Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
Pittsburgh Botanic Garden
Pittsburgh Botanic Garden (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 65 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,709,475 to it, the largest being ALLEGHENY FOUNDATION ($721,000). 38 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.8M
- Funders on record
- 65
- Grants received
- $4.7M
- Net assets
- $19M
What Pittsburgh Botanic Garden does
Mission
Pittsburgh Botanic Garden inspires people to value plants, garden design and the natural world by cultivating plant collections of the Allegheny Plateau and temperate regions, creating display gardens, conducting educational programs and conserving the environment.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Visitor Experience: Through its facilities, gardens and woodlands, and programs, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden strives to increase the number of individuals exposed to the natural beauty of the Allegheny Plateau region. The Garden's mission is grounded in the belief that connecting with plants is fundamentally important to the emotional and physical well-being of all people.** See Continuation on Schedule O **What started as a dream in 1988 was made a reality through the dedication of many volunteers and staff. These visionaries had to conduct land reclamation, manage acid mine drainage, renovate building, construct new facilities and raise donations ultimately leading to April 1, 2015, when this public garden opened for the community. Throughout 2025, the Garden celebrated 10 years of welcoming visitors along with a multitude of milestones, including:- Admission was 18,000 in 2015 and 92,000 in 2024 and on track for 100,000 during 2025- Nature-based field trip program grew from 4 in the first year to more than 40 annually- Since Inception The Garden hosted 576 weddings attended by nearly 73,000 guests who were able to enjoy the gardens- Membership households grew from 881 to more…
$1,726,805 spent$930,401 earned by the program53% of program spendingHorticulture: Pittsburgh Botanic Garden inspires people to value plants, garden design and the natural world by cultivating plant collections of the Allegheny Plateau and temperate regions, creating display gardens, conducting educational programs and conserving the environment. The Garden is a qualified caretaker of 460 acres of southwest Pennsylvania's land and water. Dedicated staff and volunteers create and maintain this space as a habitat for native flora and fauna. ** See Continuation on Schedule O **In addition to ongoing conservation efforts such as mitigating acid mine drainage and reforestation projects, the Garden provides 65 acres of cultivated gardens and woodlands for the public to connect to plants. Through this innate experience: young minds are engaged, gardeners are inspired, and all visitors find a sense of calm.Central to the story of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is the poor condition of the site upon which it is being built. Left in a deplorable state following coal extraction throughout the first half of the 20th Century, the land was unfit for most uses and even dangerous in spots. Further damage was caused by flooding of the mines beneath the surface in 2004,…
$1,123,773 spent35% of program spendingEducation: With education a cornerstone of its mission, Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is able to use its restoration of former coal mining land as a living laboratory for adults and children to engage in environmental stewardship and develop a conservation mindset.Exposure to nature in a beautiful and safe environment through guidance of mentors helps foster connection with the natural world. In an era of increased time spent indoors, children and young adults need an opportunity to connect with nature for their personal growth and to develop the stewardship behaviors that will contribute to a healthier, more sustainable and just future.** See Continuation on Schedule O **The education programming at Pittsburgh Botanic Garden is a mix of formal classes and self-discovery opportunities throughout the gardens and woodlands. Adult classes and workshops are held on a wide range of topics for beginner and experienced gardeners as well as ways to connect to plants in a variety of ways, such as through photography and art programs. Children and families learn together while exploring the gardens and woodlands through self-discovery and the assistance of interpretive signage or a stop by the…
$382,950 spent$48,358 earned by the program12% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,233,528.
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 $19M to $23M (+22%).
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 14% · 2018 20% · 2019 38% · 2020 55% · 2021 20% · 2022 7% · 2023 8% · 2024 3% · 2025 2%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
44% of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Keith Kaiser
Executive Director
Board chair
Michael Hatcher
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 15 funders to 33 funders, grant income rose $353k → $890k.
10 of 65 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 15% 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 Pittsburgh Botanic Garden’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 65 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
Pittsburgh Botanic Garden has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 15% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 53% · 2018 49% · 2019 59% · 2020 33% · 2021 38% · 2022 33% · 2023 26% — 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
45% of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
95% of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden's grant income comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $725k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
Pittsburgh Botanic Garden's funding base is broadening — from 15 funders to 33 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,152 youth development nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding Pittsburgh Botanic Garden receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $53k on record.
- Department of the Interior$53k
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 Pittsburgh Botanic Garden
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
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
63%
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 Pittsburgh Botanic Garden: 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 Pittsburgh Botanic Garden?
- Pittsburgh Botanic Garden (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 65 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,709,475 to it, the largest being ALLEGHENY FOUNDATION ($721,000). 38 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Pittsburgh Botanic Garden have?
- IRS filings report 65 organizations giving $4,709,475 in grants to Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, 38 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Pittsburgh Botanic Garden?
- ALLEGHENY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $721,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Pittsburgh Botanic Garden 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 Pittsburgh Botanic Garden →
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 65 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