California · Nonprofit
Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy
Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy (California) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $142,051 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($91,200). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 86% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $801k
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $142k
- Net assets
- $5.4M
What Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy does
Mission
1) Conduct astronomical research.(2) Encourage the advancement of knowledge concerning astronomy by educating the general public.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Upgraded MRA's research facilities, instrumentation, and software: (1) Developed and maintained MIRA's research observatory at a remote dark-sky site. (2) Upgraded the 36-inch telescope's major instrumentation components, including spectrograph, Guidance-Acquisition Package, polarimeters, off-axis guider, etc. (3) Developed computer programs to build and test theoretical models of the spectra of early-type stars.
$188,000 spent49% of program spendingPerformed and published significant astronomical research. MIRA astronomers authored or co-authored four research papers published in refereed journals and nine conference presentations, most of which were published in the conference proceedings. Highlights:(1) high-precision polarimetric studies of stars and planets, published in cooperation with other observatories; (2) high - resolution infra-red observations of hot stars; (3) analysis of stellar interior structures with asteroseismolgy data from MIRA and NASA data; (4)analysis of MIRA and Hubble Space Telescope observations of cometary ejecta from the NASA Deep Impact mission.
$194,500 spentof which $12,500 as grants50% of program spendingPublic Education in Astronomy: (1) Published a quarterly newsletter. (2) Provided educational research opportunities and guidance for ten high school and college summer interns. 3) Sponsored a local astronomy club. (4) Provided maintenance and access to the Student Observatory. (5) Supported Monterey County Free Libraries telescope borrowing program. (6) Maintained an astronomical education website. (7) Conducted star parties, classroom visits and tours, and adult education classes. (8) Sponsored public lectures by eminent visiting astronomers and MIRA astronomers on topics of interest to the public.
$4,910 spent$7,341 earned by the program1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $387,410.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2021 to 2022, from $4.7M to $4.3M (−8%).
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 1% · 2021 10% · 2022 0% · 2023 5% · 2024 18% · 2025 63%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
86% of Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (79% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 6 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.
Board chair
Gordon Jones
Chairman of the Board
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income rose $3k → $26k.
3 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 86% 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 Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy’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
Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy leans on a few funders — its largest provides 64% of grant income and the top three 94%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
91% 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 Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2020 95% · 2021 100% · 2022 95% · 2023 57% — 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
86% of Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy'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 $20k that is directly attributable, 64% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $122k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 453 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 453 science & tech nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Government funding Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.7M on record.
- National Science Foundation$1.7M
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$40k
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 Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
64% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
38%
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 Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy: 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 Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy?
- Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy (California) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $142,051 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($91,200). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 86% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $142,051 in grants to Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $91,200 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 Monterey Institute for Research in Astronomy →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2020–2025), and the filings of 5 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