Texas · Nonprofit
SCIENCE MILL
SCIENCE MILL (Texas) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,571,579 to it, the largest being Baskin Family Foundation ($1,892,000). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.1M
- Funders on record
- 40
- Grants received
- $4.6M
- Net assets
- $3.3M
What Science Mill does
Mission
The mission of Science Mill is to develop and operate a science museum in johnson city, texas for the benefit and education of the public.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
Science Mill opened it doors to visitors of all ages in february 2015. The Science Mill is a place of discovery where the entire family experiences interactive learning and creative thinking. It is a destination for the greater community as a gathering place and open forum to present and discuss scientific topics, especially those of high relevance to the area. With fun, exciting and interactive exhibits and programs, the Science Mill supports formal education entities with a focus on middle and high school students, to help expand their understanding of science, spark their curiosity and inspire them towards an interest in careers in science, technology, engineering and mathmatics (stem). The Science Mill's distinctive approach focuses on strengthening the student's connection to the world of science and to inspire students to pursue life-long careers as scientists, engineers, researchers and technology leaders of tomorrow.
$2,189,186 spent$2,078,700 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $2,189,186.
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 $4.0M to $4.4M (+11%).
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 2% · 2019 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
61% of SCIENCE MILL’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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
Peter Claffey
CEO
Board chair
Bonita Baskin Phd
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2020 and FY2021 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 18 funders, grant income rose $143k → $839k.
7 of 40 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 29% 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 MILL’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 40 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 MILL leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 61%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
29% 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 MILL.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 48% · 2019 48% · 2020 57% · 2021 48% · 2022 62% · 2023 30% — 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
39% of SCIENCE MILL's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
89% of SCIENCE MILL's grant income comes from Texas funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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 MILL's funding base is broadening — from 11 funders to 18 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding SCIENCE MILL receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $109k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$98k
- Department of the Interior$11k
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 MILL
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 Texas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
44%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SCIENCE MILL: 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 MILL?
- SCIENCE MILL (Texas) receives grants from 40 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,571,579 to it, the largest being Baskin Family Foundation ($1,892,000). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SCIENCE MILL have?
- IRS filings report 40 organizations giving $4,571,579 in grants to SCIENCE MILL, 25 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SCIENCE MILL?
- Baskin Family Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $1,892,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SCIENCE MILL find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Texas. 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 Science Mill →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 40 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