· Public charity
The Biomimicry Institute
The purposes of this corporation shall be to naturalize biomimicry in the culture by promoting the transfer of ideas, designs, and strategies from biology to sustainable human systems design.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
How this is measured
By grant size · FY2024
- $10k–50k1 grant · $39k
- $50k–250k1 grant · $67k
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| THE OR FOUNDATION | $67,189 |
| YALE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF THE ENVIRONMENT | $39,300 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY19–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Grants abroad, by region: $44k on the FY2024 return
Schedule F, as filed: 4 regions, all to individuals. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.
Stated purpose: GIFT FOR THE SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS PROGRAM TO SUPPORT TEXTILE BIODEGRADABILITY AND TEXTILE WASTE TOXICITY RESEARCH
Stated purpose: GRANTS FOR STUDENTS' ASSISTANCE ON THE GHANA PILOT OF DESIGN FOR TRANSFORMATION PROJECT RESEARCHING TEXTILE WASTE
How this is measured
3 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. 3 of the 4 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.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
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.
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization The Biomimicry Institute funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Biomimicry Institute. Bigger dots raise more.
- Yale University: 12% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Biomimicry Institute’s filings →