California · Nonprofit
Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute
Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute (California) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,412,573 to it, the largest being THE ROTARY FOUNDATION OF ROTARY INTERNATIONAL ($2,321,500). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $2.4M
- Funders on record
- 17
- Grants received
- $8.4M
- Net assets
- $1.1M
What Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute does
Mission
Magis Center exists to turn the rising tide of unbelief in our culture through contemporary, rational, and science-based evidence. We seek to answer the conflict of science and faith with scientific research and communicate the reasonability and truthfulness of the Catholic faith.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Magis Center General Program: The Magis Center works to spread faith & science content to schools and parishes across the United States and internationally through direct outreach to school, parishes and communities. This requires creation and content, production, team and department coordination, marketing, and follow-up to further the Magis Center mission.
$558,282 spent$66,335 earned by the program37% of program spendingMagisAI App: The MagisAI App is designed to answer tens of thousands of questions concerning science, reason, faith, scripture, morality, Church doctrine, spiritual life, and much more. It provides comprehensive answers that are consistent with the Catholic faith and the latest peer-reviewed science, philosophy, social science, history, and scriptural exegesis. This App is ideal for inquiring minds (middle and high school students), teachers, priests, pastors, religious leaders, parents, and anyone who is confronted by questions on how to reconcile science, reason, faith, Scripture, Catholic doctrine, and Catholic morality. It is an easy to use, catechetical apologetics tool that can answer young peoples questions immediatelywhen they are in a discussion, an argument, or just plain curious. The app is available at no cost.
$478,576 spent31% of program spendingMagis Center Middle and High School Curriculum:Speak the Faith (middle school); The Catholic Faith and Science (high school); Challenges of the Modern World (high school) were created and disseminated in partnership with Sophia Institute for Teachers. Each set has a student workbook, a teachers guide, and an array of online teacher resources (student activities, lesson plans, etc.). Speak the Faith and The Catholic Faith and Science are compelling faith and science courses designed to help students come to know and confidently defend the Catholic Faith. These courses explore the scientific evidence for God as well as philosophical proofs of His existence, the historicity of Jesuss miracles and Resurrection, the reasons to be Catholic, why an all-loving God would allow suffering, and medical evidence for our transphysical soul. Challenges of the Modern World is a course that gives students the understanding they need to respond to the important and difficult moral issues of our time. Students will become equipped to defend the Catholic position on todays toughest topics, including abortion, homosexuality, gender ideology, and the virtues we must cultivate in our response.
$228,972 spent15% of program spendingMagis Center Parish Programs : The Catholic Faith and Science Video Series: This series explores the scientific evidence for God as well as philosophical proofs of His existence, the historicity of Jesuss miracles and Resurrection, the reasons to be Catholic, why an all-loving God would allow suffering, and medical evidence for our transphysical soul. This series is for parish use and is great for ministries of faith formation for men and women, outreach, youth ministry, RCIA, diaconate formation, and educators! This series is available in the Magis Center store for $49.99 for individuals. There is also a group licensing option for diocesan-wide or parish-wide adoption and use. All-Access Catholic Video Series: This is Magis Centers comprehensive collection of 7 Magis Center video series designed for parishes, individuals, and groups. Whether you're exploring theological concepts, understanding the intersection of faith and science, or seeking guidance on living a virtuous life, our series cater to diverse interests and needs. This series is available in the Magis Center store for $99.99 for individuals. There is also a group licensing option for diocesan-wide or parish-wide…
$228,972 spent15% of program spendingJourney to Excellence: A 16-module program delivered by Father Robert Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D. via recorded video. It includes facilitated, weekly, one-hour cohort meetings online. Attendees receive access to the video content, a workbook and Father Spitzers book The Spirit of Leadership, Optimizing Creativity and Change in Organizations. The program has three sections: Personal Excellence, Ethical Excellence, and Organizational Excellence.
$31,675 spent$55,698 earned by the program2% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,526,477.
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 2020 to 2021, from $393k to $1.1M (+176%).
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.
94% of Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (90% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
William Newland
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $442k → $1.4M.
7 of 17 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 59% 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 Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis 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
Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute leans on a few funders — its largest provides 28% of grant income and the top three 72%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
69% 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 Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 46% · 2018 73% · 2019 75% · 2020 36% · 2021 57% · 2022 44% · 2023 38% — 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
53% of Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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
59% of Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $3.5M that is directly attributable, 74% of it comes from funders outside California, across 8 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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
Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute is better cushioned than half of the 1,211 religion nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,211 religion nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis 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
67% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
76%
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 Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis 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 Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute?
- Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute (California) receives grants from 17 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,412,573 to it, the largest being THE ROTARY FOUNDATION OF ROTARY INTERNATIONAL ($2,321,500). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 59% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute have?
- IRS filings report 17 organizations giving $8,412,573 in grants to Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis Institute?
- THE ROTARY FOUNDATION OF ROTARY INTERNATIONAL is the largest funder on record, with $2,321,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis 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.
Play a game about who funds Spitzer-Magis Center FKA Magis 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 17 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