Florida · Nonprofit
Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc
Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc (Florida) receives grants from 107 organizations whose IRS filings report $65,458,937 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($35,118,850). 54 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $44M
- Funders on record
- 107
- Grants received
- $65M
- Net assets
- $83M
What Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc does
Mission
To open every mind to science.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The Science Center welcomed more than 188,000 visitors last year. The Center features more than 100 interactive exhibits, an immersive fresh and saltwater aquarium, full-dome planetarium, the world's most advanced exhibit on the human brain, and an outdoor science-themed trail.
$2,708,019 spent$2,288,703 earned by the program49% of program spendingThe Center served over 150,000 students through outreach education, in-house field trips and family programs and over 12,000 of these students are served through its award-winning STEM night programs in the schools. Our main target for educational grant programming is Palm Beach County School District Title 1 students from Kindergarten through 8th grade. The School District is the 10th largest in the nation and almost 45% of the students participating come from under-served communities through grant programming initiatives under a district-wide agreement. The partnership focuses on improvement in student achievement by granting students access to real-world STEM experiences.
$2,159,862 spent$494,047 earned by the program39% of program spendingProvided guest services, a museum store, planetarium, observatory, and memberships to enhance the visitor's experience. Hosted science-themed community events regularly, including adult lectures, afterschool clubs, robotics teams, G.E.M.S. Club (Girls in Engineering Math & Science), and laser concerts.
$648,081 spent$145,362 earned by the program12% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,515,962.
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 2023 to 2024, from $47M to $85M (+82%).
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 13% · 2018 9% · 2019 7% · 2020 15% · 2021 17% · 2022 5% · 2023 16% · 2024 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (58% 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
Katherine Arrizza
President/CEO
Board chair
Eric Stonestrom
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 52 funders, grant income rose $1.0M → $6.7M.
11 of 107 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 66% 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: $185k from 4 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Cultural Council of Palm Beach County Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc raised.
From the IRS filings of Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 107 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
Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 54% of grant income and the top three 69%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
71% 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 Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 44% · 2018 56% · 2019 45% · 2020 30% · 2021 27% · 2022 49% · 2023 52% — growing more concentrated.
“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
59% of Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
66% of Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc'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 $22M that is directly attributable, 55% of it comes from funders outside Florida, across 20 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $43M arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 772 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $5.8M on record.
- STATE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE - GENERAL $5.8M
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 Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc
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 Florida
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
67% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
70%
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 Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc: 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 Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc?
- Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc (Florida) receives grants from 107 organizations whose IRS filings report $65,458,937 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($35,118,850). 54 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 66% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc have?
- IRS filings report 107 organizations giving $65,458,937 in grants to Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc, 54 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $35,118,850 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Cox Science Center and Aquarium Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Florida. 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 Cox Science Center and Aquarium →
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 107 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