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Nonprofiteer
← LOWELL OBSERVATORY FOUNDATION

Form 990 for tax year 2025

Filed by LOWELL OBSERVATORY FOUNDATION.

Totals

Total revenue
$1,876,603
Total expenses
$5,582,552
Contributions and grants received
$555,334
Grants paid
$5,511,530
Program service revenue
$0
Investment income
$1,321,269
Other revenue
$0
Total assets, end of year
$11,143,496
Total liabilities, end of year
$0
Net assets or fund balances, end of year
$11,143,496
Program services expenses (Part IX)
$5,511,530
Management and general expenses
$59,405
Fundraising expenses
$11,617
Program service expenses (Part III)
$5,511,530

Program services were 98.7% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Revenue

Part VIII, the statement of revenue.

  • 1f · All other contributions, gifts and grants

    $555,334

  • 3 · Investment income

    total $192,742 · excluded $192,742

  • 7a · Gross sales of assets other than inventory

    securities $5,613,697

  • 7b · Less cost or other basis and sales expenses

    securities $4,485,170

  • 7c · Gain or loss

    securities $1,128,527

  • 7d · Net gain or loss

    total $1,128,527 · excluded $1,128,527

Functional expenses

Part IX, the statement of functional expenses.

  • 1 · Grants to domestic organizations and governments

    total $5,511,530 · program services $5,511,530

  • 11c · Fees: accounting

    total $8,950 · management and general $8,950

  • 11f · Fees: investment management

    total $48,270 · management and general $48,270

  • 13 · Office expenses

    total $216 · management and general $216

  • 23 · Insurance

    total $1,969 · management and general $1,969

  • 24a · Other expenses: LICENSES AND FEES

    total $11,617 · fundraising $11,617

Balance sheet

Part X, book values.

  • 1 · Cash, non-interest-bearing

    beginning of year $186,366 · end of year $313,382

  • 2 · Savings and temporary cash investments

    beginning of year $792,031 · end of year $456,862

  • 3 · Pledges and grants receivable

    beginning of year $360,000 · end of year $350,000

  • 11 · Investments: publicly traded securities

    beginning of year $8,976,948 · end of year $7,061,960

  • 15 · Other assets

    beginning of year $4,934,065 · end of year $2,961,292

  • 27 · Net assets without donor restrictions

    beginning of year $2,150,591 · end of year $194,734

  • 28 · Net assets with donor restrictions

    beginning of year $13,098,819 · end of year $10,948,762

Mission and programs · 2025

Mission

TO SUSTAIN AND ENHANCE LOWELL OBSERVATORY'S MISSION OF RESEARCH AND EDUCATION BY GENERATING PERPETUAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT.

Activities or mission (Part I)

TO SUSTAIN AND ENHANCE LOWELL OBSERVATORY'S MISSION BY GENERATING PERPETUAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT.

  • THE LOWELL OBSERVATORY FOUNDATION (LOF) ACCEPTS GIFTS FOR ENDOWED FUNDS AND MANAGES THE FUNDS TO SUPPORT THE OBSERVATORY'S GENERAL OPERATIONS AND THE GROWTH OF THE ENDOWED FUNDS. IN 2025, THE FOUNDATION RECEIVED SEVERAL GENEROUS GIFTS, INCLUDING $319,000 TO SUSTAIN THE OBSERVATORY'S LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES. THE FOUNDATION ALSO RECEIVED AN ADDITIONAL $100,000 TO GROW THE COSMOLOGY RESEARCH ENDOWMENT. AS IN PAST YEARS, WE ALSO RECEIVED A NUMBER OF CONTRIBUTIONS TO GROW THE ADC ENDOWMENT. GIVEN UNCERTAIN MARKET TRENDS AND GLOBAL CONFLICTS, THE NEW GIFTS TO THE FOUNDATION IN 2025 WILL HELP GUARD AGAINST POTENTIAL CORRECTIONS OR DOWNTURNS IN 2026.

    Expenses $5,511,530 · Grants $5,511,530

As filed on the 2025 return.

Listed in Part VII

  • Logan Bayer

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Camille Bibles

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Patricia Bowdler

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • David D Chase

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • W David Connell

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Neil Gavin

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • W Lowell Putnam

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $21,069
    From this org
    $0
    From related orgs
    $12
    Other
    $21,057
    Hours/week
    2 + 32 related

  • Donna Weistrop

    TRUSTEE

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Marjorie McClanahan

    BOARD CHAIR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • George Putnam III

    BOARD VICE-CHAIR

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Leslie Currie

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

    Total calculated
    $216,071
    From this org
    $0
    From related orgs
    $190,704
    Other
    $25,367
    Hours/week
    2 + 38 related

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $0 + $190,704 related
    Bonus
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Deferred
    $0 + $9,674 related
    Nontaxable benefits
    $0 + $15,693 related
    Filer's total
    $0 + $216,071 related

  • Anne Labruzzo

    CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

    Total calculated
    $205,272
    From this org
    $0
    From related orgs
    $182,124
    Other
    $23,148
    Hours/week
    2 + 38 related

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $0 + $182,124 related
    Bonus
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Deferred
    $0 + $9,239 related
    Nontaxable benefits
    $0 + $13,909 related
    Filer's total
    $0 + $205,272 related

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Answered yes

None.

Answered no

  • 4a · Severance or change-of-control payment
  • 4b · Supplemental nonqualified retirement plan
  • 4c · Equity-based compensation arrangement
  • 5a · Pay contingent on this organization's revenues
  • 5b · Pay contingent on a related organization's revenues
  • 6a · Pay contingent on this organization's net earnings
  • 6b · Pay contingent on a related organization's net earnings
  • 7 · Other non-fixed payments
  • 8 · Paid under the initial-contract exception

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

Related organizations on this return

Schedule R Part II: tax-exempt organizations related to the filer by control. It does not record shared board members or money.

  • LOWELL OBSERVATORY

    501(C)(3) · ASTRONOMICAL RESEARCH AND EDUCATION · AZ

    Directly controlled by TRUST UW OF PERCIVAL LOWELL

  • PERCIVAL LOWELL TRUST UW

    501(C)(3) · CHARITABLE TRUST F/B/O LOWELL OBSERVATORY · AZ

    Directly controlled by LOWELL OBSERVATORY

Provenance

Return type
form_990
Tax year
2025
Filed
28 July 2026
IRS schema version
2025v4.2
Source object
202612099349300941

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