California · Nonprofit
ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE (California) receives grants from 51 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,046,034 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($2,048,256). 34 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.3M
- Funders on record
- 51
- Grants received
- $6.0M
- Net assets
- $5.1M
What Elementary Institute of Science does
Mission
Elementary Institute of Science (EIS) is a premier science enrichment center dedicated to developing STEM skills and interests in order to address the widening gap of under-represented students in science. Through inquiry-based project learning activities, children are able explore, experiment and understand the world of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Elementary Institute of Science (EIS) is a premier science enrichment center dedicated to developing STEM skills and interests in order to address the widening gap of under-represented students in science. Through inquiry-based project learning activities, children are able explore, experiment and understand the world of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). EIS was established in Southeast San Diego in 1964. The founder, Tom Watts, started a hands-on science club in the back of his classroom. He believed science education would provide a strong foundation for the students to continue on to college and to succeed in the rapidly expanding STEM-skilled workforce. The after-school club thrived. EIS became one of the first and finest after-school STEM programs in the United States.The EIS Science and Technology Learning Center is a landmark building which provides the ideal environment for hands-on learning and exploration. The 15,000-square foot facility includes five science labs, two IT labs, a photography lab, lecture theatre and conference room. EIS provides on-going, progressive STEM programs that continue to challenge and engage students from the age of 7 through…
$1,435,989 spent$173,727 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,435,989.
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 2020 to 2021, from $5.4M to $6.0M (+11%).
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 1% · 2019 6% · 2020 3% · 2021 13% · 2022 16% · 2023 16% · 2024 4% · 2025 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
80% of ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (68% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 21 funders, grant income rose $81k → $711k.
8 of 51 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 54% 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 ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 51 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
ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 34% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
58% 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 ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 32% · 2018 47% · 2019 24% · 2020 23% · 2021 26% · 2022 57% · 2023 55% — 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
42% of ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE'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
54% of ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE'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 $2.8M that is directly attributable, 75% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE's revenue grew 29% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 234 science & tech nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE
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
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
84%
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 ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE: 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 ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE?
- ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE (California) receives grants from 51 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,046,034 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($2,048,256). 34 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE have?
- IRS filings report 51 organizations giving $6,046,034 in grants to ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE, 34 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE?
- THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,048,256 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ELEMENTARY INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE 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 Elementary Institute of Science →
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 51 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