California · Nonprofit
SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC
SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC (California) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,561,470 to it, the largest being GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION ($5,655,034). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.2M
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $13M
- Net assets
- $2.6M
What Science Communication Lab Inc does
Mission
The science communication lab, formerly named ibiology, was incorporated on november 21, 2014, pursuant to the provisions of the general corporation law of the state of delaware (section 102). The science communication lab's mission is to convey, in the form of open-access free videos, the excitement of modern biology and the process by which scientific discoveries are made. The organization's aim is to introduce the leading scientists in biology, how they think about scientific questions and conduct their research, and make known their personalities, opinions, and perspectives. The organization is innovating professional development of graduate students and postdocs through a series of courses that address experimental planning, design, and communication. Through their existing video content and a far-reaching project seeking to reimagine an introductory biology textbook, they also endeavor to support educators who want to incorporate materials that illustrate the process and practice
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The wonder collaborative: feature-length and short films for the general public the wonder collaborative is the scl's public film initiative, and is a creative partnership that brings innovative storytellers and the global scientific community together in a spirit of experimentation and collaboration to revolutionize science filmmaking with the wonder, awe, and diversity of discovery. The wonder collaborative collaborates with a diverse group of scientists at all stages of the storytelling process, and experiments in style, structure, and content. The wonder collaborative's efforts include the recently released observer, which explores the power of observation in how we understand our world. The wonder collaborative stories are produced with a broad, global, general (science-curious) audience in mind, and aims to create novel partnerships, distribution networks, and engagement opportunities through community screenings, activities, and dialogue, especially between the scientific community and the public.
$1,628,827 spent52% of program spendingScience communication lab: seminars and courses for life scientists the scl creates story-based multimedia and associated teaching materials that help audiences connect with scientific ideas, the people behind the science, and the real-world processes that drive it. Guided by the values of community, open access, inclusion, and evidence-based teaching and learning, the scl works with educators to develop films and classroom resources; provides professional development for science educators through its ambassador program and workshops; partners with organizations to screen films and create engagement resources for informal education settings; rigorously evaluates the impact of its work in formal and informal education; and builds a growing network of educators through individual outreach and participation in science education conferences. The scl also creates free online professional development courses for aspiring and early career scientists that help unpack key elements of being a scientist, including how to design research experiments, communicate research, and build a mentor network. These efforts help advance a shift in science education toward engagement, authenticity, and…
$992,280 spentof which $36,709 as grants$58,574 earned by the program32% of program spendingEnhancing biomedical training and diversity through a hispanic science network the scl is producing free online courses for the yale ciencia academy (yca) for career development, a program that provides doctoral students from underrepresented backgrounds in biomedical and behavioral sciences with opportunities for mentoring, networking, and skills development, and for making contributions to their communities through science outreach.
$252,363 spent$27,000 earned by the program8% of program spendingSpecial initiatives in science communication special initiatives encompass science communication activities that fall outside the primary program categories. The current initiative, supported by a national geographic grant, brings the science of science communication to the national geographic explorers program - a community of creative science and environmental storytellers. To date, scl has delivered workshops at conferences and hosted webinars featuring experts in the field, including facilitated breakout sessions. Additional programs are planned to help explorers understand new ways to measure their impact and foster connections between them and science communication researchers. Explorer's guide to biology (xbio): educational materials for undergraduate students the mission of xbio is to create a free learning text and image-based resource that emphasizes the wonders of life and the problem-solving nature of science. Many students approach biology with initial excitement but leave their course discouraged after memorizing a sea of facts. Xbio's goal is to offer students a more exciting and accurate window into the life sciences through turning major discoveries into stories…
$242,059 spent8% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,115,529.
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 2017 to 2018, from $501k to $2.6M (+424%).
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 42% · 2018 22% · 2019 65% · 2021 52% · 2022 53% · 2023 38% · 2024 70% · 2025 57%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
88% of SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Board chair
Douglas Koshland
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 6 funders, grant income rose $220k → $390k.
6 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 19% 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 SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 12 of 13 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
SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 45% of grant income and the top three 80%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
50% 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 SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 91% · 2018 54% · 2019 61% · 2020 78% · 2021 68% · 2022 94% · 2023 55% — 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
63% of SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% 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
62% of SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC has grown faster than half of the 210 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 210 science & tech nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $10.7M on record.
- National Science Foundation$6.6M
- Department of Health and Human Services$4.1M
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 SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
93% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
65%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Wonder Collaborative Productions · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB 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 SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC?
- SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC (California) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,561,470 to it, the largest being GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION ($5,655,034). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $12,561,470 in grants to SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC?
- GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $5,655,034 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SCIENCE COMMUNICATION LAB INC 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 2017–2025), and the filings of 13 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