New Jersey · Nonprofit
DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC
DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC (New Jersey) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,154,800 to it, the largest being PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION ($1,500,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.7M
- Funders on record
- 28
- Grants received
- $3.2M
- Net assets
- $387k
What Destination Imagination Inc does
Mission
Destination imagination's mission is to inspire and equip youth to become the next generation of innovators and leaders through creative, collaborative, and project-based educational experiences. (see schedule o)the organization's governing body supports this mission through strategic oversight, program development, educational outreach, and initiatives designed to expand access to students and communities that would benefit from participation in destination imagination programs.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Destination imagination provides project-based educational programs that develop creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills in students from early learning through university level. Through team-based steam challenges, tournaments, trainings, and global finals activities, participants engage in hands-on learning experiences that promote innovation, leadership, and teamwork. (cont'd on schedule o.)during the fiscal year, destination imagination served students, educators, volunteers, and communities throughout the united states and internationally through its challenge experience, educational resources, volunteer and affiliate support, participant financial assistance, and student recognition initiatives. Participation figures are estimated based on affiliate reporting and program participation data collected throughout the year.in response to continued decline in the organization's primary revenue source, the challenge experience, destination imagination strengthened additional programs and operational initiatives to help sustain support for the di community while maintaining program quality, participant experiences, and continuity of…
$3,947,719 spentof which $12,001 as grants$4,203,883 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $3,947,719.
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.
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 $3.2M to $2.0M (−36%).
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: 2021 27% · 2022 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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
Michele Tuck-Ponder
Chief executive officer
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 8 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $28k → $528k.
8 of 28 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 38% 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 DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC’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
DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 48% of grant income and the top three 90%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
85% 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 DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 39% · 2018 49% · 2019 53% · 2020 58% · 2021 58% · 2022 99% · 2023 95% — 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
15% of DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 39% 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
DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside New Jersey, across 15 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.2M 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.
Government funding DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $20k on record.
- Department of Defense$20k
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 DESTINATION IMAGINATION 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 New Jersey
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
88%
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 DESTINATION IMAGINATION 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 DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC?
- DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC (New Jersey) receives grants from 28 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,154,800 to it, the largest being PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION ($1,500,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 28 organizations giving $3,154,800 in grants to DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC?
- PROJECT MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,500,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DESTINATION IMAGINATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New Jersey. 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 Destination Imagination →
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 28 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