Skip to content

Massachusetts · Nonprofit

THE CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC

THE CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,035,000 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION ($400,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$1.7M
Funders on record
6
Grants received
$1.0M
Net assets
$-78138
4/6 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 12%
01What it does

What The Center for Systems Awareness Inc does

Mission

The mission of the organization is to discover, integrate, and implement theories and practices for the interdependent development of people and their institutions.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Development of community learning organization practitioners by researching problems characterized by high degree of behavioral and dynamic complexity, by documenting and disseminating the information, and through educational programming.

    $866,148 spent$1,666,113 earned by the program
    77% of program spending
  2. Development of community learning organization practitioners by researching problems characterized by high degree of behavioral and dynamic complexity, by documenting and disseminating the information, and through educational programming.

    $260,750 spent
    23% of program spending

The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,126,898.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($3.0M) Expenses 100 ($3.0M) Net assets 100 ($195k)2018 Revenue 60 ($1.8M) Expenses 65 ($1.9M) Net assets 36 ($71k)2019 Revenue 39 ($1.2M) Expenses 34 ($1.0M) Net assets 110 ($213k)2020 Revenue 47 ($1.4M) Expenses 46 ($1.4M) Net assets 129 ($250k)2021 Revenue 63 ($1.9M) Expenses 61 ($1.8M) Net assets 177 ($344k)2022 Revenue 73 ($2.2M) Expenses 72 ($2.2M) Net assets 201 ($392k)2023 Revenue 79 ($2.4M) Expenses 79 ($2.4M) Net assets 208 ($404k)2024 Revenue 56 ($1.7M) Expenses 73 ($2.2M) Net assets -40 ($-78138)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (56)Expenses (73)Net assets (-40)Peer revenue range

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 $920k to $309k (−66%).

$455k
$176k
$451k
$660k
$735k
$870k
$920k
$309k
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2023 12%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

2% of THE CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (63% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 5,377 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$22k
’17
−$124k
’18
$143k
’19
$37k
’20
$94k
’21
$47k
’22
$12k
’23
−$482k
’24
0.7
months of
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

Kimberly Schonert-Reichl

Chair

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed73356565
Joined·+2+0+5+1+1+2+1
No longer listed·6030212
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $200k → $280k.

1 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% 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 CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC’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 CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 39% of grant income and the top three 82%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

39%
largest funder
82%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 42% · 2023 71% — 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.

Where its funders are

THE CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Massachusetts, across 2 states in all.

NY
CA

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Massachusetts out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $10k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

THE CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC's funding base is broadening — from 1 funders to 2 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin−28% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve0.7mo · bottom quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)−8% · bottom quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 5,127 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Organizations like THE CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC

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 Massachusetts

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

51% of spending goes to programs.

Program 51%Management 49%Fundraising 0%

Governance

5
board members
60%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

100%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

MA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC?
THE CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,035,000 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION ($400,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does THE CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC have?
IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $1,035,000 in grants to THE CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of THE CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC?
THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $400,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like THE CENTER FOR SYSTEMS AWARENESS INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Center for Systems Awareness →

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 6 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