California · Nonprofit
REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER
REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER (California) receives grants from 61 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,450,152 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($4,840,914). 33 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $9.1M
- Funders on record
- 61
- Grants received
- $10M
- Net assets
- $9.6M
What Reuben H Fleet Science Center does
Mission
The reuben h. Fleet science center is dedicated to realizing a san diego where everyone is connected to the power of science. We are a county-wide organization working with communities to leverage stem expertise and learning in support of their goals and aspirations.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
The Reuben H. Fleet Science Center (the Fleet) operates the following programs and activities:Science ExhibitsThe Fleet features more than 120 interactive science exhibits in multiple galleries, as well as major traveling exhibitions. Visitors can create colored shadows, touch a tornado, examine the vibration of guitar strings, and get their hands on a variety of intriguing scientific phenomena. Permanent exhibitions include Studio X, where people can invent and create, and Design Zone where each thematic area will draw you into compelling scenarios where you can design your own experiences and solve real-world challenges while discovering that math isnt just a subject in school. Children rule in Kid City, just for kids ages five and under. Kid City contains a factory with conveyor belts, cranes, air chutes, an interactive fire truck, several Young Explorer computers, a child-size grocery store and much more. In Its Electric visitors of all ages can explore the science and history of electricity to life through an introduction to the types and uses of electricity. In addition to other galleries, New Science, Sun, Earth, and Universe, the Fleet offers a variety of temporary…
$8,034,431 spent$4,691,533 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $8,034,431.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $14M to $16M (+20%).
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 5% · 2018 6% · 2019 5% · 2020 16% · 2021 18% · 2022 43% · 2023 6% · 2024 5% · 2025 11%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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
Dr Steven L Snyder
President & CEO
Board chair
Kristi Jaska
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 23 funders, grant income rose $722k → $1.5M.
12 of 61 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 65% 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 REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 61 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
REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 46% of grant income and the top three 63%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
71% 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 REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 73% · 2018 58% · 2019 51% · 2020 55% · 2021 34% · 2022 49% · 2023 43% — 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 REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% 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
65% of REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER'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. Of the $3.6M that is directly attributable, 84% of it comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $6.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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.
Government funding REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.8M on record.
- National Science Foundation$3.2M
- Department of Defense$599k
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 REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER
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
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
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 REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER: 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 REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER?
- REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER (California) receives grants from 61 organizations whose IRS filings report $10,450,152 to it, the largest being THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION ($4,840,914). 33 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 61 organizations giving $10,450,152 in grants to REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER, 33 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER?
- THE SAN DIEGO FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,840,914 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like REUBEN H FLEET SCIENCE CENTER 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.
Play a game about who funds Reuben H Fleet Science Center →
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 61 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