Texas · Nonprofit
THE COOPER INSTITUTE
THE COOPER INSTITUTE (Texas) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $24,041,111 to it, the largest being COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC ($8,612,002). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $139k
- Funders on record
- 23
- Grants received
- $24M
- Net assets
- $0
What The Cooper Institute does
Mission
The Cooper Institute is dedicated to promoting life-long health and wellness through research and education.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
The organization is closed as of august 31, 2025 and transferred the funds to texas tech foundation inc. To support the subdivision devoted to continuing the work of The Cooper Institute
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
Research: provides evidence-based, scientific research on the impact of physical fitness through the cooper center longitudinal study ("ccls"). The ccls is the largest and longest running observational study with measured cardiorespiratory fitness in the world.
$8,011 spent$6,738 earned by the program15% of program spendingYouth education: the institute is home to the nfl play 60 fitnessgram project ("nfl play 60"). Nfl play 60 is a program supported by the nfl foundation, which encourages students to be physically active at least 60 minutes per day. Prior to its sale on december 16, 2021, the institute managed fitnessgram, an evidence-based youth fitness assessment and software. Fitnessgram supports youth awareness of health-related fitness and evaluates the success of physical activity programming.
$45,458 spentof which $2,408 as grants$45,176 earned by the program85% of program spendingPublic advocacy: the institute serves as a trusted voice and resource assessment to the public on the importance of healthy lifestyle choices through education about key research affecting public health. This enhances public awareness and solutions to improve physical activity and other healthy choices as well as creating healthier environments.
$101 spent0% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $53,570.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $22M to $0 (−100%).
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: 2017 0% · 2021 2% · 2022 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 7 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.
Chief executive
Laura Defina Md
President & CEO
Board chair
James Keyes
Bot chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 7 funders, grant income rose $1.8M → $4.0M.
4 of 23 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 39% 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 COOPER 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
THE COOPER INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 36% of grant income and the top three 86%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
65% 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 COOPER INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 60% · 2018 86% · 2019 68% · 2020 41% · 2021 71% · 2022 41% · 2023 52% — 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
50% of THE COOPER INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
THE COOPER INSTITUTE draws 85% of its grant income from funders outside Texas, across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $9.4M 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.
Organizations like THE COOPER 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 Texas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
26% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
25%
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 COOPER 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 THE COOPER INSTITUTE?
- THE COOPER INSTITUTE (Texas) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $24,041,111 to it, the largest being COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC ($8,612,002). 15 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE COOPER INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 23 organizations giving $24,041,111 in grants to THE COOPER INSTITUTE, 15 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE COOPER INSTITUTE?
- COMMUNITIES FOUNDATION OF TEXAS INC is the largest funder on record, with $8,612,002 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE COOPER INSTITUTE 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), 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