Maryland · Nonprofit
IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC
IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC (Maryland) receives grants from 95 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,210,844 to it, the largest being The Charles T Bauer Charitable Foundation ($1,790,000). 77 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.8M
- Funders on record
- 95
- Grants received
- $7.2M
- Net assets
- $16M
What Irvine Natural Science Center Inc does
Mission
We all thrive outdoors. We encourage lifelong engagement with the natural world through environmental learning and green living. At irvine, we inspire people to explore, respect and protect nature.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Nature preschool: the mission of the nature preschool at irvine is to provide hands-on opportunities for learning and skill development through nature-based inquiry, creative arts, and outdoor exploration in order to develop a lasting appreciation for the natural world. Our "classroom" is irvine's entire 211-acre campus, including forests and meadows, a 60-acre restoration of streams and wetlands, outdoor classroom, woodland garden, 8 miles of trails, and other features. The program seeks to develop the whole child using a child-centered emergent curriculum that facilitates the cognitive, physical, social, emotional and creative development of every child. Irvine also offers early childhood education programs for students 4-6 years of age and for homeschooled students using the same nurturing, nature-based approach.
$450,847 spent$360,096 earned by the program15% of program spendingSchool programs: irvine offers a variety of learning opportunities for school audiences. All programs are aligned with baltimore county public school science curriculum and msde learning requirements. Field trips bring students to irvine for environmental education and exploration that takes advantage of our 211-acre campus. All programs include small-group activities in which students learn to make observations, collect data, compare and classify data, and draw conclusions. For those unable to come to irvine, our outreach programs take environmental education into the classroom. Irvine's naturalists teach curriculum-aligned lessons using work stations, small groups, and interactive discussions. Eco-explorers afterschool program engages students in indoor and outdoor activities, nature-based crafts, and animal encounters after the school bell rings.
$108,578 spent$93,116 earned by the program4% of program spendingSummer nature camps: summer camps at irvine offer environmental education disguised as fun! We offer age-appropriate, week-long camp sessions throughout the summer for children 2-12 years of age. Younger children may participate in trail walks, arts and crafts, animal encounters, puppet shows, and scientific experiments, while older children may go on offsite excursions, camp out under the stars, participate in conservation projects, or explore nature-based art, science, farming, and foraging. No two seasons are alike, with new themes, activities, and adventures offered every year. Recent topics have included splash zone, naturally creative, summer safari, tiny chefs, and ways of wildlife. All programs are taught by professional early childhood educators or naturalists, and the camp is certified by the state so parents know their children are in good hands.
$189,300 spent$274,133 earned by the program6% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$2,239,154 spent$343,380 earned by the program75% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,987,879.
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 $14M to $16M (+17%).
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 2% · 2018 5% · 2019 1% · 2020 5% · 2021 11%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
62% of IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
W Brooks Paternotte
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 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 28 funders to 57 funders, grant income rose $417k → $1.2M.
12 of 95 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 IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 95 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
IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
39% 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 IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 48% · 2018 47% · 2019 23% · 2020 35% · 2021 33% · 2022 33% · 2023 21% — 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 IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 81% 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
86% of IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC's grant income comes from Maryland funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.7M 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
IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 1,209 environment nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,209 environment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER 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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
87% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
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 IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER 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 IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC?
- IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC (Maryland) receives grants from 95 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,210,844 to it, the largest being The Charles T Bauer Charitable Foundation ($1,790,000). 77 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC have?
- IRS filings report 95 organizations giving $7,210,844 in grants to IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC, 77 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC?
- The Charles T Bauer Charitable Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $1,790,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like IRVINE NATURAL SCIENCE CENTER INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 Irvine Natural Science Center →
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 95 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