Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY
MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $778,824 to it, the largest being THE KAVLI FOUNDATION ($459,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $11M
- Funders on record
- 7
- Grants received
- $779k
- Net assets
- $10M
What Materials Research Society does
Mission
The Materials Research Society (mrs) is an organization of materials researchers worldwide that promotes communication for the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research and technology to improve the quality of life.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Symposia and meetings - mrs meetings serve as an international stage for the examination and dissemination of current and emerging materials research. At the annual mrs spring and fall meetings, researchers from all scientific fields, backgrounds and employment sectors - from students to nobel laureates - converge to exchange technical information, engage in broader impact programming, network with friends and colleagues, and contribute to the advancement of materials research. While mrs spring and fall meetings are at the core of the meetings portfolio, mrs continues to enhance its service to the global materials community by endorsing and co-sponsoring standalone technical workshops and conferences.
$5,699,245 spent$5,594,433 earned by the program69% of program spendingPublications and news - the mrs publications portfolio, comprised of five peer-reviewed journals, a books program, and materials research news, reflects mrs's strengths in technical quality, interdisciplinary focus, and content delivery innovation. Through it, mrs engages the broadest possible community, topically, geographically, and institutionally, with a mix of traditional and innovative publication products to advance interdisciplinary materials research to improve the quality of life. The portfolio reflects and captures the dynamic, interdisciplinary character of materials research and development, and is utilized by the global research community as a trusted platform to find, communicate, and discuss results of critical interest to the technical community. It is the objective of the society to lead in promoting the development and distribution of state-of-the-art materials research results, and the mrs publications portfolio is a key component of achieving that goal.
$1,363,763 spent17% of program spendingMembership - twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, materials scientists and researchers from around the world are working on projects that have the potential to change the way we live. Mrs members work in a wide variety of settings and are interested in the total spectrum of materials-related issues and applications. Yet in many ways, their goals and challenges are much the same. To seek information. To collaborate with one another on ground-breaking techniques. To earn the respect of their peers. And to reach out to their communities.to help reach these goals, one society stands out from the rest - the Materials Research Society. Founded in 1973 to promote interdisciplinary goal-oriented basic research on materials of technological importance, the society is over 13,000 members strong and includes regular, student, retired and unemployed membership options.
$275,839 spent$1,191,215 earned by the program3% of program spendingAdvocacy - the Materials Research Society (mrs) contributes to the development of science and technology policy in materials-related fields by responding to, and initiating, opportunities to interact nationally and internationally with government officials and public and private organizations. Led by the mrs government affairs committee (gac), these volunteer-powered efforts have been far-reaching, consistent and unbiased, building trust and respect in washington, d.c., both on capitol hill and within government agencies. When deemed necessary, mrs also teams with other professional societies to create a larger voice for the materials field to broaden the dissemination, implementation and understanding of materials-related policy for the benefit of society.mrs is an interdisciplinary society with members worldwide that advocate for materials science and innovation. We seek to engage our members in advocacy, to educate policymakers on the importance of materials innovations, and to engage with the broader scientific and engineering community in support of sustained funding for research.
$223,750 spentof which $56,950 as grants$44,999 earned by the program3% of program spendingThe foundation - the Materials Research Society foundation serves the mrs mission and strives to move the society toward its strategic aspiration. The foundation focuses on member engagement and programs to broaden participation in the materials community - student opportunities, professional development, free/discounted memberships for those in developing countries, awards and more. Through its continuum of broader impacts programming and professional development sessions at mrs meetings, a comprehensive awards portfolio, a university chapter program that is international in scope, and so much more, mrs, with the support of the Materials Research Society foundation, is well positioned to engage, educate and fascinate into the next decade.
$691,624 spent8% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $8,254,221.
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 $15M to $13M (−13%).
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 2% · 2019 2% · 2020 22% · 2021 12% · 2022 2% · 2023 1% · 2024 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
5% of MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (61% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Todd M Osman
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 5 funders, grant income rose $103k → $192k.
From the IRS filings of MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 59% of grant income and the top three 88%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
27% 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 MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 88% · 2018 86% · 2019 87% · 2020 100% · 2021 44% · 2022 87% · 2023 65% — 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.
Where its funders are
MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY draws 98% of its grant income from funders outside Pennsylvania, across 4 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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
MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY's funding base is broadening — from 2 funders to 5 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 659 community improvement nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.3M on record.
- National Science Foundation$696k
- Department of Defense$350k
- Department of Energy$143k
- Department of Commerce$61k
- Department of Health and Human Services$10k
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$5k
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 MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY
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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
79% 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 3 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY: 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 MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY?
- MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 7 organizations whose IRS filings report $778,824 to it, the largest being THE KAVLI FOUNDATION ($459,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 7 organizations giving $778,824 in grants to MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY?
- THE KAVLI FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $459,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MATERIALS RESEARCH SOCIETY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 7 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing