Tennessee · Nonprofit
BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION
BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION (Tennessee) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $507 to it, the largest being AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION ($507). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $180k
- Funders on record
- 1
- Grants received
- $507
- Net assets
- $897k
What Black Bear Solar Institute Corporation does
Mission
Black Bear Solar Institute is founded to research and demonstrate evolving concepts and technologies through a living laboratory of resilient communities which embody a healthy balance of human, animal, environmental and economic needs.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Environmental Education Center including Solar, Electric Transportation and Wildlife segments, each appealing to a different segment of the public to attract and capture interest in overall environmental effects of energy use and choices. Extension of Environmental Education outreach through eCO-COve, a comprehensive demonstration project for energy, air, and water quality. Covid restricted in-person activities so emphasis was turned to online education. 30,000+ reached through online activities
$612 spent0% of program spendingEnergy Efficient Building and Solar - Research materials for public education and demonstration of energy efficient building retrofits including insulation, lighting, heating and refrigeration. Consulting with the National Park Service on solar power for Cades Cove Visitor Center. Demonstration solar installations at Earthshine Nature Programs, Tennessee 4H Camp and STEM Education, and Tanasi Girl Scouts Camp. Approximately 7,000 people reached through Educational Center displays and 30,000+ reached through online activities.
$49,549 spent27% of program spendingElectric Vehicle - Operate Battery Electric Vehicle for demonstration and public ride and drive events including National Drive Electric Week. Demonstrate use of public EV charging installations. Granting of Electric Vehicle Truck to 501c3 Earthshine Nature Programs to tow their mobile environmental education trailer.
$132,722 spentof which $130,000 as grants73% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $182,883.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 2024 to 2025, from $1.2M to $901k (−25%).
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.
100% of BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 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
2020 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $48 → $63.
1 of 1 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION’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.
Where its funders are
100% of BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION'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. Too little is directly attributable to place on a map.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $507 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION has grown faster than half of the 2,433 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,433 environment nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION
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 Tennessee
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
38% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION: 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 BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION?
- BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION (Tennessee) receives grants from 1 organization whose IRS filings report $507 to it, the largest being AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION ($507). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION have?
- IRS filings report 1 organization giving $507 in grants to BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION?
- AMAZONSMILE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $507 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BLACK BEAR SOLAR INSTITUTE CORPORATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Tennessee. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2019–2025), and the filings of 1 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