California · Nonprofit
THE TECH INTERACTIVE
THE TECH INTERACTIVE (California) receives grants from 134 organizations whose IRS filings report $40,663,806 to it, the largest being GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION ($13,507,731). 87 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $14M
- Funders on record
- 134
- Grants received
- $41M
- Net assets
- $83M
What The Tech Interactive does
Mission
The tech is a mission driven organization that develops the next generation of problem-solvers locally, nationally and globally, through the creation and distribution of world-class immersive steam education resources. We believe that everyone is born an innovator who can change the world for the better. The tech is dedicated to empowering marginalized communities to thrive and create meaningful change for everyone. This commitment resonates deeply with our core values and unwavering dedication to promoting stem inclusion for all. Through fostering a culture of inclusivity, both within our organization and beyond, we aim to dismantle barriers and forge strong connections across diverse communities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Exhibits, programs, & experiencesThe Tech Interactive is a 130,000-foot science center located in downtown san jose, the heart of silicon valley. It offers hands-on exhibits, activities, experimental labs, and design challenges that provide opportunities to explore how technological innovation is changing our lives and helping us tackle big challenges. The tech hosts as many as 500,000 people a year in its galleries and programs and has approximately 3,500 member households.2025 was a landmark year for The Tech Interactive, defined by bold new exhibitions, a deeper focus on artificial intelligence (ai), and a renewed commitment to inclusive, hands-on learning experiences. The tech's learning experiences include over 100 interactive exhibits, hands-on science labs, rotating weekend activities and daily educational imax films. In 2025 we opened two new galleries: ai sandbox, featuring dream garden, an ai-powered immersive room, and pixel playground where visitors of all ages can explore emerging technologies hands-on. Since 1988, the tech challenge has been our signature team engineering design competition inspiring over 40,000 students in grades 4-12 to design and build devices…
$11,044,449 spentof which $27,000 as grants$2,398,481 earned by the program67% of program spendingInspiring the innovator in everyoneeducation and access are at the heart of everything we do at the tech. Our education-centric programs include high-quality professional development for teachers, subsidized rates on school field trips for students from underserved districts, lesson plans and classroom resources, and a variety of in-person and virtual educational programing for all ages. Utilizing in-person and virtual events, in 2025 we reached over 2 million k-12 students worldwide. In 2025 we hosted over 73,000 in-person field trip participants, of which, 50% were from title I schools. The bowers education institute empowers educators in partnering school districts to design and lead cross-curricular engineering instruction and trained 40 educators in 2025. Through the museums for all program, over 14,000 visitors were able to visit The Tech Interactive at a discounted rate of just $5 per person.
$5,401,190 spent$448,364 earned by the program33% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $16,445,639.
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 2017 to 2018, from $67M to $74M (+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: 2017 6% · 2018 4% · 2020 6% · 2021 57% · 2022 33% · 2023 22% · 2024 15% · 2025 19%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
70% of THE TECH INTERACTIVE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (58% 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.
Chief executive
Katrina Stevens
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 39 funders to 53 funders, grant income rose $1.6M → $5.5M.
20 of 134 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 38% 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 TECH INTERACTIVE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 134 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 TECH INTERACTIVE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 33% of grant income and the top three 60%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
42% 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 TECH INTERACTIVE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 38% · 2018 54% · 2019 42% · 2020 23% · 2021 40% · 2022 38% · 2023 37% — broadly stable.
“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 TECH INTERACTIVE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
83% of THE TECH INTERACTIVE's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $16M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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 TECH INTERACTIVE's funding base is broadening — from 39 funders to 53 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 570 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding THE TECH INTERACTIVE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.0M on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$2.3M
- Institute of Museum and Library Services$746k
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 TECH INTERACTIVE
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 California
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
78%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- The Tech Interactive Kenya (Ngo-K9fepv) · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE TECH INTERACTIVE: 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 TECH INTERACTIVE?
- THE TECH INTERACTIVE (California) receives grants from 134 organizations whose IRS filings report $40,663,806 to it, the largest being GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION ($13,507,731). 87 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE TECH INTERACTIVE have?
- IRS filings report 134 organizations giving $40,663,806 in grants to THE TECH INTERACTIVE, 87 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE TECH INTERACTIVE?
- GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $13,507,731 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE TECH INTERACTIVE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 134 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