California · Nonprofit
PLAYING AT LEARNING
PLAYING AT LEARNING (California) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $704,230 to it, the largest being For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) ($435,126). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $616k
- Funders on record
- 12
- Grants received
- $704k
- Net assets
- $506k
What Playing at Learning does
Mission
Educational enrichment for children, using technology. Inspire students to explore and understand educational and career pathways in science, technology, engineering and math fields.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Northern California FIRST LEGO League - Provided infrastructure for FIRST LEGO League Challenge program, including tournament organization and operation, training and outreach. Supported approximately 6000 children ages 9-14.
$93,845 spentof which $110,762 as grants$325,097 earned by the program21% of program spendingThe Play Space - A 13,000 square foot facility that serves as a meeting space, workspace, hacker space, practice facility for area FIRST teams. It hosted several events, including coach trainings, program kickoff events, coach/mentor training, FIRST LEGO League and FIRST Tech Challenge tournaments, and meetings for regional engineering & technology advocacy groups
$218,980 spentof which $500 as grants$834 earned by the program49% of program spendingNorthern California FIRST Tech Challenge - Provided infrastructure for FIRST Tech Challenge, including tournament organization and operation. Supported approximately 1800 7th to 12th grade students
$124,981 spentof which $68,900 as grants$164,175 earned by the program28% of program spendingFIRST LEGO League Explore - infrastructure and program operation of festivals for teams. Robotics Camps - 6 -7 weeks annually of enrichment camps for students during summer months
$9,024 spent$28,755 earned by the program2% of program spendingrobotics camps/classes
$0 spent$2,610 earned by the program0% of program spendingSTEM outreach efforts
$630 spent$600 earned by the program0% of program spending
The 6 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $447,460.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 2024 to 2025, from $385k to $491k (+28%).
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: 2021 5% · 2022 4% · 2023 0% · 2024 0% · 2025 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
44% of PLAYING AT LEARNING’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (79% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 5 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 3 funders, grant income fell $65k → $32k.
7 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 36% 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 PLAYING AT LEARNING’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
PLAYING AT LEARNING leans on a few funders — its largest provides 62% of grant income and the top three 90%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
99% 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 PLAYING AT LEARNING.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 97% · 2018 94% · 2019 65% · 2020 83% · 2021 70% · 2022 89% · 2023 65% — 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
38% of PLAYING AT LEARNING's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 42% 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
PLAYING AT LEARNING draws 98% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 4 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $256k 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
PLAYING AT LEARNING has grown faster than three-quarters of the 453 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 453 science & tech nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like PLAYING AT LEARNING
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
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
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 PLAYING AT LEARNING: 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 PLAYING AT LEARNING?
- PLAYING AT LEARNING (California) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $704,230 to it, the largest being For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) ($435,126). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PLAYING AT LEARNING have?
- IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $704,230 in grants to PLAYING AT LEARNING, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PLAYING AT LEARNING?
- For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) is the largest funder on record, with $435,126 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PLAYING AT LEARNING 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 FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 12 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