California · Nonprofit
SETI INSTITUTE
SETI INSTITUTE (California) receives grants from 53 organizations whose IRS filings report $19,311,892 to it, the largest being TAWANI CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTION FUND ($3,975,122). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $27M
- Funders on record
- 53
- Grants received
- $19M
- Net assets
- $239M
What Seti Institute does
Mission
To explore, understand and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe and the evolution of intelligence.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The 100+ scientists in the carl sagan center for research conduct groundbreaking work pertaining to fundamental questions about the origin and proliferation of life right here on earth and beyond. From the early universe and the formation of galaxies, stars, planets, moons and other small bodies, to the prevalence of environments that can support life, intelligence and technology, we work to answer the question, "are we alone?" we partner with nasa, the national science foundation and other institutions in areas of basic research, and support science missions, including as contractors to nasa's office of planetary protection. We also conduct research in non-human communications, quantum astronomy and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (seti), using both radio and optical telescopes.
$19,417,391 spentof which $2,512,480 as grants$15,171 earned by the program90% of program spendingThe center for education has impacted more than a half million students and develops stem resources that teach, excite, and inspire the next generation of scientists and a science literate public. These programs foster future leaders and include: astronomy activation ambassadors, providing training and inspiration to high school science teachers; the nasa community college network, bringing nasa science and subject matter expertise into the nation's community college classrooms, and research experience for undergraduates, an 8-week summer internship that pairs students with scientist mentors.
$1,632,017 spentof which $204,065 as grants8% of program spendingThe Seti Institute believes that understanding our work helps place humanity in a broader cosmic context, and that sharing this work with the world is central to its mission. The center for outreach advances this goal by engaging the public through digital, in-person, broadcast, and media activities. These include seti live, a weekly livestreamed conversation with Seti Institute researchers and colleagues; seti air, which fosters creative exchange between artists and scientists; and big picture science, a radio show and podcast carried by more than 150 stations. The center for outreach also leads media outreach, produces the Seti Institute's annual report, supports public events at schools, museums, libraries, and community organizations, creates dynamic social media content, and maintains seti.org as a hub for news, discoveries, and educational resources.
$466,396 spent2% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $21,515,804.
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 2022 to 2023, from $27M to $211M (+689%).
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 83% · 2018 87% · 2019 81% · 2020 91% · 2021 80% · 2022 75% · 2023 9% · 2024 32% · 2025 72%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of SETI INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (52% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Board chair
Dan Lankford
Chairman of the board
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 17 funders, grant income rose $284k → $3.9M.
14 of 53 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 47% 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 SETI INSTITUTE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 53 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
SETI INSTITUTE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
63% 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 SETI INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 58% · 2018 55% · 2019 65% · 2020 33% · 2021 46% · 2022 43% · 2023 31% — 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
32% of SETI INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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
SETI INSTITUTE draws 69% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 17 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $9.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
SETI INSTITUTE's funding base is broadening — from 9 funders to 17 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 85 science & tech nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding SETI INSTITUTE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $148.5M on record.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$138.2M
- National Science Foundation$4.4M
- Department of Health and Human Services$2.9M
- Department of Energy$2.1M
- Department of the Interior$957k
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 SETI INSTITUTE
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
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 35 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SETI INSTITUTE: 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 SETI INSTITUTE?
- SETI INSTITUTE (California) receives grants from 53 organizations whose IRS filings report $19,311,892 to it, the largest being TAWANI CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTION FUND ($3,975,122). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SETI INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 53 organizations giving $19,311,892 in grants to SETI INSTITUTE, 32 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SETI INSTITUTE?
- TAWANI CHARITABLE DISTRIBUTION FUND is the largest funder on record, with $3,975,122 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SETI INSTITUTE 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 53 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