Missouri · Nonprofit
The Principia Corporation
The Principia Corporation (Missouri) receives grants from 82 organizations whose IRS filings report $18,249,397 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($6,501,898). 50 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 52% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $158M
- Funders on record
- 82
- Grants received
- $18M
- Net assets
- $1.2B
What The Principia Corporation does
Mission
Principia's primary purpose is to serve the cause of Christian Science as an independent educational institution, providing pre-k - 12th grade education on its campus in St. Louis County, Missouri, and college education on its campus in Elsah, Illinois.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Instruction: in 1897, mary kimball morgan, a christian scientist, began home-schooling her two sons because she believed she could give them a fuller education than what was being offered in the public schools. Gradually, it became apparent to mrs. Morgan that the establishment of a school was needed. The name "principia", meaning "first principles," was chosen for the school mrs. Morgan established in 1898. Principia's primary purpose is to serve the cause of christian science as an educational institution - not through teaching the theology of christian science, but through providing programs which will allow its students to grow intellectually, athletically, socially, morally, and spiritually with the support and example of fellow students, faculty, and staff. Principia strives to train its students "to think clearly, vigorously, fearlessly, tolerantly, unselfishly." teaching at principia also "emphasizes the point of view that education carries with it the obligation to use technical skills and intellectual attainments for the betterment of humanity." (continued on schedule o)
$44,923,725 spentof which $16,734,657 as grants$20,788,788 earned by the program53% of program spendingAuxiliary enterprises: food services are provided to students, faculty, and staff through two full-service dining rooms, plus a student grill. Dormitories provide housing at principia college. The st. Louis campus accepts both day and boarding students. Students may purchase a variety of school supplies, books, clothing, and personal items at either the college or school bookstore.
$16,111,418 spent$7,495,500 earned by the program19% of program spendingStudent services: includes admissions, registrar, college athletics, office of student life, and health services. Principia college is a member of the st. Louis intercollegiate athletic conference (sliac), which includes 10 colleges located in kentucky, illinois, iowa, and missouri. Principia teams compete in 6 men's and 7 women's sports. No athletic scholarships are offered by any member of sliac. Principia college maintains several athletic facilities, including an athletic center, natatorium, field house, indoor tennis center, 4 outdoor fields, outdoor tennis courts, and running trails. (continued on schedule o)
$15,042,600 spent18% of program spendingOther: other services, including academic support
$8,549,549 spent$2,499,941 earned by the program10% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $84,627,292.
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 $875M to $1.1B (+21%).
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: 2021 0% · 2022 0% · 2024 1% · 2025 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
23% of The Principia Corporation’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (14% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Barbara Blackwell
Chief Executive
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 27 funders to 39 funders, grant income fell $1.4M → $1.2M.
24 of 82 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 52% 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 Principia Corporation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 82 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 Principia Corporation has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 36% 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
54% 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 Principia Corporation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 29% · 2018 15% · 2019 19% · 2020 18% · 2021 17% · 2022 13% · 2023 13% — 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
55% of The Principia Corporation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 61% 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
52% of The Principia Corporation'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 $8.7M that is directly attributable, 98% of it comes from funders outside Missouri, across 21 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $9.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 18 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 Principia Corporation runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 684 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 684 education nonprofits over $100M, FY2025
Government funding The Principia Corporation receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $297 on record.
- REFUNDS - GENERAL $297
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 Principia Corporation
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 Missouri
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 10 related entities
- Principia Holdings LLC · disregarded
- Principia College Communications · exempt
- Stichting Fred M Van Eck Support Foundation for the Principia Corporation · exempt
- Principia Clubs · exempt
- Charitable Lead Trust (5) · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for The Principia Corporation: 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 Principia Corporation?
- The Principia Corporation (Missouri) receives grants from 82 organizations whose IRS filings report $18,249,397 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($6,501,898). 50 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 52% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does The Principia Corporation have?
- IRS filings report 82 organizations giving $18,249,397 in grants to The Principia Corporation, 50 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The Principia Corporation?
- VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM is the largest funder on record, with $6,501,898 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The Principia Corporation find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Missouri. 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 82 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