Colorado · Nonprofit
THE POWERHOUSE
THE POWERHOUSE (Colorado) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,131,572 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SERVING SOUTHWEST COLORADO ($358,340). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.6M
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $1.1M
- Net assets
- $2.5M
What The Powerhouse does
Mission
The Powerhouse is southwest colorados steam engine empowering curious young learners through interactive experiences, discovery and play.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
GALLERY - In 2025, The Powerhouse continued to serve Southwest Colorado with engaging, hands-on, science-focused experiences while advancing plans for the future of our exhibits and spaces. Even as we look ahead, we remain deeply committed to delivering high-quality, interactive learning opportunities for the families we serve today. This year, we welcomed We Are Water, a new exhibit exploring water in the Four Corners region. On long-term loan, this exhibit will remain an offering in our space for years to come. Our calendar of programs also expanded, with continued success in our Parents Night Out events and the addition of more special event days. Notably, our Noon Years Eve celebration set a new attendance record, welcoming more than 500 visitors in a single day as we rang in the new year with a balloon drop at noon. Our early childhood programming saw strong growth, particularly in Toddler Enrichment Classes. We now offer a range of sessionsincluding gardening, art, music, dance, and yogadesigned to support development through play and exploration. In 2025, The Powerhouse reached a milestone of more than 1,000 member households, the highest in our history. We also welcomed a…
$411,797 spent$338,482 earned by the program41% of program spendingEDUCATION - In 2025, The Powerhouse continued to deliver engaging, hands-on science experiences to youth and families across Southwest Colorado through a combination of in-museum programming and expanded regional outreach. Building on the success of prior years, our educational offerings remained strong and consistent, with continued growth in participation and geographic reach. Our Camp Discovery program served over 650 students, providing high-quality STEAM learning opportunities both onsite and in surrounding communities. In addition to our Durango-based camps, we ran camps in Cortez, Pagosa Springs and on Fort Lewis Colleges campus, increasing access for families across the region. We also partnered with Durango Montessori to bring science education directly into the classroom, bringing our Powerhouse style of learning to students grades K-5. The San Juan Regional Science Fair, led by The Powerhouse through a partnership with San Juan BOCES, remained a cornerstone program inspiring curiosity, critical thinking, and scientific inquiry among local students. From the Science Fair, 15 students advanced to the State Science Fair, demonstrating the strength and potential of emerging…
$403,076 spent$359,374 earned by the program40% of program spendingSTRATEGIC INITIATIVES - In 2025, The Powerhouse advanced several key priorities outlined in its Strategic Plan, with a focus on exhibit planning, campus and facility improvements, and the development of an early childhood education center. These efforts reflect a coordinated approach to strengthening both current programming and long-term sustainability. A major milestone was the groundbreaking of WonderLab Early Learning, an employee-sponsored childcare program developed in partnership with local businesses. Construction began in the final quarter of 2025 with a full renovation of the Carlton Family Science Education Center and is expected to be completed in April 2026. To support program launch, The Powerhouse hired an Associate Director of Education to lead curriculum development, registration, and program planning. The Powerhouse also initiated design work for the redevelopment of the Boiler Room, focusing on financial feasibility and building strong Board and community support. This project is intended to expand functional program space within the existing footprint, improving the museums ability to serve visitors and grow its offerings. In addition, The Powerhouse completed…
$123,425 spent12% of program spendingVENUE RENTALS - The Powerhouse continued to rent our gallery and outdoor plaza for events hosted by local nonprofits, conferences, weddings, and celebrations of life. Our gallery continued to host monthly events, including the Green Business Roundtable by San Juan Citizens Alliance and Musically Speaking by San Juan Symphony, bringing together community members for engaging discussions and presentations.
$65,257 spent$73,638 earned by the program7% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,003,555.
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 $2.9M to $3.2M (+10%).
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 10% · 2021 32% · 2022 14% · 2023 8% · 2024 16% · 2025 21%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
54% of THE POWERHOUSE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (63% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 7 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
Jeff Susor
Executive director
Board chair
Philip Werline
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 8 funders, grant income fell $128k → $109k.
9 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 48% 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 POWERHOUSE’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 POWERHOUSE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 32% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
62% 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 POWERHOUSE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 78% · 2018 90% · 2019 74% · 2020 27% · 2021 54% · 2022 24% · 2023 37% — 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
71% of THE POWERHOUSE'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
71% of THE POWERHOUSE's grant income comes from Colorado funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $541k 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.
Against its field
THE POWERHOUSE has grown faster than three-quarters of the 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 3,230 arts & culture nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding THE POWERHOUSE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $66k on record.
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$66k
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 POWERHOUSE
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 Colorado
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
71%
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 POWERHOUSE: 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 POWERHOUSE?
- THE POWERHOUSE (Colorado) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,131,572 to it, the largest being COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SERVING SOUTHWEST COLORADO ($358,340). 13 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE POWERHOUSE have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $1,131,572 in grants to THE POWERHOUSE, 13 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE POWERHOUSE?
- COMMUNITY FOUNDATION SERVING SOUTHWEST COLORADO is the largest funder on record, with $358,340 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE POWERHOUSE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Colorado. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 26 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