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Oregon · Nonprofit

THE PERLAN PROJECT INC

THE PERLAN PROJECT INC (Oregon) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $232,210 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($180,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 81% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2024
$564k
Funders on record
3
Grants received
$232k
Net assets
$666k
2/3 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 54%
01What it does

What The Perlan Project Inc does

Mission

Use zero emission, high altitude gliders flying in the lower stratosphere up to the edge of space to gather data on conditions both natural and introduced by human activities that impact our planet's weather and climate .

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Program

  1. Make upgrades to the perlan 2 pressurized research glider in preparation for conducting further studies of the stratospheric mountain wave generated by the polar vortex over the southern andes. Modify and fly a glider to carry a specially built jet engine fueled by hydrogen to study whether larger stratospheric contrails containing only water may persist and form contrail-cirrus cloud decks that while cleaning the atmosphere might unintentionally accelerate global warming if aircraft of the future are fueled by clean hydrogen.

    $670,650 spent$495,111 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $670,650.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($4k) Expenses 100 ($1.5M) Net assets 100 ($4.3M)2018 Revenue 5514 ($230k) Expenses 115 ($1.7M) Net assets 65 ($2.8M)2019 Revenue 19837 ($827k) Expenses 131 ($2.0M) Net assets 38 ($1.6M)2020 Revenue 12492 ($521k) Expenses 73 ($1.1M) Net assets 24 ($1.0M)2021 Revenue 31449 ($1.3M) Expenses 70 ($1.1M) Net assets 30 ($1.3M)2022 Revenue 20644 ($860k) Expenses 43 ($650k) Net assets 35 ($1.5M)2023 Revenue 14461 ($603k) Expenses 85 ($1.3M) Net assets 19 ($803k)2024 Revenue 13529 ($564k) Expenses 46 ($701k) Net assets 15 ($666k)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (13529)Expenses (46)Net assets (15)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $4.3M to $2.8M (−35%).

$4.3M
$2.8M
$1.6M
$1.0M
$1.3M
$1.5M
$803k
$666k
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

11% of THE PERLAN PROJECT INC’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (79% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 882 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

−$1.5M
’17
−$1.5M
’18
−$1.2M
’19
−$593k
’20
$248k
’21
$211k
’22
−$686k
’23
−$138k
’24
7.8
months of
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

Edward Warnock

CEO

Board chair

Jim Payne

Chairman

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed99101010888
Joined·+0+1+1+0+1+0+0
No longer listed·0010300
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2018 → 2021: the base narrowed from 2 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $125k → $7k.

2 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 81% 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 PERLAN PROJECT INC’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 PERLAN PROJECT INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 78% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

81% 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 PERLAN PROJECT INC.

78%
largest funder
100%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 80% · 2019 80% · 2021 100% — 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.

Where its funders are

81% of THE PERLAN PROJECT 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 $45k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Oregon, across 1 state.

CA

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’18
’19
Oregon out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $187k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

THE PERLAN PROJECT INC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 793 science & tech nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−24% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve7.8mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)102% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 793 science & tech nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024

Organizations like THE PERLAN PROJECT 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 Oregon

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

96% of spending goes to programs.

Program 96%Management 4%Fundraising 0%

Governance

9
board members
44%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

63%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

OR

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE PERLAN PROJECT 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.

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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 PERLAN PROJECT INC?
THE PERLAN PROJECT INC (Oregon) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $232,210 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($180,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 81% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does THE PERLAN PROJECT INC have?
IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $232,210 in grants to THE PERLAN PROJECT INC, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of THE PERLAN PROJECT INC?
FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $180,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like THE PERLAN PROJECT INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. 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 Perlan Project →

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 3 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