Illinois · Nonprofit
PLANETARY STUDIES FOUNDATION LTD
PLANETARY STUDIES FOUNDATION LTD (Illinois) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $15,039 to it, the largest being THE ANDERS FOUNDATION ($13,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2023
- $29k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $15k
- Net assets
- $465k
What Planetary Studies Foundation Ltd does
Mission
Science Education and Meteorite research.
As stated on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
"Science in Our Changing World". It provides educational programs for community groups, general public and school grades K thru 12. This program also supports three astronomical observatories and partners with the Putnam Museum and Science Center in Davenport, Iowa in creating educational exhibits.
$20,436 spent63% of program spendingMeteorite Research: PSF research scientist are primarily involved with the classification and recovery of new meteorites from around the world. Our efforts are annually reported at the Meteoritical Society and the Lunar Planetary Science Conference meetings. PSF also provides public information outreach programs.
$11,974 spent37% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $32,410.
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.
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 $468k to $465k (−1%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 3 reported years ran a deficit.
Leadership and staff
Board chair
Joseph A Auer Jr
Chairman of the Board and Executive Board Member
As listed on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2020: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $1k → $1k.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 0% 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 PLANETARY STUDIES FOUNDATION LTD’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
PLANETARY STUDIES FOUNDATION LTD leans on a few funders — its largest provides 86% 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
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 91% · 2020 96% — 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
PLANETARY STUDIES FOUNDATION LTD draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 2 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $39 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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.
Organizations like PLANETARY STUDIES FOUNDATION LTD
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 Illinois
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Public support
91%
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 PLANETARY STUDIES FOUNDATION LTD: 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 PLANETARY STUDIES FOUNDATION LTD?
- PLANETARY STUDIES FOUNDATION LTD (Illinois) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $15,039 to it, the largest being THE ANDERS FOUNDATION ($13,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PLANETARY STUDIES FOUNDATION LTD have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $15,039 in grants to PLANETARY STUDIES FOUNDATION LTD, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PLANETARY STUDIES FOUNDATION LTD?
- THE ANDERS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $13,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PLANETARY STUDIES FOUNDATION LTD find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 Planetary Studies Foundation Ltd →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2023 (financials across 2020–2023), 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