Colorado · Nonprofit
SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE
SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE (Colorado) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,158,958 to it, the largest being GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION ($3,797,650). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $7.2M
- Funders on record
- 11
- Grants received
- $6.2M
- Net assets
- $474k
What Space Science Institute does
Mission
the space science institute is shaping our future by enabling scientists to advance our understanding of earth and the universe; increasing science and technology literacy for people of all ages and backgrounds; and inspiring youth to pursue science-technology education and career opportunities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
the organization conducts programs in basic science research, education and public outreach, and programs which integrate the two. services of scientists and educators are engaged in research and explore space and disseminate the information to private, government, and public sectors.
$5,517,771 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990. Program spending in total: $5,517,771.
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 2021 to 2022, from $1.7M to $4.4M (+163%).
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 95% · 2018 98% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 99% · 2022 70% · 2023 97% · 2024 100% · 2025 62%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 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
Dr Bill Purcell
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2017 and FY2018 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 6 funders to 5 funders, grant income rose $348k → $953k.
3 of 11 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% 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 SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE’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
SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 62% of grant income and the top three 89%; 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 SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 24% · 2018 51% · 2019 68% · 2020 74% · 2021 65% · 2022 92% · 2023 79% — 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.
How long its funders stay
50% of SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 91% 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
SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Colorado, across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $192k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE's funding has concentrated — grant income rose while the number of funders held roughly flat.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 210 science & tech nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $50.9M on record.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$36.1M
- National Science Foundation$14.2M
- Department of Energy$539k
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 SPACE SCIENCE 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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
94%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 15 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for SPACE SCIENCE 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 SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE?
- SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE (Colorado) receives grants from 11 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,158,958 to it, the largest being GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION ($3,797,650). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 11 organizations giving $6,158,958 in grants to SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE?
- GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,797,650 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like SPACE SCIENCE INSTITUTE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. 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 Space Science Institute →
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 11 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