Texas · Nonprofit
THE CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
THE CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY (Texas) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,308 to it, the largest being THE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND ($6,750). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 82% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $25k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $8k
- Net assets
- $318k
What The Central Texas Astronomical Society does
Mission
To promote education, research and public interest in the science of astronomy and to construct and operate an astronomical observatory to help meet these goals.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Program
Operation of research site for astronomy research and education.
$35,186 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $35,186.
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 $301k to $367k (+22%).
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.
58% of THE CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (91% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income rose $5 → $2k.
2 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 82% 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 CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY’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 CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 81% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
82% 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 CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 99% — 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.
Where its funders are
82% of THE CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY'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 $2k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Texas, across 1 state.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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 CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY has grown faster than half of the 498 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 498 science & tech nonprofits under $100k, FY2025
Organizations like THE CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
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.
Public support
44%
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 THE CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY: 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 CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY?
- THE CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY (Texas) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,308 to it, the largest being THE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND ($6,750). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 82% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $8,308 in grants to THE CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY?
- THE BLACKBAUD GIVING FUND is the largest funder on record, with $6,750 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE CENTRAL TEXAS ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY 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.
Play a game about who funds Central Texas Astronomical Society →
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 3 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing