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The Planetary Society at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

The Planetary Society

THE PLANETARY SOCIETY empowers the world's citizens to advance space science and exploration.

$115k
Granted FY2025still arriving
1
Grants FY2025still arriving
—
States reached
$25k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its 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.

Education$199kScience & Tech$128kArts & Culture$1k
02FY2025 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 1 grants below total $25,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $114,962 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $89,962 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.
$25,000
Median grant
—
States reached
$7.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO$25,000
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 (FY17–20) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 46% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants spread fairly evenly across need levels.

area typical 11%LOWELL OBSERVATORY: $25k → 16%HARVARD UNIVERSITY: $18k → 8%CENTER FOR SOLAR SYSTEM STUDIES: $9k → 14%INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ASTRONOMICAL ARTISTS: $200 → 16%NATIONAL SPACE CLUB AND FOUNDATION: $2k → 14%HONEYBEE ROBOTICS: $25k → 11%ADLER PLANETARIUM: $1k → 14%ASTRONOMICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE: $6k → 18%HARVARD UNIVERSITY: $12k → 8%AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY: $5k → 14%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

IL
MA
CT
CA
AZ
KS
SC
DC

Grants abroad, by region: $69k on the FY2025 return

Schedule F, as filed: 2 regions, all to individuals. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.

Europe (including Iceland and Greenland)$51k · 73% · 6 people

Stated purpose: SHOEMAKER GRANT

South America$18k · 27% · 3 people

Stated purpose: NEO RESEARCHNEO RESEARCH · SHOEMAKER GRANT

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 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
American Museum of Natural History

The museum's mission statement is: "to discover, interpret, and disseminate - through scientific research and education - knowledge about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe."

Arts & Culture
2
American Geosciences Institute

The american geosciences institute (agi) was founded in 1948, under a directive of the national academy of sciences, as a network of associations representing geoscientists with a diverse array of skills and knowledge of our planet. the…

—
3
Institute for Advanced Study - Louis Bamberger & Mrs Felix Fuld Foundation

The institute for advanced study (the institute) is one of the world's leading centers for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. see schedule o.

Science & Tech
4
American Association of Variable Star Ob

The aavso provides amateur astronomers and students the opportunity to make real and direct contributions to astronomy. in programs they complete at their own pace, we teach them how to make observations and how to analyze astronomical…

Science & Tech
5
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
6
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
7
Earth & Space Research

Increase societal understanding of the earth system through scientific research and education.

Science & Tech
8
Dickinson College

Dickinson college provides a useful, innovative and interdisciplinary education in the liberal arts and sciences to prepare students to lead rich and fulfilling lives of engaged global citizenship

Education
9
Universities Space Research Association

To provide a collaborative membership organization where universities and other research organizations may cooperate effectively with each other, with the United States government, and other entities to develop knowledge associated with…

Science & Tech
10
Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope Corp

Operate 3.6 meter astronomical telescope to further the knowledge and understanding of the universe through scientific research, studies, education, and dissemination of such knowledge.

—
11
Association for Computing Machinery Inc

We are an intl. scientific & educational org. dedicated to advancing art, science & technology.

Science & Tech
12
University of Miami

See Form 990, Part I, Line 1, Description of Organization Mission.

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is American Astronomical Society; the most unlike its peers is Astronomical Research Institute 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

8 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. 8 of the 16 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)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
7/8
Grantees still filing
6/8
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: $50,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF COLORADOREGENTS UNIVERSITY OF CA LOS ANGELES: $49,980 · OtherREGENTS UNIVERSITY OF CA LOS ANGELESHoneybee Robotics Ltd: $25,000 · OtherHoneybee Robotics LtdNE KANSAS AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS LEAGUE INC: $11,591 · OtherNE KANSAS AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS LEAGUE INCCENTER FOR SOLAR SYSTEM STUDIES: $8,995 · OtherCENTER FOR SOLAR SYSTEM STUDIESWOODLAND HILLS CAMERA AND TELESCOPES: $7,998 · OtherNORTHEAST KANSAS AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS LEAGUE INC: $6,860 · OtherAstronomical Research Institute Inc: $5,550 · Other+1 more: $200 · OtherFLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $50,000 · EducationFLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INCTrustees of Dartmouth College: $49,284 · EducationTrustees of Dartmouth CollegePresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $30,000 · EducationPresident and Fellows of Harvard CollegeLOWELL OBSERVATORY: $25,000 · Science & TechLOWELL OBS…AMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY: $4,500 · Science & TechAMERICAN A…THE NATIONAL SPACE CLUB AND FOUNDATION: $2,305 · Science & TechTHE NATION…THE ADLER PLANETARIUM: $1,000 · Arts & Culture
Other$166,174Education$129,284Science & Tech$31,805Arts & Culture$1,000

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 budgetFLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTrustees of Dartmouth College: $49,284 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPresident and Fellows of Harvard College: $30,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetLOWELL OBSERVATORY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAstronomical Research Institute Inc: $5,550 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetAMERICAN ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY: $4,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTHE NATIONAL SPACE CLUB AND FOUNDATION: $2,305 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetTHE ADLER PLANETARIUM: $1,000 over 1y, 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization The Planetary Society funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Planetary Society. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%23%45%68%90%share of the org’s income from government →median 7%
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
  • Florida Institute of Technology Inc: 5% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–90%
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 16 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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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