New Hampshire · Nonprofit
THE CATERPILLAR LAB
THE CATERPILLAR LAB (New Hampshire) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $499,233 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($237,250). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 91% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $307k
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $499k
- Net assets
- $193k
What The Caterpillar Lab does
Mission
To foster greater appreciation and care for the complexity and beauty of our local natural history through live caterpillar educational programs, research initiatives, photography, and film.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Educational programs: 41 public events ranged from 1/2 day programs to week-long residencies. 56 total days of programming. 15,000 people reached directly. Audiences included both rural and urban populations of all ages and backgrounds. Outreach presented over 200 species of native caterpillar and included one-on-one staff interactions, hands on experiences, microscope presentations, and free exploration. In addition to physical outreach, virtual outreach is performed through image, video, and article posting to facebook and instagram audiences (facebook 75,000 followers; instagram 18,000 followers).
$199,953 spent$78,000 earned by the program70% of program spendingFree open hours at The Caterpillar Lab: 46 free public open hours were provided at The Caterpillar Lab's marlborough nh facility. 600 people attended including area locals, passer-bys, and people traveling from out of the area. Visitors receive tours and experiences with dozens of native insects. Visitors can participate in regular lab activities including live animal care, natural history art, research, and film and photography.
$57,130 spent20% of program spendingConsulting, training, film assistance: consulting provided through email and phone conversations for various outside-of-organization research and museum exhibit projects, including work with universities and other non-profits. Filming consulting and assistance given for major natural history documentary on caterpillars and monarch butterflies for ten days.
$28,565 spent$2,175 earned by the program10% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $285,648.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 $159k to $232k (+46%).
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: 2021 2% · 2023 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
67% of THE CATERPILLAR LAB’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 5 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
Samuel Jaffe
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 5 funders, grant income rose $17k → $64k.
4 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 91% 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 THE CATERPILLAR LAB’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
THE CATERPILLAR LAB leans on a few funders — its largest provides 48% of grant income and the top three 94%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
91% 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 THE CATERPILLAR LAB.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 80% · 2021 99% · 2022 48% · 2023 63% — 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
75% of THE CATERPILLAR LAB's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 75% 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
91% of THE CATERPILLAR LAB'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 $47k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside New Hampshire, across 4 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $452k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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
THE CATERPILLAR LAB's revenue grew 29% between 2021 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 16,849 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like THE CATERPILLAR LAB
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 New Hampshire
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
82% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
88%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE CATERPILLAR LAB: 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 THE CATERPILLAR LAB?
- THE CATERPILLAR LAB (New Hampshire) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $499,233 to it, the largest being DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC ($237,250). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 91% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE CATERPILLAR LAB have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $499,233 in grants to THE CATERPILLAR LAB, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE CATERPILLAR LAB?
- DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING INC is the largest funder on record, with $237,250 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE CATERPILLAR LAB find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New Hampshire. 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 Caterpillar Lab →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 8 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