Arizona · Nonprofit
LOWELL OBSERVATORY
LOWELL OBSERVATORY (Arizona) receives grants from 63 organizations whose IRS filings report $37,649,658 to it, the largest being PERCIVAL LOWELL TRUST UW ($17,498,822). 40 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $12M
- Funders on record
- 63
- Grants received
- $38M
- Net assets
- $49M
What Lowell Observatory does
Mission
The mission of Lowell Observatory is to pursue the study of astronomy, especially the study of our solar system and its evolution; to conduct pure research in astronomical phenomena; and to maintain quality public education and outreach programs to bring the results of astronomical research to the public.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Continuing a more than 130-year-long legacy of astronomical discovery, Lowell Observatory astronomers, planetary scientists, and other researchers conducted forefront research in many areas of astronomy from the sun and our solar system to exoplanets, stars, galaxies, and cosmology. In 2025, lowell scientists published over 125 peer-reviewed scholarly articles in leading scientific journals, along with another 40+ articles in other venues. Lowell scientists also gave numerous presentations at scientific conferences and public outreach events and participated in major scientific missions using world-leading telescopes across the globe and in space. Lowell scientific staff continue to be very successful at obtaining grants in support of their research from nasa, the national science foundation, and other agencies.the 4.3-meter lowell discovery telescope (ldt) delivered approximately 260 science nights used by astronomers on the staff at lowell, and our partner institutions: boston university, northern arizona university, the university of maryland, yale university, and others. In total, the ldt featured prominently in nearly 50 scientific or technical publications. The ldt's growing…
$9,774,402 spentof which $218,400 as grants$1,769,095 earned by the program53% of program spendingIn 2025, Lowell Observatory's public programs successfully transitioned from a period of major capital construction to full-scale operation of the marley foundation astronomy discovery center (adc). The primary objective for this period was to leverage our expanded capacity to increase engagement in astronomy and to provide immersive, narrative-driven experiences that connect visitors with the observatory's ongoing research and their innate curiosity about the cosmos. The long-term goal remains to inspire curiosity and provide world-class stem education to a global audience while preserving flagstaff's heritage as the world's first international dark sky city.Lowell Observatory welcomed an estimated 141,000 visitors in 2025. The quality of the guest experience was recognized nationally, with the observatory being named one of time magazine's "world's greatest places and newsweek's "best science museum in the u.s." for 2025.2025 marked the inaugural full year of programming in the 40,200-square-foot facility. The lowell universe theater, featuring its 160-degree led wrap-around screen, hosted an estimated 1,200 live presentations. The dark sky planetarium, a unique open-air rooftop…
$8,530,888 spent$4,817,500 earned by the program47% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $18,305,290.
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 $85M to $103M (+20%).
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 9% · 2018 12% · 2019 9% · 2020 23% · 2021 18% · 2022 37% · 2023 39% · 2024 18%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
61% of LOWELL OBSERVATORY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (52% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Amanda Bosh
Executive director/COO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 15 funders to 28 funders, grant income fell $12M → $2.1M.
17 of 63 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% 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 LOWELL OBSERVATORY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 63 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
LOWELL OBSERVATORY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 46% of grant income and the top three 72%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
84% 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 LOWELL OBSERVATORY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 94% · 2018 90% · 2019 33% · 2020 20% · 2021 36% · 2022 44% · 2023 24% — 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
50% of LOWELL OBSERVATORY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
80% of LOWELL OBSERVATORY's grant income comes from Arizona funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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
LOWELL OBSERVATORY's revenue fell 47% between 2017 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 149 science & tech nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding LOWELL OBSERVATORY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $25.4M on record.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$12.3M
- Department of Defense$8.5M
- National Science Foundation$4.6M
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 LOWELL OBSERVATORY
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 Arizona
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
78%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Percival Lowell Trust Uw · exempt
- Lowell Observatory Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for LOWELL OBSERVATORY: 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 LOWELL OBSERVATORY?
- LOWELL OBSERVATORY (Arizona) receives grants from 63 organizations whose IRS filings report $37,649,658 to it, the largest being PERCIVAL LOWELL TRUST UW ($17,498,822). 40 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does LOWELL OBSERVATORY have?
- IRS filings report 63 organizations giving $37,649,658 in grants to LOWELL OBSERVATORY, 40 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LOWELL OBSERVATORY?
- PERCIVAL LOWELL TRUST UW is the largest funder on record, with $17,498,822 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LOWELL OBSERVATORY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arizona. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
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 63 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