Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC
SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 132 organizations whose IRS filings report $81,164,595 to it, the largest being INTEL FOUNDATION ($22,324,500). 82 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $91M
- Funders on record
- 132
- Grants received
- $81M
- Net assets
- $152M
What Society for Science & the Public does
Mission
Society for science is a champion for science, dedicated to expanding scientific literacy, effective stem education and scientific research.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Science education programs - for decades, society for science has offered world-class science and engineering research competitions for young people. The regeneron science talent search (regeneron sts) is the nation's oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors. The regeneron international science and engineering fair (regeneron isef) is the world's largest global science competition for high schoolers. The thermo fisher scientific junior innovators challenge (thermo fisher jic) is the society's premier middle school stem competition for u.s. Students in grades six through eight. Through these competitions, the society encourages and rewards independent scientific research and project-based learning while growing the pipeline of future stem professionals in 2015, the society expanded its programming to include outreach and equity work, to ensure that every young person in the united states with an interest in stem, has the opportunity to become a scientist or engineer. The advocate program supports educators mentoring underrepresented students in stem fields and helping students find and compete in science research competitions. Two annual…
$21,421,441 spentof which $5,124,534 as grants$1,980,272 earned by the program63% of program spendingSociety for science was founded in 1921 with a mission to provide in-depth, trustworthy, accurate science journalism for the public. Since then, our offerings have grown to include our flagship print magazine science news and its website. We also created science news explores, where younger readers, their families and teachers can explore new discoveries across science, technology, engineering, and medicine, and learn how research helps us all understand our world and our lives. Through its science news learning program, the society provides science news magazine and supplementary educator guides to more than 5,800 middle and high schools across the u.s., making current science accessible to students and educators. Science news has more than 116,000 paid subscribers, and over 17 million unique online users in 2023. Science news has 5.1 million followers on twitter/x, and 2.7 million followers on facebook, with an additional 124,000 across other social channels. The science news explores print magazine has nearly 16,000 individual subscribers, while the website drew more than 5 million unique visitors in 2023 and over 1 million facebook followers.
$11,857,428 spent$4,032,256 earned by the program35% of program spendingAlumni program: in 2014, the society established an alumni program that seeks to engage society alumni through online networks, events and volunteer opportunities. The program also works to re-establish connections with alumni who have lost touch with the society. The community is comprised of more than 75,000 sts, isef and middle school competition alumni across the globe.
$753,529 spent2% of program spendingSpecial initiatives - these are special projects geared toward the betterment of the society overall and supported by board approved funding.
$233,186 spent1% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $34,265,584.
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 $115M to $165M (+44%).
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 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 2% · 2020 2% · 2021 6% · 2022 1% · 2023 0% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
90% of SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC’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. 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
Maya Ajmera
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 22 funders to 56 funders, grant income rose $8.3M → $14M.
28 of 132 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 31% 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 SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 132 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
SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 28% 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
34% 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 SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 95% · 2018 95% · 2019 64% · 2020 54% · 2021 36% · 2022 33% · 2023 51% — 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
52% of SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 28 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $25M arriving through sponsors registered in 18 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
SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 149 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 149 science & tech nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $444k on record — $444k federal, $550 state.
- Agency for International Development$369k
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$75k
- Membership in Organizations$550
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 SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC
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 Washington, D.C.
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
91%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 38 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Society 1776 Mass Ave LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC: 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 SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC?
- SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 132 organizations whose IRS filings report $81,164,595 to it, the largest being INTEL FOUNDATION ($22,324,500). 82 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC have?
- IRS filings report 132 organizations giving $81,164,595 in grants to SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC, 82 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC?
- INTEL FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $22,324,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SOCIETY FOR SCIENCE & THE PUBLIC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 132 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