RADIO STARS WITH THE AILEN TELESCOPE ARRAY · NCCN WEBSITE ENHANCEMENTS · FUNDS TO SUPPORT THE BOOK RESEARCH PROJECT A SIGN IN SPACE

Middle East and North Africa$50k · 9% · 1 grant

Stated purpose: ALGORITHMS FOR EXPLORING THE RADIO SKY WITH INTERFEROMETERS

South Asia$37k · 6% · 1 grant

Stated purpose: MACHINE LEARNING TO UNCOVER MEGASTRUCTURES IN TRANSIT LIGHT CURVES

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. Grants abroad on Schedule F are filed by region, purpose and amount with no recipient name, so they are shown by region and cannot be placed on the country map or matched to a grantee.
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.
$22M · 56 repeat orgs$761k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +19% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

56 repeat relationships: 24 still active in FY2025, 32 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

56
13

Total granted

$22M
$442k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+19%
+8%

Still filing today

41%
23%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 84% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $319k 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
EducationScience & TechYouth DevelopmentArts & CultureHealthEnvironmentOther
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

  • GS
    GIRL SCOUTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
    6× · 2017–2022 · $2.9M · revenue +3%
  • TU
    THE UC DAVIS FOUNDATION
    3× · 2017–2020 · $633k · revenue +66%
  • PS
    Planetary Science Institute
    8× · 2018–2025 · $563k · revenue +30%

Funded once

  • SP
    S&B PRECISION MACHINES CONSULTING LLC
    one grant, 2024 · $78k
  • OC
    OAK CREST INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
    one grant, 2023 · $67k · revenue -17%
  • SS
    STELLAR SOLUTIONS INC
    one grant, 2018 · $60k
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
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mission of mit is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

Education
2
President and Fellows of Harvard College

Undergraduate, graduate, and professional education and research across a broad array of academic domains.

Education
3
William Marsh Rice University

As a leading research university with a distinctive commitment to undergraduate education, Rice University aspires to path breaking research, unsurpassed teaching, and contributions to the betterment of our world. It seeks to fulfill this…

Education
4
The George Washington University

The mission of the george washington university (gw) is to educate individuals in liberal arts, languages, sciences, learned professions, and other courses and subjects of study, and to conduct scholarly research and publish the findings…

Education
5
The Trustees of Princeton University

Research, education and general - princeton university is a private not-for-profit, non-sectarian institution of higher learning with approximately 5,700 undergraduate and 3,300 graduate students. 2,500 students graduated in the 2024-2025…

Education
6
Lehigh University

The university's goal in the coming decade is to advance learning through the integration of teaching, research and service to others. the core of this goal is to prepare graduates to engage with the world and lead lives of meaning. to do…

Education
7
Trustees of Tufts College

Education and Research

Education
8
The Scripps Research Institute

The scripps research institute ("tsri") performs high impact basic biomedical research, improves the human condition by fostering translation of its discoveries into useful products and engages in the highest quality graduate scientific…

Health
9
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia

University of the sciences prepares students to become leaders, innovators, and skilled practitioners in the sciences, the health professions, and related disciplines. we deliver excellence in teaching, research, and service through a safe…

—
10
Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Wpi transforms lives, turns knowledge into action to confront global challenges, and revolutionizes stem through distinctive and inclusive education, projects and research. (http://www.wpi.edu/about/mission.html)

—
11
Associated Universities Inc

Associated universities inc (aui) collaborates with the scientific community and research sponsors to plan, build, and operate cutting-edge facilities. we cultivate excellence, deliver value, enhance education, and engage the public.

Science & Tech
12
University of Chicago

The mission of the university of chicago has been to sustain at the highest level of excellence, the communication of knowledge, the creation of knowledge and the fostering of a dynamic community of scholars and students.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Georgetown University; the most unlike its peers is Aries Scientific Inc. 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

