New York · Nonprofit
COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY
COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY (New York) receives grants from 260 organizations whose IRS filings report $219,064,636 to it, the largest being THE SIMONS FOUNDATION INC ($34,068,744). 175 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $233M
- Funders on record
- 260
- Grants received
- $219M
- Net assets
- $1.1B
What Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory does
Mission
The organization conducts research in the biological sciences with a particular emphasis on basic research in molecular biology and genetics.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Research: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (cshl), founded in 1890, is a world-renowned, private research and education institution with research programs in cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, quantitative biology, and bioinformatics & genomics. The research environment is highly collaborative, allowing cshl scientists to work together across disciplines to solve biology's most challenging problems. The ultimate goal is to apply this research on basic biological mechanisms to improve the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, neurological disorders and other diseases. (see schedule o)(continued from part iii)research at the laboratory is enriched by collaborations with scientists at other universities, hospitals and in the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors. These partnerings have included nyu, memorial sloan-kettering, weill cornell and harvard. The innovative spirit, vision and talent of the laboratory's over 600 scientists continue to place cshl among the top 1% of life science institutions most cited in published research. The laboratory has been a national cancer institute-designated cancer center with an nci "outstanding" rating. It has been home to eight nobel laureates,…
$125,435,518 spentof which $4,514,319 as grants$873,170 earned by the program76% of program spendingEducational meetings & courses program: cshl's reputation as one of the premier hubs of activity in biology and genetics is linked to its meetings and courses program. With roots in the legendary annual symposia in quantitative biology series, which began in 1933, the program organizes more than 60 meetings and courses annually, covering a wide range of topics in the biological sciences. In 2024, the program continued to successfully hold virtual meetings and courses attracting close to 13,000 participants. (see schedule o)(continued from part iii)participants range from the most accomplished senior investigators to graduate students and postdocs. Programs are put together on the basis of openly submitted abstracts and include discussions of unpublished work. Csh asia, a cshl-styled meeting program, began in 2009, and continues to operate in suzhou, china.
$20,988,041 spent$15,882,324 earned by the program13% of program spendingPublications: with origins in the 1930's, cshl press enhances the laboratory's educational mission by publishing original work that assists in the advance and spread of scientific knowledge. Sale of its publications enhances the laboratory's international reputation for excellence. The press publishes research and review journals, books, manuals, primers and other information sources, in electronic and print form. In 2024, the press published 283 print books, including 15 new titles. The press also produces 3 print/online journals, 4 online only journals and 1 no-charge journals.
$10,202,647 spent$9,602,551 earned by the program6% of program spendingOther programs school of biological sciences: the cshl school of biological sciences (sbs) trains the next generation of biologists, offering a ph.d. In biology in as little as 4 years to a limited number of accomplished students (approximately 50) drawn from around the world. The curriculum is designed to train self-confident, self-reliant young scientists to become scholars and to acquire the knowledge that their research and future careers demand. Our graduates are well prepared to enter a wide array of careers that include academic research, biotech, pharma, consulting, and publishing. Students at cshl explore career options and acquire professional skills through several means, such as the career and skills development course, the career directions series and the bioscience enterprise club. The school of biological sciences provides students with opportunities for experiential learning and internships. Banbury center: banbury center, located on the grounds of the historic robertson house, provides opportunities for scientists and other leaders in society to discuss topics of common interest. Approximately twenty meetings are organized each year, for groups between 20-30…
$7,578,802 spent$2,225,601 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $164,205,008.
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 $890M to $1.1B (+19%).
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 27% · 2018 33% · 2019 25% · 2020 35% · 2021 29% · 2022 29% · 2023 22% · 2024 24%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
62% of COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (40% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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
Bruce Stillman Phd
CEO and trustee
Board chair
Marilyn H Simons Phd
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 68 funders to 115 funders, grant income rose $22M → $29M.
29 of 260 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 26% 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: $44M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Robertson Research Fund Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY raised.
From the IRS filings of COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 260 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
COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 16% of grant income, and it takes 10 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 10 funders to its left
49% 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 COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 31% · 2018 30% · 2019 26% · 2020 29% · 2021 33% · 2022 30% · 2023 21% — 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
46% of COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
75% of COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $56M arriving through sponsors registered in 17 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
COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 42 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 42 science & tech nonprofits over $100M, FY2024
Government funding COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $540.0M on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$459.5M
- National Science Foundation$47.8M
- Department of Defense$17.5M
- Department of Agriculture$10.2M
- Department of Energy$4.7M
- National Endowment for the Humanities$165k
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 COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY
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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
73%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 8 related entities
- Family Theater LLC · disregarded
- Robertson Research Fund Inc · exempt
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Assoc · exempt
- Cold Spring Harbor Asia (Sip) Ltd · corp_trust
- Charitable Remainder Trust(2) · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY: 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 COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY?
- COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY (New York) receives grants from 260 organizations whose IRS filings report $219,064,636 to it, the largest being THE SIMONS FOUNDATION INC ($34,068,744). 175 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY have?
- IRS filings report 260 organizations giving $219,064,636 in grants to COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY, 175 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY?
- THE SIMONS FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $34,068,744 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 260 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