Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE
BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $524,026 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($426,050). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 96% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $636k
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $524k
- Net assets
- $827k
What Bighorn Basin Paleotological Institute does
Mission
Organization dedicated to palentology and earth science research, education, and outreach. The universal appeal of dinosaurs and paleontology to engage people of all interest levels and backgrounds.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Our biggest annual program is the public summer field expedition; we host people from around the world in southern montana to help us find and excavate mostly dinosaur fossils. As part of this program , we teach a (3) credit college course in the "field of paleontology " through rocky mountain college in billings mt. Bbpi hosts high schoolers with interest in earth sciences through a drexe university-sponsored program called desla ( drexel envirnmental science leadership academy ). All fossils are returned to our fossils prep lab at the academy of natural sciences in philadelphia pa. The fossiles are then prepared, conserved, and used for education throughout our outreach programs.
$350,527 spentof which $160 as grants70% of program spendingThe institute creates and hosts a diverse slate of educational and outreach programming in the earth and sciences for all people of all ages. These programs are offered throughout the year in the tri state surrounding philidelphia pa, souhern central mt and north central wy during summers. Most of these programs are offered for no fees and are supported mostly through revenue from the annual summer field expeditions, grants donations and membership fees.
$75,078 spent15% of program spendingThe institutes palenontogolists conduct scientific research on the specimens collected during summer expeditions. We also provide specimens and assistance to visiting researchers and students during the summer research expeditions. The institutes palenontologists present research at professional conferences each year and publish in peer and non pper reviewed publications. All research work is supported by donations, membership fees, and summer expeditions.
$75,078 spent15% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $500,683.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2020 to 2021, from $142k to $669k (+370%).
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: 2020 19% · 2021 3% · 2023 3% · 2024 14%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
33% of BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (79% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 4 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $3k → $132k.
4 of 7 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 96% 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 BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE’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
BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 81% of grant income and the top three 95%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
96% 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 BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2019 92% · 2020 99% · 2021 85% · 2022 95% · 2023 83% — 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
96% of BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE'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 $23k that is directly attributable, 84% of it comes from funders outside Pennsylvania, across 3 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $501k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE has grown faster than three-quarters of the 793 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 793 science & tech nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Government funding BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $144k on record.
- Department of the Interior$144k
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 BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE
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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
94% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE: 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 BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE?
- BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $524,026 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($426,050). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 96% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $524,026 in grants to BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $426,050 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BIGHORN BASIN PALEOTOLOGICAL INSTITUTE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 Bighorn Basin Paleotological Institute →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2020–2024), and the filings of 7 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