Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE
THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 198 organizations whose IRS filings report $54,731,585 to it, the largest being HTC TRUSTEE CATHERINE D SHARPE ($14,357,869). 139 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $51M
- Funders on record
- 198
- Grants received
- $55M
- Net assets
- $201M
What The Franklin Institute does
Mission
In the spirit of inquiry and discovery embodied by benjamin franklin, the mission of The Franklin Institute is to inspire a passion for learning about science and technology.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Educational programs, services & grants: completing its 32nd year in 2024, the partners for achieving careers in technology and science (pacts) program is one of the region's oldest and most comprehensive science immersion programs for middle school students. Pacts served 87 students from area public schools during the 2023-2024 school year. In its 24th year, the institute's stem scholars program, a concentrated program of high school students who show high interest in and aptitude for stem fields, served 82 students. Pacts and stem scholars provide students with access to stem professionals, as well as college educational programs and services, application and financial aid counseling, exposure to stem careers, and annual robotics programs. These two programs deliver unique stem programming to a diverse audience.The Franklin Institute also develops model programs in science learning for the k-12 education community that are delivered both inside and outside the museum walls, including science in the summer and mission2mars which served 46,200 participants across 21 states.
$3,706,738 spentof which $370,683 as grants$3,805,845 earned by the program13% of program spendingMuseum admissions & operations: as the most visited museum in the commonwealth and a top-five tourist destination in the city of philadelphia, The Franklin Institute serves as both a prominent education and cultural resource, and as an anchor of the local economy. In 2024, the institute welcomed 640,000 visitors to the museum, including 177,300 free and discounted visits provided to underserved schools and families through the access program. The Franklin Institute's longstanding reputation helps to elevate the commonwealth and the city of philadelphia as models for cultural and informal education excellence. The institute welcomes visitors of all ages to explore science in interactive exhibits and public programs. The institute remains fully committed to providing an exceptional experience for its many visitors and increasing service to its audience, extending the institute's mission- to inspire a passion for learning about science and technology-to children and families throughout greater philadelphia, regardless of means, remains, as always, at the heart of its priorities. It does so through outstanding exhibits and many education and outreach programs
$17,798,128 spent$16,641,682 earned by the program61% of program spendingThe journal of The Franklin Institute, the second oldest scholarly journal in continuous publication in the united states, has increased the volume of articles per issue,, as well as the readership. All 199 years of the journal are available online through libraries and research institutions.
$1,474,187 spent$1,227,916 earned by the program5% of program spendingInterest and depreciation expense not included above.interest $292,659depreciation $5,989,816
$6,282,475 spent21% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $29,261,528.
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 2023 to 2024, from $190M to $226M (+19%).
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% · 2019 0% · 2020 2% · 2021 39% · 2022 6% · 2023 4% · 2024 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
49% of THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (58% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 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
Larry Dubinski
President & CEO
Board chair
Thomas Lynch
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 49 funders to 109 funders, grant income rose $1.5M → $18M.
17 of 198 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 15% 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 FRANKLIN INSTITUTE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 198 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 FRANKLIN INSTITUTE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 26% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 25% · 2018 26% · 2019 25% · 2020 41% · 2021 35% · 2022 20% · 2023 76% — growing more concentrated.
“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
59% of THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 70% 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
72% of THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE's grant income comes from Pennsylvania funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $8.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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 FRANKLIN INSTITUTE runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 772 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $4.0M on record — $3.9M federal, $58k state.
- National Science Foundation$2.1M
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$1.8M
- DE$42k
- NJ$17k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like THE FRANKLIN 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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
71%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 8 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE FRANKLIN 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 FRANKLIN INSTITUTE?
- THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 198 organizations whose IRS filings report $54,731,585 to it, the largest being HTC TRUSTEE CATHERINE D SHARPE ($14,357,869). 139 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 198 organizations giving $54,731,585 in grants to THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, 139 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE?
- HTC TRUSTEE CATHERINE D SHARPE is the largest funder on record, with $14,357,869 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 Franklin Institute →
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 198 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