Funding search
Find who already funds work like yours.
Private foundations don’t post open calls, so nobody can search them. We read IRS filings instead — 9.6 million grants from 174,053 foundations and grantmaking charities, searchable by what the money was actually for.
12 funders with a record of paying for “observatory”
Where the money went
Largest: $385,000 to CENTER OF SECURITY AND CITIZENSHIP STUDIES - CESEC — to foster the network of public security observatories in eight states and create another observatory in the north region of brazil, and strengthen the operation of the panopticon
Largest: $363,014 to LAS CUMBRES OBSERVATORY GLOBAL TELESCOPE NETWORK INC — in support of efforts to expand las cumbres observatory's contributions to astronomy research and educational programming.
Association of Universities for ResearchWashington, DCCharity · may take applications
11 matching grants · $2.9M · through 2023Largest: $907,714 to SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY — scientific research on data from hubble space telescope
Largest: $120,000 to CARNEGIE INSTITUTION FOR SCIENCE CARNEGIE OBSERVATORIES INSTRUMENTATION PRO — carnegie-caltech brinson postdoctoral fellowship in observational astronomy
Largest: $500,000 to LAS CUMBRES OBSERVATORY GLOBAL TELESCOPE NETWORK INC — to provide community observing time access to the las cumbres observatory network
National Fish and Wildlife FoundationWashington, DCCharity · may take applications
10 matching grants · $3.3M · through 2023Largest: $32,810 to GULF COAST BIRD OBSERVATORY — loggerhead shrike research
California Association for Research inKamuela, HICharity · may take applications
7 matching grants · $1.5M · through 2023Largest: $602,000 to UC SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATION — assistance for new instrument design studies, instrument upgrade proposals, and other proposals to improve the observatory's scientific productivity.
Largest: $150,000 to CENTRAL EUROPEAN UNIVERSITY — to provide support for an observatory to study, research, and promote academic freedom on the individual and institutional level
The Nature ConservancyArlington, VACharity · may take applications
10 matching grants · $856,264 · through 2024Largest: $515,209 to POINT REYES BIRD OBSERVATORY — conservation activities
The San Francisco FoundationSan Francisco, CACharity · may take applications
8 matching grants · $1.8M · through 2024Largest: $591,090 to UC SANTA CRUZ FOUNDATION — to support the technological equipment needs oflick observatory. to address food insecurity among ucsc students by supporting on-campus free food pantries. in support of the instit…
Largest: $35,000 to CARNEGIE OBSERVATORIES OF THE CARNEGIE INSTITUTION FOR SCIENCE — carnegie observatories: astronomy lecture series
Largest: $26.5M to UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO — simons observatory
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Source: IRS Form 990-PF Part XV and Form 990 Schedule I, tax years 2019–2025. These are grants already paid, a record of what an organization funds rather than an open call. Private foundations rarely accept unsolicited applications and the route in is usually a program officer; grantmaking charities and associations more often run real application cycles, so check their website. How this data is built, and its limits →