New Hampshire · Nonprofit
MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY
MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY (New Hampshire) receives grants from 49 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,239,644 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($306,885). 29 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.7M
- Funders on record
- 49
- Grants received
- $1.2M
- Net assets
- $10M
What Mount Washington Observatory does
Mission
To advance understanding of the natural systems that create earth's weather and climate. It serves this mission by maintaining a weather station on the summit of mount washington, performing weather and climate research, conducting innovative science education programs, and interpreting the heritage of the mount washington region.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
Mwobs launched three new summer programs: (1) the storm scouts extreme weather camp, (2) the overnight peak perspectives professional development program for k-12 educators, (3) and an overnight medical training for youth educators. The storm scouts camp served 13 youth in grades 4-8 across two sessions in august of 2024 in weather and climate learning activities both in north conway and on the summit of mount washington. The peak perspectives program served 14 k-12 teachers across two different overnight sessions that provided educators with educational experience and resources related to weather, weather instrumentation, data collection and analysis, and climate. Finally, the medical overnight training for youth educators served 8 youth educators in partnership with solo schools and maine health's memorial hospital in north conway. Youth educators all earned wilderness first aid and cpr certifications.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Observatory and research:observations tracked and submitted to nws- over the course of a year, we did 8,760 hourly observations- we perform two daily qc checks, a weekly qc, and a monthly qc- ncon3 cooperative weather station continued as a joint mwobs staff/volunteer effort observing and reporting the climate of north conway.- continue to send data to nws hourly and national centers for environmental information (ncei) monthly
$1,274,750 spent$26,922 earned by the program75% of program spendingSchool programs- 1,800 k-12 students joined across 46 virtual programs delivered by weather observer/education specialists.- more then 3,480 students participated in 174 in person school-day programs delivered by mwobs educators, plus 53 afterschool programs for 500+ youth.- 12 k-12 teachers participated in the arctic wednesdays professional development program- more then 830 students visited our summit weather station through our second full year of field trips.adult and general programs- 9 programs featuring speakers from speakers from the university of new hampshire, nasa scientists, observatory research staff and more with 2,600 zoom attendees, 2,900 youtube views - 41 climbers and guides participapted in guide-led overnight climbing trips- 56 guests participated in the overnight edutrip program in the winter of 2024-2025weather forecasts:- produced 704 48-hour forecasts for the higher summit- approximately 18 specialized forecasts for eventslearning ecosystems northeast-mwobs education staff continued into a second year participating in a nasa-funded stem learning ecosystems project led by gulf of maine research institute. Mwobs coordinates a connected learning ecosystem in…
$418,895 spent$304,136 earned by the program25% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,693,645.
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 2022 to 2023, from $5.7M to $9.9M (+74%).
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 1% · 2018 3% · 2019 2% · 2020 3% · 2021 10% · 2022 40% · 2023 5% · 2024 19% · 2025 21%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
79% of MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Drew Bush
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 22 funders, grant income rose $16k → $182k.
8 of 49 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 46% 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 MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 49 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
MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
55% 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 MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 64% · 2018 65% · 2019 87% · 2020 43% · 2021 58% · 2022 30% · 2023 33% — 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
58% of MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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
MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside New Hampshire, across 14 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $573k arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 210 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 210 science & tech nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.6M on record.
- Department of Commerce$3.1M
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$486k
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 MOUNT WASHINGTON 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 New Hampshire
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
61%
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 MOUNT WASHINGTON 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 MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY?
- MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY (New Hampshire) receives grants from 49 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,239,644 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($306,885). 29 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY have?
- IRS filings report 49 organizations giving $1,239,644 in grants to MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY, 29 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $306,885 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MOUNT WASHINGTON OBSERVATORY find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New Hampshire. 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 Mount Washington Observatory →
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 49 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