California · Nonprofit
California Council on Science and Techno logy
California Council on Science and Techno logy (California) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,989,596 to it, the largest being GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION ($8,344,904). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $4.2M
- Funders on record
- 22
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $44M
What California Council on Science and Techno logy does
Mission
The primary purpose of the organization is to examine and report on public policy issues related to Science and Technology that affect the State of California. CCST is a non-partisan, nonprofit organization that was established as an independent science advising body at the request of the state legislature in 1988. CCST's mission is to engage leading experts in science and technology to advise state policymakers to ensure that California policy is strengthened and informed by scientific knowledge, research, and innovation. CCST's vision for the Golden State is that California enhances its global leadership in science, technology, and innovation to guide the state, nation, and world towards a healthy economy, society, and environment.CALIFORNIA'S POLICIES ARE STRONGER WITH SCIENCE, AND CCST IS UNIQUELY QUALIFIED AS AN ORGANIZATION CREATED VIA THE LEGISLATURE TO CONVENE A STATEWIDE NETWORK OF EXPERTS ACROSS DISCIPLINES AND INSTITUTIONS. AS THIS COORDINATING BODY, CCST CAN PROVIDE IMPARTI
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The 2023 class of Fellows marked the 14th year of placing Ph-D level scientists, engineers, and social scientists directly into legislative offices, policy committees, and more recently State Agencies and Offices of the Governor to prepare them for public service through the S&T Policy Fellowship Program. Working in placements that included the California Governor's Office of Planning and Research, California Natural Resources Agency, Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee, California Department of Insurance, Senate Environmental Quality Committee, California Air Resources Board, Assembly Transportation Committee, and more, CCST S&T Policy Fellows made an impact across a range of policy and regulatory fields. Altogether, CCST S&T Policy Fellows have worked on over 1,400 bills, briefings, hearings, and bill analyses. There are now 158 alumni of the program, many of whom serve in positions in legislative offices and agencies. With the arrival of the 2024 class in November 2023, 172 Fellows have now been trained to work directly with policymakers as trusted staff.
$1,762,046 spent64% of program spendingOver the past 35 years, CCST's approach to partnering and facilitating dialogue across institutions - including our renowned Partner Institutions - and disciplines has allowed CCST to create a collective impact that exceeds what any single institution could accomplish on its own.Collaboration continued to be key in 2023. CCST conducted a joint study with Blue Forest Conservation that investigated links between forest management, wildfire smoke, and the health sector and released a peer reviewed report, "The Human Health Benefits of Improving Forest Health in California".CCST partnered with the Federation of American Scientists, COMPASS, and Conservation X Labs to develop policy memos for the Federal Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission, charged with providing wildfire policy recommendations to Congress. As a result of ongoing outreach with congressional offices, several report recommendations were included in a congressional letter to federal agencies urging them to take action to improve smoke data.CCST published "Key Challenges for California's Energy Future" to help current and incoming policymakers quickly get up to speed on key energy issues. CCST consulted with…
$979,471 spent36% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,741,517.
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 2018 to 2019, from $5.5M to $18M (+226%).
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: 2018 46% · 2019 75% · 2020 20% · 2021 63% · 2022 80% · 2023 79% · 2024 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
30% of California Council on Science and Techno logy’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. 2 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.
Board chair
Peter Cowhey
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 9 funders, grant income fell $949k → $472k.
7 of 22 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% 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 California Council on Science and Techno logy’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
California Council on Science and Techno logy leans on a few funders — its largest provides 76% 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 62% · 2018 84% · 2019 79% · 2020 75% · 2021 44% · 2022 89% · 2023 51% — 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
27% of California Council on Science and Techno logy's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 73% 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
99% of California Council on Science and Techno logy's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M 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
California Council on Science and Techno logy holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters 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 California Council on Science and Techno logy receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $308k on record.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$308k
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 Council on Science and Techno logy
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
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
81%
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 California Council on Science and Techno logy: 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 Council on Science and Techno logy?
- California Council on Science and Techno logy (California) receives grants from 22 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,989,596 to it, the largest being GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION ($8,344,904). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does California Council on Science and Techno logy have?
- IRS filings report 22 organizations giving $10,989,596 in grants to California Council on Science and Techno logy, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of California Council on Science and Techno logy?
- GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $8,344,904 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like California Council on Science and Techno logy 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.
Play a game about who funds California Council on Science and Techno logy →
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