California · Nonprofit
OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION
OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,315,000 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($670,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $339k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $1.3M
- Net assets
- $917k
What Open Lunar Foundation does
Mission
Open Lunar Foundation's mission is to ensure a peaceful, cooperative, and sustainable human presence on the moon by fostering international cooperation, developing open standards, and advancing research
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Fellowships: an international fellowship program with researchers conducting cutting-edge research. This year we ran five 8-month research fellowships with distinct researchers and topics. Cooperative landing pads: developed a concept for shared lunar landing and operations zones to promote coordination, safety, and environmental protection among multiple missions. Registry of accidents and issues: designed a public reporting framework for lunar mission anomalies and near-misses to strengthen transparency and collective learning. (continues below)
$313,253 spentof which $166,279 as grants81% of program spendingPayload review: established a review process to assess proposed lunar payloads against scientific, ethical and environmental criteria in collaboration with international experts. Payload x: launched an experimental payload program to test technologies that advance transparency, coordination, and stewardship on the lunar surface. Lunar power standards: convened research and industry partners to draft interoperable standards for power generation and transfer on the moon. See schedule o for additional information
Policy and education: open lunar engaged in international policy dialogue to advance cooperative and transparent governance of the moon. This included participation in the united nations committee on the peaceful uses of outer space (uncopuos) and related working groups, contributions to global forums and academic conferences, and direct collaboration with policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders. The organization also led public education and communications initiatives to increase awareness of responsible lunar development, including publishing accessible materials, hosting events, and sharing thought leadership content that highlights open lunar's mission and projects.
$73,480 spent19% of program spendingContinued from page 2,psa 1 lunar registry, a global lunar database of objects and activities: aiming to establish a global registry of lunar objects and activities a global database of lunar objects and activities designed to improve transparency, coordination, and accountability among lunar actors. During this period, open lunar developed a prototype system and conducted over 150 stakeholder interviews across governments, industry, and academia to inform the system's design and ensure it reflects diverse operational and policy needs.
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $386,733.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 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 $3.2M to $1.8M (−45%).
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: 2019 3% · 2021 53% · 2022 3% · 2023 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION’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. 4 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
Chris Hadfield
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2022 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income held at $215k.
3 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION’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
OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 51% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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
100% of OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION'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. Too little is directly attributable to place on a map.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M 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
OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION's revenue fell 89% between 2019 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 793 science & tech nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION
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
59% 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
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION: 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 OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION?
- OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION (California) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,315,000 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($670,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $1,315,000 in grants to OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $670,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like OPEN LUNAR FOUNDATION 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.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2019–2024), and the filings of 3 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