Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jan 1985.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
77 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
24 people listed on the 990; $1.4M paid to officers and key staff.
Bill Diamond’s $422K as Secretary, President & CEO is at the 58th percentile of top reported officer pay among 139 $10–100M science & technology nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Diamond | $421,694 | $334,364 | $300,690 | $275,918 | $272,525 | $255,119 |
| Janice Bishop | $246,314 | $234,635 | $223,472 | $212,330 | $199,805 | $190,294 |
| Bruce Campbell | $230,886 | $186,294 | $175,354 | $158,923 | $156,005 | $134,684 |
| Joseph Twicken | $215,112 | $213,870 | $213,870 | $211,249 | — | — |
| Nathalie Cabrol | $210,000 | — | — | — | — | — |
| William Sparks | — | — | — | — | — | $210,000 |
| Peter Tenenbaum | $208,974 | $208,311 | $207,100 | $207,163 | $204,808 | $198,809 |
| Josheph Twicken | — | — | — | — | $207,874 | $202,605 |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
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Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Explores, understands, and explains the origin and nature of life and intelligence in the universe.
Questions for Seti Institute
Your first name shows with your question. Seti Institute answers here, for everyone.
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The 100+ scientists in the carl sagan center for research conduct groundbreaking work pertaining to fundamental questions about the origin and proliferation of life right here on earth and beyond.
The center for education has impacted more than a half million student and develops stem resources that teach, excite and inspire children, young adults and educators. These programs foster future leaders and include: girl scout stars, which develops space science badges for girl scouts, provides training for adult volunteers and…
The center for outreach believes that understanding our work places humanity in a greater context. We share research and learning with the public through digital, real world and broadcast activities.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2021 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY21 | End FY21 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $4.2M | $3.1M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $750K | |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $7.1M | $9.1M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $14.5M | $16.2M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $5.6M | $3.3M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $9.0M | $13.0M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $2.9M | $2.9M | ||
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $993K | $993K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $531K | $23K | $501K | $7K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $10.5M | $8.3M | $2.0M | $181K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $660K | $519K | $134K | $6K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $1.7M | $1.1M | $501K | $28K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $875K | $671K | $190K | $14K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $47K | $28K | $11K | $8K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $67K | $67K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $52K | $52K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $965K | $886K | $71K | $8K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $31K | $31K | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $188K | $71K | $105K | $12K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $210K | $17K | $190K | $3K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $661K | $7K | $654K | |
| TravelLn 17 | $246K | $240K | $4K | $2K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $27K | $17K | $10K | |
| InterestLn 20 | $220 | $220 | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $743K | $707K | $37K | |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $134K | $21K | $113K | $224 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $529K | $383K | $115K | $31K |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $20 | $20 | ||
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $21.9M | $16.9M | $4.7M | $352K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $27.4M | $30.9M | −$3.6M | $239.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $55.2M | $28.8M | $26.3M | $228.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $209.9M | $25.0M | $184.9M | $202.2M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $28.0M | $24.5M | $3.5M | $17.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 Viewing | $25.9M | $21.9M | $4.0M | $13.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $22.7M | $23.1M | −$458K | $9.0M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2021 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $25,926,114 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 17 of 18 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $25,926,114 across 8 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $21,934,929 across 22 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $16,235,939 assets, 16 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $12,979,906 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2021 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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