Massachusetts · Nonprofit
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB (Massachusetts) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $225,570 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($126,100). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 62% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.1M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $226k
- Net assets
- $19M
What American Association of Variable Star Ob does
Mission
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 data, and we offer them the opportunity to participate in observing campaigns designed to produce peer-reviewed published papers.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The aavso, through its members and the broader astronomical community, conducts astronomical research, does data collection, maintains a database of known variable stars, a database of individual observations measuring bright of stars in various colors, a database of exoplanet observations, a database of sunspot counts, and a database of spectrographs. The aavso has about 1,200 members, the majority of which contribute astronomical observations. The variable star database has almost 11 million known variable stars. There are about 74 million brightness observations, 14 thousand exo-planet transits, 18 thousand spectra, and 292 thousand solar observations. The aavso organizes observing campaigns or provides a platform for professional astronomers to request monitoring of stars for spacecraft missions. The aavso has about 30 of these campaigns each year. The observations and databases are cited in about 300 research articles each year.
$360,565 spent$72,359 earned by the program47% of program spendingThe aavso holds an annual science and membership meeting each fall. The meeting rotates throughout the country to give members a better chance to participate. Each meeting has about 75 in-person participants and an additional 25-50 online members. The meetings are often held in conjunction with a special interest workshop before or after the meeting. The meeting will have 1-1/2 days of science talks, including research presentations by members. There is also a reception, final dinner, and a half-day membership meeting where financial and operational results are presented, and awards presented. And the incoming board of directors is voted upon.
$213,656 spent$53,516 earned by the program28% of program spendingThe aavso provides several educational courses, webinars, mentoring, articles, blog posts, and other communications. We operate an online forum on many observing and equipment topics. We operate a mentoring program for new observers where an experienced observer coaches them. We receive about 30 mentoring requests per year. We also provide choice courses, and a multi-day educational course which has about 100 participants per year. Each month we provide zoom webinars on various subjects which have about 2,000 participants each year. We also post webinars to our youtube channel getting over 4,000 views. We also post articles on various social media sites and are a resource for the news media concerning star research..
$196,925 spent$31,024 earned by the program26% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $771,146.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $16M to $19M (+19%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
18% of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Dr Brian Kloppenborg
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income fell $10k → $6k.
4 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 62% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB leans on a few funders — its largest provides 56% of grant income and the top three 94%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
73% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 59% · 2021 60% · 2022 67% · 2023 96% — diversifying over time.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Where its funders are
62% of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $85k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Massachusetts, across 2 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $140k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB is better cushioned than half of the 482 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 482 science & tech nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $50k on record.
- National Science Foundation$50k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
61% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
46%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 3 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB?
- AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB (Massachusetts) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $225,570 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($126,100). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 62% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $225,570 in grants to AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $126,100 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OB find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds American Association of Variable Star Ob →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 6 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing