Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC
PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 87 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,488,906 to it, the largest being MCCUNE FOUNDATION PNC BANK NA ($3,000,000). 54 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $16M
- Funders on record
- 87
- Grants received
- $8.5M
- Net assets
- $75M
What Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens Inc does
Mission
Phipps' mission is to inspire and educate all with the beauty and importance of plants, to advance sustainability and promote human and environmental well-being through action and research, and to celebrate its historic glasshouse.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Overview/horticulture: in 2025, phipps remained at the forefront of the public garden movement as one of the nation's select certified botanic museums, advancing its regenerative operating model to reinforce a more resilient institution. Following its prior receipt of the imls national medal for museums, the field's highest honor for community impact, and the epa green power leadership award for excellence in renewable energy innovation, phipps continued its national ascent when newsweek named it the nation's best botanical garden. From world - class exhibits and science education to bold sustainability initiatives, phipps delivered inspiring experiences and measurable programs that enrich lives and restore the natural world. See continuation on schedule o.as a premier cultural destination, phipps drives regional tourism, strengthens pittsburgh's civic identity, and contributes meaningfully to the local economy.horticulture: since opening in 1893 as the nation's first large-scale permanent garden conservatory - and being recognized as the first teaching one in 1901 - phipps has remained a leader in connecting people to nature through the beauty and science of plants. Today, as one…
$2,826,145 spent18% of program spendingGuest services: in 2025, phipps conservatory welcomed more than 420,000 onsite guests from 46 countries and 1.6 million virtual visitors from across the nation and globe into an environment where nature, science, art, and sustainability intersect in meaningful and educational ways. Through prudent planning and disciplined scenario forecasting, phipps navigated short-term economic pressures while maintaining operational stability and positioning the organization for sustained growth and continued innovation.see continuation on schedule o.as one of the region's leading cultural institutions and a nationally recognized garden museum, phipps provides opportunities for visitors to connect with the natural world and learn practical and innovative appproaches to healthier, more sustainable living. Exhibits, seasonal flower shows, immersive tropical forest environments, and educational programming encourage guests of all ages to explore biodiversity, sustainable food systems, and environmental stewardship.guests journey through soaring glass pavilions, explore diverse biomes and global garden traditions, and encounter interactive displays that reveal the astonishing complexity of the role…
$2,677,475 spent$6,314,217 earned by the program17% of program spendingEducation: as america's first public teaching conservatory, phipps has been an innovator, community-anchor, and environmental educator since 1893 - combining the beauty of gardens with the power of plant-based science and humanities to shape a better future. Today, phipps continues to lead with bold vision and purpose, offering hands-on, inquiry-based programs that empower learners of all ages to explore, create, and act.our approach to education is rooted in a regenerative approach and maker mindset - where imagination, experimentation, and discovery drive meaningful learning. See continuation on schedule o.each calendar quarter, phipps offers more than 150 dynamic classes, symposia, and lectures, reaching thousands of participants through on-site, virtual, and community-based programming. From school partnerships to nationally acclaimed initiatives like the fairchild challenge, and the one health one planet and the nature of place symposia, phipps cultivates scientific and environmental literacy and a deep appreciation for the natural world.as a living laboratory, phipps demonstrates sustainable practices through every facet of its operations - providing an immersive educational…
$1,288,000 spentof which $42,000 as grants$629,504 earned by the program8% of program spendingIncluded in other program services are depreciation, costs for maintaining the facilities, indirect labor and overhead and other miscellaneous expenses.
$9,092,207 spent57% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $15,883,827.
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 2017 to 2018, from $65M to $70M (+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: 2017 13% · 2018 16% · 2019 18% · 2020 24% · 2021 34% · 2022 36% · 2023 29% · 2024 20% · 2025 24%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
49% of PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (87% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Richard Piacentini
President and CEO
Board chair
Matthew Mehalik
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 19 funders to 41 funders, grant income rose $153k → $807k.
10 of 87 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% 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 PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 87 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
PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 35% 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
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 28% · 2019 25% · 2020 58% · 2021 81% · 2022 32% · 2023 31% — 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 PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
88% of PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC's grant income comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC's funding base is broadening — from 19 funders to 41 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 210 environment nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.4M on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$586k
- National Endowment for the Humanities$450k
- Department of Agriculture$373k
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 PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC
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
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
87%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Phipps Enterprises LLC · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC: 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 PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC?
- PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 87 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,488,906 to it, the largest being MCCUNE FOUNDATION PNC BANK NA ($3,000,000). 54 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC have?
- IRS filings report 87 organizations giving $8,488,906 in grants to PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC, 54 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC?
- MCCUNE FOUNDATION PNC BANK NA is the largest funder on record, with $3,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PHIPPS CONSERVATORY AND BOTANICAL GARDENS INC 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.
Play a game about who funds Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens →
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 87 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