32 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. 32 of the 77 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
31/32
Grantees still filing
22/32
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Honeybee Robotics Ltd: $2,529,708 · OtherHoneybee Robotics LtdUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: $1,622,624 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTONWESTED: $1,211,990 · OtherWESTEDTRILLIUM TECHNOLOGIES INC: $1,158,835 · OtherTRILLIUM TECHNOLOGIES INCUNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA: $786,722 · OtherBAJA TECHNOLOGY LLC: $770,586 · OtherPlanetary Science Institute: $563,317 · OtherREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT RIVERSIDE: $539,402 · Other+41 more: $6,201,286 · Other+41 moreGIRL SCOUTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: $2,861,596 · Youth DevelopmentGIRL SCOUTS OF TH…GIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $633,669 · Youth DevelopmentGIRL SCOUTS OF NO…THE UC DAVIS FOUNDATION: $632,686 · EducationTHE UC DAV…SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION SDSU RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $378,780 · EducationSAN DIEGO …GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: $238,817 · EducationGEORGETOWN…Cornell University: $180,039 · EducationCornell Un…The Research Foundation for The State University of New York: $112,171 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $100,805 · EducationTrustees of Dartmouth College: $99,999 · EducationPHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE: $83,816 · Education+7 more: $319,830 · Education+7 moreASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC: $591,788 · Science & TechASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITIES FOR RESEARCH IN ASTRONOMY INC: $295,115 · Science & TechSouthwest Research Institute: $293,923 · Science & TechCHABOT SPACE & SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION: $149,135 · Science & TechUniversities Space Research Association: $126,315 · Science & TechSPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE: $110,063 · Science & TechOAK CREST INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE: $67,007 · Science & TechSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $256,846 · Arts & CultureCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $111,303 · Arts & CultureGEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION: $128,484 · HealthBay Area Environmental Research Institute: $63,937 · Environment
Other$15,384,470Youth Development$3,495,265Education$2,146,943Science & Tech$1,633,346Arts & Culture$368,149Health$128,484Environment$63,937

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: $2,861,596 over 6y, 0.6% of budgetGIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA: $633,669 over 5y, 0.7% of budgetTHE UC DAVIS FOUNDATION: $632,686 over 3y, 0.8% of budgetASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC: $591,788 over 6y, 7.4% of budgetPlanetary Science Institute: $563,317 over 8y, 1.1% of budgetSAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION SDSU RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $378,780 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetARIES SCIENTIFIC INC: $312,311 over 6y, 93% of budgetASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITIES FOR RESEARCH IN ASTRONOMY INC: $295,115 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetSouthwest Research Institute: $293,923 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCarnegie Mellon University: $290,454 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetSMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION: $256,846 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetGEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: $238,817 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $180,039 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetCHABOT SPACE & SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION: $149,135 over 1y, 2.1% of budgetGEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION: $128,484 over 5y, 0.0% of budgetUniversities Space Research Association: $126,315 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetThe Research Foundation for The State University of New York: $112,171 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetCALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $111,303 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE: $110,063 over 4y, 1.1% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $100,805 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetTrustees of Dartmouth College: $99,999 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE: $83,816 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST FOUNDATION INC: $70,084 over 3y, 1.1% of budgetOAK CREST INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE: $67,007 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetBay Area Environmental Research Institute: $63,937 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetCAL POLY POMONA FOUNDATION INC: $61,528 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetTHE HOWARD UNIVERSITY: $54,187 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetVILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: $42,170 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetWilliams College: $36,217 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCitrus College Foundation: $34,676 over 2y, 2.2% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $30,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $20,968 over 2y, 0.0% 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 GIRL SCOUTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ↗
  • Who funds GIRL SCOUTS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA ↗
  • Who funds THE UC DAVIS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF THE PACIFIC ↗
  • Who funds Planetary Science Institute ↗
  • Who funds SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION SDSU RESEARCH FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds ARIES SCIENTIFIC INC ↗
  • Who funds ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITIES FOR RESEARCH IN ASTRONOMY INC ↗
  • Who funds Southwest Research Institute ↗
  • Who funds Carnegie Mellon University ↗
  • Who funds SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION ↗
  • Who funds GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY ↗
  • Who funds Cornell University ↗
  • Who funds CHABOT SPACE & SCIENCE CENTER FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION ↗
  • Who funds Universities Space Research Association ↗

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.

Johns Hopkins Univers…Association of Univer…West Virginia Univers…Trustees of Boston Un…The Trustees of Colum…University of DelawareAmerican Chemical Soc…Carnegie Mellon Unive…Cornell UniversityNational Collegiate A…Gordon E and Betty I …Mathematical Associat…
Johns Hopkins UniversityMD36.1× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Johns Hopkins University · Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy Inc · West Virginia University Research Corporation · Trustees of Boston University · The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York · University of Delaware · American Chemical Society · Carnegie Mellon University · Cornell University · National Collegiate Athletic Association · Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation · Mathematical Association of America Inc

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 Seti Institute funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Seti Institute. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
  • Williams College: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get 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.

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 77 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

Play a game based on Seti Institute’s filings →

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home