Georgia · Nonprofit
Fernbank Inc
Fernbank Inc (Georgia) receives grants from 123 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,345,327 to it, the largest being THE ZEIST FOUNDATION INC ($1,750,000). 67 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $19M
- Funders on record
- 123
- Grants received
- $11M
- Net assets
- $45M
What Fernbank Inc does
Mission
Fernbank museum of natural history inspires a lifelong learning of natural history through immersive programming and unmatched experiences to encourage a greater appreciation of our planet and its inhabitants. Fernbank is dedicated to stimulating an interest in science, the environment and human culture; reconnecting people to nature; and restoring a sense of wonder in the natural world. Fernbank views natural history as a startlingly contemporary subject matter, encompassing two of the most significant issues of our time--the diversity of our environment and the diversity of human culture. Fernbank presents the concepts of physical, earth, life and social sciences in an interactive and engaging environment through a variety of permanent exhibitions, special exhibitions, giant screen films and signature programs. As an educational institution, fernbank supports a visitor's intrinsic desire to learn. Our goal is to build a more-informed citizenry, scientifically and culturally, that pla
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Exhibits and large-screen films: Fernbank Museum offers a variety of interdisciplinary exhibits and documentary films that expose visitors to science, nature and human culture. Fernbank presented blockbuster special exhibits including: Armored Animals, A Mirror Maze: Numbers in Nature, and; and popular seasonal exhibits including Forest Forms and Winter Wonderland: Celebrations & Traditions from Around the World and Spiders: From Fear to Fascination. Fernbank's Giant Screen Theater continued to provide state-of-the-art 4K digital projection. Films shown included Angkor: The Lost Empire of Cambodia, The Arctic: Our Last Great Wilderness, Cities of the Future, Flight of the Butterflies, Fungi, Into America's Wild, Jane Goodall: Reasons of Hope, Superhuman Body: World of Medical Marvels, and T. Rex. Exhibits and films are key attendance drivers, create brand awareness, and strengthen both the mission and business model. Last year, they helped attract 419,000 visitors to Fernbank, a 3% increase over prior year and demonstrating a continued demand for the Fernbank experience.
$8,896,171 spentof which $124,480 as grants$5,959,782 earned by the program84% of program spendingFernbank is committed to offering the highest-quality educational programming that complements a visit, supports in-school learning and reaches new audiences. Programs are designed for a variety of guests at all stages of life, including adults, families, and school children. Fernbank presented a broad array of family enrichment programs, including the popular Family Discovery Days; seasonal camps; and STEAM-Powered Communities, an educational initiative that includes a robust portfolio of school programs including K-12 Exploratory Science Classes, CORE (Connecting, Observing, Researching Ecosystems) ecology programs, Science Explorers at Agape, and Fernbank on the GO! community outreach. In addition, Fernbank presented evening programs including Fernbank After Dark, a monthly adult science night; Fernbank, But Later to provide after hour access for all ages; and WildWoods: AGLOW, a multi-sensory nighttime experience. All exhibits, films and school programs exceed Georgia Standards of Excellence, enhance classroom learning and bring science to life through dynamic and stimulating experiences.
$1,043,056 spent10% of program spendingStrategic Initiatives: Guided by a 5-year strategic plan, Fernbank is advancing new education and strategic initiatives that showcase the latest global science and our dynamic planet. The strategic plan embraced a new mission to ignite a passion for science, nature and human culture through exploration and discovery; introduced these core values-Science and the natural world inspire us; Curiosity drives us; Inclusivity strengthens us; Community empowers us; Resourcefulness advances us; and Integrity grounds us; and, established these stated goals and strategies-Be known as the place for science, nature and culture; Modernize our experiences to serve the needs and expectations of our community; Expand and diversify our reach to reflect the vibrancy and multi-cultural heritage of our shared community; and Strengthen our financial base so Fernbank thrives for future generations. In fulfillment of the strategic plan goals, Fernbank launched THRIVE: The Nature of Change, a $25 Million capital campaign to build a new anchor exhibit, 'Changing Earth,' new immersive galleries; and a second passenger elevator. Fernbank raised nearly $28 million toward the campaign goal and has moved to the…
$621,917 spent$256,302 earned by the program6% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $10,561,144.
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 $41M to $44M (+7%).
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: 2020 12% · 2021 33% · 2022 1% · 2023 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
53% of Fernbank Inc’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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
Jennifer Grant-Warner
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 28 funders to 42 funders, grant income rose $309k → $1.9M.
14 of 123 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 14% 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: $8.2M from 6 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Robert W Woodruff Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money Fernbank Inc raised.
From the IRS filings of Fernbank Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 123 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
Fernbank Inc has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 15% of grant income, and it takes 9 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 9 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 20% · 2018 22% · 2019 17% · 2020 11% · 2021 14% · 2022 24% · 2023 32% — 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
47% of Fernbank Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% 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
64% of Fernbank Inc's grant income comes from Georgia funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
Fernbank Inc holds deeper cash reserves 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
Organizations like Fernbank 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 Georgia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
69% 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 Fernbank 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 Fernbank Inc?
- Fernbank Inc (Georgia) receives grants from 123 organizations whose IRS filings report $11,345,327 to it, the largest being THE ZEIST FOUNDATION INC ($1,750,000). 67 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Fernbank Inc have?
- IRS filings report 123 organizations giving $11,345,327 in grants to Fernbank Inc, 67 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Fernbank Inc?
- THE ZEIST FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,750,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Fernbank Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Georgia. 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 Fernbank →
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 123 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