Ohio · Nonprofit
SCIENCE PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI
SCIENCE PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI (Ohio) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $586,308 to it, the largest being THE ARIEL FOUNDATION ($365,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $131k
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $586k
- Net assets
- $587k
What Science Play-Space Initiative Spi does
Mission
The mission of Science Play-Space Initiative Spi, inc. Is to enhance the knox county community by bringing people of all ages to explore science, technology and human interaction through play.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Spi operates a community education and recreation center where families can drop in for play-based learning together described as discovery play; the activities are presented through the lenses of science, technology, engineering, art, and math. Approximately 7,091 people participated in this initiative.
$116,145 spent$34,177 earned by the program88% of program spendingSpi facilitated multiple sessions of summer enrichment camps at outdoor venues throughout june and july, and in the winter led afterschool activities in partnership with the salvation army through a weekly initiative call club code. Spi designs engaging tabletop activities, games, and demonstrations for exhibition and engagement at community festivals and events. The application of spi staff time and resources toward these efforts supports broader community objectives and addresses its institutional priority to collaborate with government partners, other area non-profits and local business. Participation included 1,010 individuals through the enrichment programs and 820 individuals through the outreach programs.
$16,380 spent$6,190 earned by the program12% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $132,525.
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 2023 to 2024, from $630k to $587k (−7%).
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: 2020 9% · 2021 32%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
69% of SCIENCE PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 5 funders to 3 funders, grant income fell $91k → $58k.
3 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 15% 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 PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI’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
SCIENCE PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI leans on a few funders — its largest provides 62% of grant income and the top three 93%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
38% 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 PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 30% · 2018 64% · 2019 69% · 2020 57% · 2021 71% · 2022 71% · 2023 88% — growing more concentrated.
“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
100% of SCIENCE PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI's grant income comes from Ohio funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $86k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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 PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI is better cushioned than half of the 22,812 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 22,812 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like SCIENCE PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI
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 Ohio
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
76% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
58%
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 SCIENCE PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI: 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 PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI?
- SCIENCE PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI (Ohio) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $586,308 to it, the largest being THE ARIEL FOUNDATION ($365,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SCIENCE PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $586,308 in grants to SCIENCE PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SCIENCE PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI?
- THE ARIEL FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $365,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SCIENCE PLAY-SPACE INITIATIVE SPI find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. 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 Play-Space Initiative Spi →
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 6 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