Alabama · Nonprofit
US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION
US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION (Alabama) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,024,809 to it, the largest being FRED B LUDDY FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ($1,551,000). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $35M
- Funders on record
- 37
- Grants received
- $5.0M
- Net assets
- $23M
What US Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation does
Mission
The u.s. Space & rocket center education foundation supports the educational programs and projects of the u.s. Space & rocket center and space camp through grants, fundraising, scholarships, events and corporate programs.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The foundation raises funds for the completion of capital projects for the u.s. Space & rocket center. These funds have been used to assist in the construction of a new skills training center and a new rocket park that displays the center's collection of rocket artifacts.
$12,370,783 spentof which $12,370,783 as grants40% of program spendingThrough the fundraising efforts of the foundation, donations are made and allocated to the u.s. Space & rocket center for scholarships to attend space camp and other educational museum programs. Space camp and affiliated programs provide hands on learning of science, technology, engineering, and math (stem) in an immersive setting using space exploration as the theme and backdrop. The same technique is applied to our educator programs and not only teaches our educators but provides learning tools and inspiration that they can take back to the classroom.
$1,687,582 spentof which $1,683,675 as grants5% of program spendingThe foundation solicits funds from corporate and private donors to sponsor several major events throughout the year. The events are hosted by the u.s. Space & rocket center but underwritten by funds raised by the foundation. These events support the missions of the foundation and the center and keep the community at large engaged and up to date on what is current in the museum.
$283,408 spentof which $283,408 as grants1% of program spendingOther program service expenses - the foundation grants funds to the u.s. Space & rocket center to fund additional museum exhibitions. In addition funds are granted to pay for labor, taxes and benefits to support the many programs of the u.s. Space & rocket center.
$16,874,543 spentof which $633,561 as grants$16,132,593 earned by the program54% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $31,216,316.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 2021 to 2022, from $5.7M to $18M (+221%).
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: 2018 3% · 2021 2% · 2022 2% · 2023 7% · 2024 4% · 2025 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
53% of US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (21% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 6 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 13 funders, grant income rose $131k → $741k.
14 of 37 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 44% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $1.0M from one payer (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest Club for the Future). These are real filings, and they are not money US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 37 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
US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 31% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
51% 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 US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 77% · 2018 79% · 2019 41% · 2020 42% · 2021 38% · 2022 59% · 2023 67% — 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
36% of US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% 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
US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION draws 83% of its grant income from funders outside Alabama, across 12 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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
US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 2,297 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 2,297 human services nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Government funding US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.4M on record.
- Appalachian Regional Commission$2.4M
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 US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION
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 Alabama
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
100% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
99%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Alabama Space Science Exhibit · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION: 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 US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION?
- US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION (Alabama) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $5,024,809 to it, the largest being FRED B LUDDY FAMILY FOUNDATION INC ($1,551,000). 17 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 37 organizations giving $5,024,809 in grants to US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION, 17 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION?
- FRED B LUDDY FAMILY FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $1,551,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like US SPACE & ROCKET CENTER EDUCATION FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Alabama. 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 2018–2025), and the filings of 37 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