Grants for scientific research centers

1,270 science and technology research centers received at least $439.4 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 1,878 grants made from 1,349 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,200. Of these 1,349 foundations, 86% made just a single grant to research centers, and 3% made grants to four or more research centers. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$439,433,588
Total grant dollars given to scientific research centers
1,878
Number of grants made annually to scientific research centers
1,349
Number of grantmakers funding scientific research centers
$1,200
Median grant size to scientific research centers

Foundations that support science and technology research centers

Out of all grants made to scientific research centers, 76% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 65% of the dollar-value of grants to research centers. Foundations funding research centers also made grants to multiservice human service organizations, universities, educational service providers, and colleges.

Foundation size

Foundation size Number of grantmakers
Small
 
1,027
Medium
 
146
Large
 
174
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation type Number of grantmakers
Community
 
39
Private
 
1,113
Corporate
 
68
Other
 
129

Grants made

Grants made to research centers Number of grantmakers
1
 
1,165
2-3
 
142
4-10
 
31
11+
 
11

Top 10 foundations supporting science and technology research centers

Grantmaker State Geographic focus Percent of grant dollars to research centers Number of grants made to research centers Median grant size
Shell Oil Company Foundation TX National 0.2% 41 $540
Abbvie Foundation IL National 0.1% 35 $308
JP Morgan Chase Foundation NY National 0.0% 28 $350
Seattle Foundation WA State 0.0% 22 $1,315
Salesforce Com Foundation CA National 0.0% 21 $50
Baird Foundation WI National 0.6% 19 $1,000
Westrock Foundation GA National 0.0% 17 $10
Chubb Charitable Foundation PA National 0.2% 16 $324
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation WA National 1.1% 12 $3,081,750
Arkansas Community Foundation AR State 0.1% 12 $1,950

Science and technology research centers grantees

Scientific research centers with more than $5 million in total revenues received 97% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 53% of all research centers.

Grant amounts

Size of grant Number of grants
<$10k
 
1,824
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
54

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenue Median grant size
<$100k
 
$1,500
$100k-$500k
 
$2,000
$500k-$1M
 
$1,500
$1M-$5M
 
$1,000
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of grantee Number of grants
New York
 
279
Massachusetts
 
232
California
 
225
Virginia
 
94
Other
 
1,048

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee Number of grants
New York City
 
275
Boston
 
178
Washington DC
 
169
Chicago
 
80
Other
 
993

Top 25 grants made to scientific research centers

Grantee Grant size Purpose Grantmaker
Stanley Manne Childrens Research Institute $44,621,754 Mission Support Ann and Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Internet Society Foundation $32,505,894 General Support Public Interest Registry (PIR)
OpenAI $30,000,000 Sciences Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Stanley Manne Childrens Research Institute $26,904,425 Released From Restriction Ann and Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
TB Alliance (TB Alliance) $23,850,000 Tuberculosis Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
OpenAI $16,028,500 General Support Yc Org
Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) $12,838,392 Cash Value The University of Chicago (UChicago)
Morgridge Institute for Research $12,474,822 To Support Ongoing Research & Education Morgridge Institute for Research
Morgridge Institute for Research $12,474,822 Morgridge Institute for Research
Miami Cancer Institute at Baptist Health $12,467,605 Change in Acct Baptist Health South Floridainc
New York Academy of Sciences $12,244,488 Support for Scientific Research and Knowledge Blavatnik Family Foundation
Morgridge Institute for Research $11,800,000 See Program Service Accomplishments; Form 990, Part Iii, Line 4B Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF)
National Academy of Sciences $10,600,000 For the Ford Fellowships Program for Predoctoral Dissertation and Postdoctoral Fellowships The Ford Foundation
Salk Institute for Biological Studies $8,359,623 Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy Hopewell Fund
Jackson Laboratory $7,983,498 The Jackson Laboratory's Next-Generation Research Mouse Production Facility Maine Technology Institute (MTI)
Cicp Foundation $7,360,812 FMV Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP)
National Academy of Sciences $7,306,007 Cash National Academy of Engineering Fund (NAE)
US Ignite $6,805,894 Sub-Award Northeastern University (NU)
Waterford Institute $6,700,000 To Provide Covid-19 Support Blue Meridian Partners
CGIAR System Organization $6,396,694 Agricultural Development Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Aspen Global Change Institute (AGCI) $6,225,000 Daf - Environment Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston
Research Triangle Institute (RTI) $5,768,624 Sub-Award Johns Hopkins University (JHU)
Georgia Tech Research Corporation $5,471,008 Research/subcontract Emory University
Foundation for the National Institute of Health (FNIH) $5,294,112 Malaria Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
SRI International $5,036,570 Sub-Award Johns Hopkins University (JHU)
Methodology: To determine grants and grantees, Cause IQ analyzes electronically-filed Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF financial disclosure documents, matching grantees to specific organizations using EINs and fuzzy matching logic. The "Scientific research centers" category for this page is determined by the "U00: Science and Technology Research: General" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.