Ohio · Nonprofit
GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY
GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY (Ohio) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,492,721 to it, the largest being THE CLEVELAND FOUNDATION ($713,849). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $9.5M
- Funders on record
- 36
- Grants received
- $3.5M
- Net assets
- $33M
What Great Lakes Museum of Science Environment and Technology does
Mission
Our mission is to make science, technology, engineering, and math (stem) come alive, and our vision is a community where all people value stem to inform decision making and enrich lives. (continued on schedule o)guiding principles: we help people learn stem by doing stem and believe that it is best learned through real scientific challenges. We cultivate creative, innovative, critical thinkers for the 21st century. We support a learning culture that encourages curiosity and experimentation. We bring people together by creating welcoming, fun, and high-quality guest experiences. We strengthen our community impact by collaborating with other organizations and connecting to stem resources in our region. We ensure our future by maintaining our long-term fiscal and staff sustainability.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Education: this year, great lakes science center (glsc) continued expanding access to our education programs, working with a wider range of cleveland area schools.there were a number of program high points this year. Glsc worked with partners across the state to launch the inaugural ohio space week, celebrating ohio's contributions, past, present, and future, to the aeronautics and space industries. Events included how space technology affects everything from national security to transportation to scientific discovery. Students, professionals, and the public engaged in interactive offerings, panel discussions, and networking opportunities. (continued on schedule o)the public highlight of ohio space week was discovery days at glsc september 12 and 13 where school groups and the public enjoyed free admission to glsc. 4,555 visitors participated during the two-day event for free. In partnership with nasa glenn research center, we hosted nasa astronauts sunita "suni" williams and doug wheelock for special presentations and meet-and-greets with visitors.this year was the celebration of the 100th anniversary of our steamship william g. Mather, including specialized tours and a public…
$1,095,501 spentof which $36,000 as grants$642,301 earned by the program13% of program spendingExhibits: this year glsc unveiled a new exhibition, handle with care, presented by the ron and lydia harrington family foundation and a full transformation of science phenomena, across the entire second floor of exhibits. Handle with care invites our youngest visitors and their caregivers to explore the power of empathy, creativity, and imagination through play. Grounded in the latest research in developmental psychology, this immersive play-based experience encourages children to experiment, collaborate, and problem-solve while introducing early stem concepts and foundational engineering principles in a joyful, hands-on way. Throughout the exhibition, children practice empathy by identifying emotions in others and responding thoughtfully, (continued on schedule o)selecting exhibit pieces with expressive icons and vocabulary words to assemble a personalized "care package" for someone in need. From there they box, sort, and "ship," their creations throughout the exhibition, using their imagination to build stories and extend their learning experience. The exhibition has extensive support from individuals and corporations across the region. Some of the support that was expected to…
$1,080,301 spent13% of program spendingVisitation and membership: total attendance this year was 251,202. Free days increased from our typical 4 to a total of 7 this year, with 43,527 people visiting for free. Glsc furthers its mission and strategic plan goals for membership and marketing using a data-informed decision-making process. Marketing efforts include a mix of earned, owned, and paid media initiatives, designed to reach core and specially identified audiences reliably and efficiently. Glsc marketing is using increasingly data-driven marketing approaches. (continued on schedule o)digital ad spend continues to be the most data-driven and cost-effective advertising platform. The marketing team has been working to expand capabilities in shortform video content as well as interactive digital ads. This has helped increase our followers on tik tok this year. Marketing is also increasing the number and variations of each ad. For several years we would typically run 4-5 versions (different photos, variations in copy) and this year we increased that to 6-8 versions, with plans to introduce even greater variation next year.glsc served 4,913 member households this year, with a renewal rate of 31%, an increase over prior…
$704,484 spent$1,772,267 earned by the program8% of program spendingCombination of omnimax and guest services.
$5,455,405 spent$356,515 earned by the program65% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $8,335,691.
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 2019 to 2020, from $38M to $34M (−12%).
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 7% · 2018 1% · 2019 1% · 2020 1% · 2021 27% · 2022 12% · 2023 23% · 2024 2% · 2025 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
57% of GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (68% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 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
Kirsten M Ellenbogen Phd
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 21 funders, grant income rose $49k → $430k.
12 of 36 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 59% 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 GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 36 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
GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
73% 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 GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 51% · 2018 38% · 2019 50% · 2020 39% · 2021 33% · 2022 29% · 2023 12% — 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
55% of GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY'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
59% of GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY'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 $1.4M that is directly attributable, 67% of it comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.1M 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
GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY's revenue grew 40% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 234 science & tech nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY
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 Ohio
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
77%
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 GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY: 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 GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY?
- GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY (Ohio) receives grants from 36 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,492,721 to it, the largest being THE CLEVELAND FOUNDATION ($713,849). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY have?
- IRS filings report 36 organizations giving $3,492,721 in grants to GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY, 24 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY?
- THE CLEVELAND FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $713,849 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GREAT LAKES MUSEUM OF SCIENCE ENVIRONMENT AND TECHNOLOGY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 Great Lakes Museum of Science Environment and Technology →
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 36 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