Texas · Nonprofit
TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION
TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION (Texas) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,717,579 to it, the largest being The Brown Foundation Inc ($852,500). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $19M
- Funders on record
- 23
- Grants received
- $2.7M
- Net assets
- $89M
What Texas State Aquarium Association does
Mission
The texas state aquarium's mission is engaging people with animals, inspiring appreciation for our seas, and supporting wildlife conservation. Its vision is to be a global leader in fostering support for the conservation of the gulf of mexico and the caribbean sea. To accomplish this goal, the aquarium has developed more than 25 permanent and special exhibits to interpret the animals and sensitive ecosystems of these regions, educating an average of more than 500,000 visitors annually in the wonders of the marine world. The texas state aquarium also promotes and actively engages in environmental conservation through its support of the texas state aquarium institute for wildlife conservation.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
It all began in 1969 with the dream of what corpus christi could be. Visionary community leaders had a bold, yet simple purpose with the texas state aquarium - create educationally enriching and entertaining exhibits and programs to connect people with nature, and inspire them to care for, and ultimately help conserve, the gulf of mexico and the caribbean sea. Today, after being open to the public for more than 30 years and having educated and entertained more than 15 million visitors, the texas state aquarium is the leading attraction in south texas, an economic driver of the coastal bend tourism economy, a worldwide environmental education center, and an award-winning center for wildlife care and rehabilitation. The aquarium has always aimed to educate guests on the importance of conserving our habitats and wildlife - and we lead by example. The aquarium has worked diligently to organize and carry out beach clean-up events in partnership with the texas general land office. In addition to coordinating these efforts, aquarium staff conduct educational programs that highlight the effects garbage has on regional wildlife. As a member of the aquarium conservation partnership, the…
$13,237,863 spent95% of program spendingAt the heart of the aquarium's mission is environmental education. Hundreds of thousands of students have experienced the aquarium over the years through our outreach and distance learning programs, field trips, camps, and on-site programs. In 2023 alone, more than 25,000 grade level students engaged in learning initiatives through the immersive and engaging programs provided by the aquarium. These educational programs and experiences aim to foster the next generation of inspired scientists, ocean explorers, and stem professionals. In 2023, the aquarium partnered with texas a&m university - corpus christi to offer collegiate students a distinctive field-based learning experience as part of the university's scientific dive training course. The students scuba-dived in the aquarium's largest exhibit to hone their skills in visual underwater fish survey techniques. The aquarium also partnered with the veterinary technology program at texas a&m university - kingsville to offer a workforce development veterinary program where students participated in hands-on veterinary activities alongside our veterinary staff. These and other workforce development and educational partnerships provided…
$654,363 spent5% of program spendingOur wildlife rescue program has ministered to the needs of hundreds of injured shore and water birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals each year. In 2022, the texas state aquarium institute for wildlife conservation was created to expand on the capabilities of the aquarium's rescue and rehabilitation efforts. In march 2023, the center for wildlife rescue opened its doors and the institute took over wildlife conservation and education efforts from the aquarium. The facility is the largest coastal wildlife rescue facility in texas, and one of the largest in the nation. We are thrilled to be able to expand our wildlife conservation efforts with this state-of-the-art facility.
$15,000 spentof which $15,000 as grants0% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $13,907,226.
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 $86M to $93M (+8%).
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: 2019 0% · 2020 1% · 2021 21%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
6% of TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue 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. 2 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.
Board chair
Darcy Schroeder
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 9 funders to 6 funders, grant income fell $250k → $37k.
7 of 23 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 13% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $683k from 3 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Friends of the Texas State Aquarium). These are real filings, and they are not money TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION raised.
From the IRS filings of TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 22 of 23 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
TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 31% 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
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 TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 40% · 2019 47% · 2020 89% · 2021 85% · 2022 70% · 2023 40% — broadly stable.
“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
40% of TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 57% 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
89% of TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION's grant income comes from Texas funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $344k 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
TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION is better cushioned than half of the 235 animals nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 235 animals nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $100k on record.
- Department of Commerce$100k
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 TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION
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 Texas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
50%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Friends of the Texas State Aquarium · exempt
- Tx State Aqu for Wildlife Conservat · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION: 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 TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION?
- TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION (Texas) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,717,579 to it, the largest being The Brown Foundation Inc ($852,500). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION have?
- IRS filings report 23 organizations giving $2,717,579 in grants to TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION?
- The Brown Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $852,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like TEXAS STATE AQUARIUM ASSOCIATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Texas. 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 23 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