New York · Nonprofit
THE EXPLORERS CLUB
THE EXPLORERS CLUB (New York) receives grants from 54 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,426,460 to it, the largest being PHILIP STEPHENSON FOUNDATION ($323,893). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $9.0M
- Funders on record
- 54
- Grants received
- $1.4M
- Net assets
- $20M
What The Explorers Club does
Mission
To champion the pursuit of exploration and scientific understanding for the betterment of humanity and all life; to grow a global community of excellence, leveraging member credibility and expertise; and to inspire the next generation of explorers.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Membership and club headquarters: educational programs held at headquarters for its approximately 4,000 members, and for students and the general public geared toward the advancement of field research, scientific exploration and resource conservation. Publications: publication of the explorers journal on a quarterly basis for members, also available to the general public on a subscription basis; publication of the explorers log on a quarterly basis for members; publications of newsletters and other pertinent information.library: reference and research services for members, schools, students and the general public. The library contains extensive information on exploration and other scientific fields.
$4,684,233 spentof which $703,815 as grants$953,713 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $4,684,233.
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 2019 to 2020, from $10M to $14M (+34%).
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 16%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
82% of THE EXPLORERS CLUB’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
William J Roseman
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 14 funders, grant income rose $27k → $198k.
10 of 54 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 19% 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 EXPLORERS CLUB’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 54 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
THE EXPLORERS CLUB has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 23% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
25% 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 EXPLORERS CLUB.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 89% · 2018 43% · 2019 29% · 2020 31% · 2021 53% · 2022 42% · 2023 35% — 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
38% of THE EXPLORERS CLUB's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% 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 EXPLORERS CLUB draws 87% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 20 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $268k arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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 EXPLORERS CLUB runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 210 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 210 science & tech nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE EXPLORERS CLUB
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 York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
65%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE EXPLORERS CLUB: 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 EXPLORERS CLUB?
- THE EXPLORERS CLUB (New York) receives grants from 54 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,426,460 to it, the largest being PHILIP STEPHENSON FOUNDATION ($323,893). 25 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE EXPLORERS CLUB have?
- IRS filings report 54 organizations giving $1,426,460 in grants to THE EXPLORERS CLUB, 25 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE EXPLORERS CLUB?
- PHILIP STEPHENSON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $323,893 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE EXPLORERS CLUB find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 Explorers Club →
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 54 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