California · Nonprofit
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (California) receives grants from 335 organizations whose IRS filings report $98,749,294 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($18,458,957). 182 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $89M
- Funders on record
- 335
- Grants received
- $99M
- Net assets
- $472M
What California Academy of Sciences does
Mission
The academy is a renowned scientific and educational institution with a mission to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. Based in san francisco's golden gate park, it is home to a world-class aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and natural history museum as well as innovative programs in scientific research and environmental education, all under one living roof. Through global expeditions, scientific research, and strategic areas of focus on islands, coral reefs, and the state of california, academy scientists strive to gather new knowledge about life's diversity and the process of evolution and rapidly apply that understanding to our efforts to regenerate the natural world. Through exhibitions, educational programs, and partnerships that address these same topics-delivered to the public on-site at the academy's world-class aquarium, planetarium, rainforest, and natural history museum, in the community, in biodiversity hotspots around the world.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Exhibits and public engagement: the all-digital morrison planetarium uses cutting-edge visualizations and scientific data to share current discoveries and increase science literacy through immersive shows that rotate throughout the year. The newest permanent exhibition california: state of nature, which opened in may 2024, illuminates the unexpected connections between the species, places, and people that enable california to thrive, the hidden wonders exhibit provides an unprecedented peek at some of the standout specimens from our scientific collections-including some on view for the very first time. The color of life exhibit explores the role of color in the natural world with vibrant live animals, specimens, and immersive interactives. Gems and minerals unearthed showcases specimens from the academy's renowned geology collection. Bigpicture showcases winning images from the academy's annual, international wildlife photography competition. And in steinhart aquarium, numerous exhibits featuring the living collection bring guests face-to-face with the diverse species that make our oceans so spectacular.
$34,479,259 spentof which $40,461 as grants$3,557,692 earned by the program42% of program spendingBiodiversity science and sustainability: the academy's institute for biodiversity science and sustainability ("ibss") is home to nearly 80 world-class scientists, over 100 research associates globally, and more than 500 distinguished fellows who gather new knowledge about life's diversity and the process of evolution and rapidly apply that understanding to our efforts to regenerate the natural world. Through innovative partnerships and community engagement initiatives, they also guide critical conservation decisions worldwide, inspire and mentor the next generation of scientists, and foster responsible stewardship of our planet so that humans and nature can thrive together.
$22,316,091 spentof which $598,740 as grants$115,291 earned by the program27% of program spendingAquarium: the steinhart aquarium is home to more than 60,000 live animals representing more than 800 unique species, and its innovative exhibits include one of the largest and deepest indoor coral reefs in the world. The four-story rainforest has free-flying birds and butterflies and exotic reptiles and amphibians. In addition to delighting guests with its living creatures, the aquarium has played a critical role for decades in species survival plans for endangered animals like its charismatic colony of african penguins. For more than 25 years, the steinhart aquarium has proudly held the gold standard accreditation from the association of zoos and aquariums, a stamp of approval reserved for facilities that embody the very best in animal care and welfare, conservation, and education.
$15,578,824 spentof which $207,540 as grants$7,123 earned by the program19% of program spendingEducation and outreach: the academy is an innovative leader in efforts to increase scientific and environmental literacy worldwide. The museum is home to science educators and communicators as well as highly trained docents who engage people of all ages-here in california and around the world-in the scientific concepts and issues that will shape our future. Through intensive partnerships with schools and teachers, innovative programs for all ages, engaging online learning and digital media offerings, and immersive science visualization productions, academy educators work to increase the public's understanding and appreciation of the natural world and inspire participants to take action on behalf of the rich diversity of life on earth. More than 500 volunteers help support the academy annually and provide a connection between the diverse bay area community and the academy's museum, research, and administration. As one of the bay area's leading cultural institutions dedicated to opening its doors to the entire community, the academy offers a variety of free and reduced admission opportunities and access programs to serve all visitors.
$5,246,463 spentof which $129,549 as grants$4,062,106 earned by the program6% of program spendingMembership: the academy's membership program provides year round access to our offerings to nearly 40,000 households. Through their monthly and annual gifts, members support the academy's mission to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. On average, academy members visit between two and three times a year, participating in our public programs, exploring the iconic exhibits, such as the steinhart aquarium and rainforest, attending workshops and lectures, and sharing the experience with their friends and families. A significant number of the academy's members have been a part of the academy "family" for many generations.
$4,254,816 spent5% of program spendingAdmissions
$18,230,219 earned by the program
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $81,875,453.
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 2019 to 2020, from $878M to $804M (−8%).
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 9% · 2018 9% · 2019 11% · 2020 10% · 2021 22% · 2022 18% · 2023 16% · 2024 13% · 2025 12%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
48% of CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 of the last 9 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
Scott Sampson
Executive director
Board chair
Dan Janney
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 81 funders to 121 funders, grant income rose $9.3M → $15M.
29 of 335 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 46% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $4.7M from 8 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Silicon Valley Community Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES raised.
From the IRS filings of CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 335 funders by total. 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
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
50% 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 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 36% · 2019 23% · 2020 21% · 2021 15% · 2022 19% · 2023 24% — 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
47% of CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% 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
83% of CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $46M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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
CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES's funding base is broadening — from 81 funders to 121 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $11.3M on record — $11.3M federal, $1k state.
- National Science Foundation$8.3M
- Department of Health and Human Services$1.6M
- Department of Commerce$702k
- Department of Defense$398k
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$250k
- Department of the Interior$59k
- TRAVEL - OUT OF STATE - GENERAL $1k
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 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
72%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 8 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- California Academy of Sciences Endolith Endowment Fund LP · partnership
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: 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 CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES?
- CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES (California) receives grants from 335 organizations whose IRS filings report $98,749,294 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($18,458,957). 182 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES have?
- IRS filings report 335 organizations giving $98,749,294 in grants to CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, 182 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $18,458,957 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 2017–2025), and the filings of 335 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing