Massachusetts · Nonprofit
WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC
WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,972,702 to it, the largest being THE GEORGE I ALDEN TRUST ($1,300,000). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $10M
- Funders on record
- 62
- Grants received
- $7.0M
- Net assets
- $26M
What Worcester Natural History Society Inc does
Mission
The ecotarium's mission is to inspire a passion for science and nature among all members of the community through one-of-a-kind experiences, interactive exhibits, and accessible programming. As new england's leading science and nature center, our vision is to be an innovative leader in experiential, community-centered, science learning. The ecotarium is widely recognized for innovative, interactive exhibits and programming for families with children and school groups, and for an exceptional guest experience.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Exhibits & collections: visits to the ecotarium are educational and fun. In 2024, 136,699 visitors explored 45 acres of outdoor exhibits, nature explore playground, and wildlife zoological park habitats; 36,812 guests rode the open-air replica 1863 c.p. Huntington steam locomotive. Inside the museum, guests enjoyed three levels of exhibits, including mount washington, cityscience, african communities, animals and traveling exhibits. In 2024 the alden digital planetarium provided educational programs for 19,741 visitors.
$1,370,950 spent$1,454,984 earned by the program33% of program spendingEducational programs: the ecotarium offers interactive, hands-on, educator-led programs that align with massachusetts curriculum frameworks for pre-k to 12, as well as hosted birthday parties with fun, educational components. In 2024 the ecotarium's educational programming inside the museum and in the community at public schools and youth-serving agencies provided in-person education at the museum for 7,741 youth and adults, as well as traveling programs in the community and schools for 9,088 youth. Since 1885, the ecotarium has offered seasonal science and nature day camps for children during vacations and summer. In 2024, camp programs engaged 763 campers during vacations and summer camps. 19,653 guests participated in free, daily, educator-led, museum education programs, including, science discovery, early learning, animal discovery, afternoon astronomy, and collection connection.
$1,454,243 spent$594,561 earned by the program35% of program spendingGuest services: the ecotarium offers a variety of visitor services, including special activities, hosted special year-round, seasonal community events, purchases from our museum shop, seasonal food service and food vending machines.
$614,907 spent$162,885 earned by the program15% of program spendingWildlife: the ecotarium's outdoor zoological park is home to native, non-releasable, new england wildlife, most of which could not survive in the wild due to injury, illness, imprinting, orphan status, or captive birth. Inside the museum, ambassador animals represent new england and exotic species from around the world. Zoo-to-you programs facilitated by zoological and education departments aim to nurture a greater connection to and understanding of species located in new england while providing educational and entertaining encounters withresident animals. The ecotarium demonstrates leadership in conservation and restoration of endangered turtle populations, animal welfare, enrichment, and training programs.. Regular animal programming includes both informal and formal, virtual and in-person, zoo-themed camp programming, birthday parties and behind the scenes tours.
$735,958 spent18% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,176,058.
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 2023 to 2024, from $22M to $27M (+23%).
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: 2019 2% · 2020 4% · 2021 44% · 2022 24% · 2023 2% · 2024 3%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
71% of WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC’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. 4 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
Noreen Smith
President and CEO
Board chair
Joseph Bartulis
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 18 funders, grant income fell $1.1M → $309k.
7 of 62 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 16% 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 WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 62 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
WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 84% · 2018 35% · 2019 30% · 2020 43% · 2021 53% · 2022 25% · 2023 21% — 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
44% of WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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
91% of WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC's grant income comes from Massachusetts funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.1M 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
WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 772 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 772 arts & culture nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $860k on record.
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration$856k
- Department of the Interior$4k
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 WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC
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 Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
70% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
71%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC: 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 WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC?
- WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 62 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,972,702 to it, the largest being THE GEORGE I ALDEN TRUST ($1,300,000). 32 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC have?
- IRS filings report 62 organizations giving $6,972,702 in grants to WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC, 32 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC?
- THE GEORGE I ALDEN TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $1,300,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like WORCESTER NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 Worcester Natural History Society →
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 62 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