Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION
AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,203,187 to it, the largest being GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION ($2,653,260). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $56M
- Funders on record
- 22
- Grants received
- $5.2M
- Net assets
- $87M
What American Geophysical Union does
Mission
Agu's mission is to advance and support an inclusive community of earth and space scientists and partners dedicated to discovery and solutions to societal challenges. Agu seeks to catalyze discovery and solutions to scientific and societal challenges; promote and exemplify an inclusive scientific culture; and partner broadly with other organizations and sectors to effectively address scientific and societal challenges.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Meetings: agu has a diverse meeting portfolio that offers meetings of various sizes and formats. Most meeting participants present a poster and/or a talk on their latest scientific findings contributing to advancing earth and space science. Individuals must pay a registration fee to participate. The abstract submissions covering their presentations are published as part of the scientific program for each meeting and are available via agu's website.the agu annual meeting is recognized as the leading meeting in the earth and space sciences community with programming focused on inter- and multiple disciplinary sciences and policy and societal issues. It is the largest meeting in this field attracting more than 31,000 participants at the december 2024 meeting. The agu annual meeting in washington dc saw a record number of journalists registered to cover the convening. Major worldwide media outlets were in attendance generating hundreds of stories across all platforms on earth and space advancements. The ocean sciences meeting in new orleans drew a diverse range of regional and national reporters resulting in a record number of press conferences and roundtable sessions. Positive…
$18,053,770 spentof which $465,286 as grants$24,735,288 earned by the program35% of program spendingPublications - agu publishes 24 journals presenting peer-reviewed research papers, as well as numerous books. These publications cover the earth sciences, planetary sciences, solar-terrestrial and space physics, and environmental sciences. Coverage of the papers help make these scientific studies available to the public. Agu has 11 fully open access journals where content is freely available online immediately upon publication and 13 hybrid journals where readers will find some articles available via open access and others only accessible via subscription or purchase. All agu journal content is available online while books are available online and in print. Agu publications reach many scientists and students beyond the agu membership, as well as other members of the public, through more than 5,800 libraries, and content after 1997 and older than 24 months is freely available. Publications are available in over 150 countries. Agu publishes more than 7,400 articles annually.
$13,449,990 spent$18,234,475 earned by the program26% of program spendingCommunications and media, programs seek to: 1) build and maintain agu's reputation as a leader, collaborator and sought after partner within and outside of the earth and space science community; 2) promote agu and its programs, initiatives and services to current and potential members, as well as to the broader earth and space science community; and 3) educate the public, at all levels and across all sectors, on the importance and impact of the earth and space sciences, particularly as it relates to societal well-being. Major accomplishments in these areas during the 2024 fiscal year include: expanding eos.org, a news website dedicated to providing trustworthy news and perspectives about the earth and space sciences and their impact. Eos buzz, our weekly newsletter grew subscriptions and improved our engagement rate by double digits. The media launch promoting our ethical framework on climate intervention saw worldwide coverage in all major consumer and specialty publications. A robust social media campaign accompanied the activities with the report translated into 11 languages.
$11,641,485 spentof which $92,031 as grants23% of program spendingScience - the agu science department is responsible for agu talent pool and professional education programs providing support to agu members through all career stages; and for serving as focal point for scientific program-related activities which cut across agu disciplinesincluding areas such as scientific ethics programs, honors and recognition programs for agu members, and for agu scientific initiatives such as the thriving earth exchange program.
$6,054,142 spentof which $552,650 as grants$2,195,197 earned by the program12% of program spendingSociety activities and membership services.
$2,130,964 spent$2,928,757 earned by the program4% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $51,330,351.
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 2021 to 2022, from $198M to $164M (−17%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 1% · 2018 0% · 2019 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
10% of AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (52% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Janice R Lachance
Executive director & CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 7 funders, grant income rose $2k → $369k.
7 of 22 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 8% 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 GEOPHYSICAL UNION’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 GEOPHYSICAL UNION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 51% of grant income and the top three 82%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 61% · 2019 60% · 2020 51% · 2021 91% · 2022 79% · 2023 48% — 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.
How long its funders stay
36% of AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 10 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $419k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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 GEOPHYSICAL UNION's funding base is broadening — from 1 funders to 7 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 149 science & tech nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $9.7M on record — $9.7M federal, $6k state.
- National Science Foundation$5.0M
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$4.5M
- National Endowment for the Humanities$148k
- Department of the Interior$69k
- Department of Commerce$29k
- Department of Defense$15k
- FL$4k
- OK$975
- NJ$599
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 GEOPHYSICAL UNION
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
93%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION: 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 GEOPHYSICAL UNION?
- AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,203,187 to it, the largest being GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION ($2,653,260). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION have?
- IRS filings report 22 organizations giving $5,203,187 in grants to AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION?
- GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,653,260 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN GEOPHYSICAL UNION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
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 22 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