Connecticut · Nonprofit
THE MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC
THE MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC (Connecticut) receives grants from 91 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,037,081 to it, the largest being CONNECTICUT HUMANITIES COUNCIL INC ($5,825,655). 49 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $20M
- Funders on record
- 91
- Grants received
- $9.0M
- Net assets
- $28M
What The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk Inc does
Mission
The maritime aquarium at norwalk seeks to ignite a connection to long island sound and the ocean to enrich the lives of all people and inspire action to protect our blue planet.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The maritime aquarium at norwalk fulfills its mission through its live animal exhibits that feature approximately 7,500 animals, comprised of about 300 species, including those that are endangered, threatened or protected. With 75 exhibits, interactive and immersive experiences, touch tanks, and animal feedings, guests can better appreciate the wonders of the rich marine biodiversity of the long island sound the global ocean and learn how to serve as stewards of the environment. Complementing its exhibits and guest engagement, the aquarium conducts numerous research and conservation projects with both professional researchers and community scientists to better understanding the ecology of the long island sound and to restore its ecosystem to a healthy, sustainable condition. The aquarium further engages with government and institutional partners to support the local community as a cultural, educational and conservation leader.
$11,077,863 spent$9,011,929 earned by the program84% of program spendingThe maritime aquarium at norwalk specializes in education programming for science, technology, engineering and math (stem) at all age levels, from pre-k through 12th grade. Education programs are conducted in a wide variety of venues and media: in classrooms at the aquarium; in schools throughout the state through our traveling teacher program; as part of afterschool, weekend programs and summer camps; through whole school partnerships; online virtually throughout the world through digital programming; along coastal waterways and shorelines through outdoor programming; on the waters of long island sound. Programs are designed to improve stem literacy at all levels using live animals and interactive experiences in the local environment of the long island sound. The aquarium has growing involvement in professional development training for teachers specifically in the area of stem programming.
$1,987,428 spent$1,128,378 earned by the program15% of program spendingThe 4d theater offers a sensory-based movie experience for guests to enjoy and learn through the entertaining and educational films that play in the theater. Films cover all aspects of the natural world. The 4d theater also services as a versatile venue for lectures, screenings, presentations, discussions, etc., for the community and for private groups.
$115,673 spent$471,145 earned by the program1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $13,180,964.
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 2024 to 2025, from $27M to $32M (+18%).
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 17% · 2018 5% · 2019 6% · 2020 4% · 2021 12% · 2022 42% · 2023 25% · 2024 29% · 2025 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
46% of THE MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC’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 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
Jason Patlis
President & CEO
Board chair
Clayton Fowler
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2018 and FY2019, and between the FY2019 and FY2020 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 17 funders to 32 funders, grant income rose $198k → $3.0M.
13 of 91 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 10% 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 MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 91 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 MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 64% of grant income and the top three 72%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
78% 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 MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 25% · 2018 25% · 2019 28% · 2020 22% · 2021 15% · 2022 41% · 2023 89% — 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
42% of THE MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 54% 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
86% of THE MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC's grant income comes from Connecticut funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $913k arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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 MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 570 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding THE MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $11.2M on record — $1.8M federal, $9.4M state.
- Department of Commerce$1.3M
- Department of the Interior$310k
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$194k
- Pass thru Grant Non-State$4.3M
- State Aid Grants$3.9M
- Loans$1.0M
- Moving and Relocation Costs$63k
- Client Subsidies$36k
- Client Services-General$4k
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 MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK 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 Connecticut
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
95%
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 MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK 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 MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC?
- THE MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC (Connecticut) receives grants from 91 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,037,081 to it, the largest being CONNECTICUT HUMANITIES COUNCIL INC ($5,825,655). 49 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC have?
- IRS filings report 91 organizations giving $9,037,081 in grants to THE MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC, 49 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC?
- CONNECTICUT HUMANITIES COUNCIL INC is the largest funder on record, with $5,825,655 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE MARITIME AQUARIUM AT NORWALK INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Connecticut. 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 Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk →
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 91 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