Arizona · Nonprofit
THE INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION INC
THE INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION INC (Arizona) receives grants from 46 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,871,772 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,258,494). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 55% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.9M
- Funders on record
- 46
- Grants received
- $2.9M
- Net assets
- $2.2M
What The International Dark-Sky Association Inc does
Mission
Darksky international restores the nighttime environment and protects communities from the harmful effects of light pollution through outreach, advocacy, and conservation.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Our engagement program supports the work of members, advocates, and supporters in all 50 u.s. States and more than 60 countries. To date, it has helped educate, support, and engage individuals and members of 80+ chapters in 26 countries and has placed light pollution on the global agenda as a recognized environmental issue. These chapter volunteers provided 32,790+ dark sky protection volunteer hours while hosting 639 events to continue educating and engaging constituents. During international dark sky week 2023, we reached nearly 1 billion people in more than 80 countries, and our under one sky global conference had 750+ attendees from more than 50 countries worldwide. Our advocates hosted more than 100 dark sky events worldwide in 23 countries.
$611,153 spentof which $51,606 as grants$11,947 earned by the program45% of program spendingOur darksky approved luminaire program added 35 new lighting manufacturers and approved more than 100 darksky lighting products. Lower-temperature, 2200k fixtures are now standard offerings in the commercial marketplace. In 2023, we approved 40 phase I designs and two phase ii installations for the darksky approved outdoor sports lighting program. The programs team also launched our newest certification, darksky approved lodging, with our first client, undercanvas.
$513,833 spent$170,830 earned by the program38% of program spendingOur conservation program, international dark sky places, designated 17 new locations in 2023, bringing the total to more than 200 in 29 countries worldwide. It now protects natural darkness across more than 183,000 square kilometers of land and water.
$220,400 spent$15,029 earned by the program16% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,345,386.
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 2021 to 2022, from $1.0M to $1.7M (+72%).
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: 2020 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 23 funders, grant income rose $91k → $475k.
8 of 46 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 55% 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 INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 46 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 INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 44% of grant income and the top three 63%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
55% 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 INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 44% · 2018 52% · 2019 24% · 2020 38% · 2021 44% · 2022 30% · 2023 38% — 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
52% of THE INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
55% of THE INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION INC'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 $1.3M that is directly attributable, 98% of it comes from funders outside Arizona, across 18 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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 INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION 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 Arizona
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
80%
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 INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION 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.
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 INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION INC?
- THE INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION INC (Arizona) receives grants from 46 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,871,772 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,258,494). 31 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 55% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 46 organizations giving $2,871,772 in grants to THE INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION INC, 31 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $1,258,494 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE INTERNATIONAL DARK-SKY ASSOCIATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arizona. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 46 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