Maine · Nonprofit
THE POPTECH INSTITUTE
THE POPTECH INSTITUTE (Maine) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $396,105 to it, the largest being NEW VENTURE FUND ($150,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 97% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $309k
- Funders on record
- 8
- Grants received
- $396k
- Net assets
- $-920162
What The Poptech Institute does
Mission
Poptech's mission is to accelerate the positive impact of world-changing people, projects and ideas. Founded in 1996 by bob metcalfe (inventor, ethernet) and john sculley (apple, pepsi), poptech originally provided a forum to critically debate the impact of technology on society. Today, the organization encompasses a much broader mission to explore and act on a portfolio of initiatives focused on advancing progress on social justice, peace and security, global health and income equity. The organization is supported by a diverse network of individuals and organizations that include nobel laureates, progressive politicians, inventors, artists, fortune 100 companies, philanthropists, as well as 180 alumni of the poptech social innovation and science fellows program. All have one thing in common, a passionate interest in solving challenges confronting humanity. Central to poptech's mission is a belief in the power of networked collaboration as a tool for social change. We consistently leve
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
In 2024 poptech continued its commitment to the field of social innovation, futures strategy and training. Our programming and outcomes are focused on exploring sectors that are undergoing rapid change, experiencing disruption or contributing positively or negatively to the major challenges confronting humanity. In 2024 our portfolio of projects was primarily focused training and mentorship of early career scientists and convenings focused on the impact of emerging technology on society. We deliver on our mission through robust research, designing and facilitating solution- generating convenings and through the identification and training of emerging innovators and scientists. Our findings and discoveries are shared with various constituents through a variety of multi-media formats, as well as at the annual poptech thought forum, a globally regarded gathering of those dedicated to equitable human advancement. During 2024, we utilized a blend of virtual and in-person convening formats. The annual poptech forum was a live event in 2024, taking place at the kennedy center in washington, dc. Poptech's social innovation fellows and science fellows programs represent core mission…
$324,543 spent$83,243 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $324,543.
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 2020 to 2021, from $101k to $59k (−41%).
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 49% · 2021 29% · 2022 6%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
73% of THE POPTECH INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (57% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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.
Board chair
Christie Nicholson
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 3 funders to 1 funder, grant income fell $32k → $30k.
6 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 97% 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 POPTECH INSTITUTE’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 POPTECH INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 38% of grant income and the top three 79%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
97% 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 POPTECH INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 63% · 2018 93% · 2019 67% · 2020 71% · 2022 100% · 2023 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.
How long its funders stay
33% of THE POPTECH INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 50% 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
97% of THE POPTECH INSTITUTE'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 $12k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Maine, across 2 states.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $385k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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 POPTECH INSTITUTE's revenue fell 67% between 2017 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 22,812 education nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2024
Organizations like THE POPTECH 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 Maine
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
96%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE POPTECH 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 POPTECH INSTITUTE?
- THE POPTECH INSTITUTE (Maine) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $396,105 to it, the largest being NEW VENTURE FUND ($150,000). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 97% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE POPTECH INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $396,105 in grants to THE POPTECH INSTITUTE, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE POPTECH INSTITUTE?
- NEW VENTURE FUND is the largest funder on record, with $150,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE POPTECH INSTITUTE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maine. 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 Poptech 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 8 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