Virginia · Nonprofit
ROBONATION INC
ROBONATION INC (Virginia) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $470,007 to it, the largest being LUKIS FOUNDATION ($400,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.3M
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $470k
- Net assets
- $4.1M
What Robonation Inc does
Mission
Robonation delivers educational programs in robotics, autonomy, and related technologies through student competitions, hands-on learning resources, and educator support. These programs provide applied stem learning experiences for students from elementary through higher education, developing technical, problem-solving, and teamwork skills aligned with workforce needs. Through this work, Robonation Increases awareness of education and career pathways and contributes to the development of a future workforce in engineering, skilled trades, and technology fields.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Education programs: robonation provides hands-on stem education through robotics and environmental sensing kits, curriculum, and educator training used in classrooms, after-school programs, and community organizations. Serving students from elementary through postsecondary levels, these programs engage participants in structured learning activities that build technical and professional skills and increase awareness of education and career pathways aligned with workforce needs.
$1,929,266 spent$1,739,440 earned by the program50% of program spendingStudent competitions: robonation develops and operates robotics competitions that engage students from elementary school through graduate-level study in designing, building, and operating autonomous and remotely operated systems. Through mission-based challenges grounded in real-world applications, participants gain hands-on experience that builds technical, problem-solving, teamwork, and project management skills while increasing awareness of technologies and career pathways aligned with workforce needs.
$1,751,210 spentof which $179,052 as grants$461,168 earned by the program45% of program spendingOther program services: robonation fosters a community of participants, educators, industry professionals, volunteers, and alumni to support learning and ongoing engagement. Activities include webinars, technical talks, mentorship, peer and industry networking, volunteer opportunities, and alumni engagement. Robonation also provides advisory support to partners on robotics and autonomy-related education and workforce development initiatives, including program design and technical guidance. These efforts extend learning beyond formal programs, connect participants to real-world applications, and increase awareness of education and career pathways in engineering, skilled trades, and technology fields.
$183,211 spent$10,930 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,863,687.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 2023 to 2024, from $3.7M to $4.8M (+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: 2018 49% · 2019 42% · 2020 60% · 2021 55% · 2022 69% · 2023 54% · 2024 63% · 2025 50%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
57% of ROBONATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 8 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
Daryl Davidson
President and CEO
Board chair
John Waickwicz
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $25k → $100k.
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 ROBONATION INC’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
ROBONATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 85% 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 100% · 2020 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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
ROBONATION INC draws 85% of its grant income from funders outside Virginia, across 2 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7 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.
Against its field
ROBONATION INC's funding has concentrated — grant income rose while the number of funders held roughly flat.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 9,398 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding ROBONATION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $22.6M on record — $22.6M federal, $25 state.
- Department of Defense$22.6M
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$23k
- REFUNDS - GENERAL $25
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 ROBONATION 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 Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
73% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
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 ROBONATION 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 ROBONATION INC?
- ROBONATION INC (Virginia) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $470,007 to it, the largest being LUKIS FOUNDATION ($400,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ROBONATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $470,007 in grants to ROBONATION INC, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ROBONATION INC?
- LUKIS FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $400,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ROBONATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 2018–2025), 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