Skeptic Society

Santa Barbara, CA
Tax-exempt since Feb. 1996
EIN: 95-4550781

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Type of Nonprofit

Designated as a 501(c)(3) Organizations for any of the following purposes: religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition (as long as it doesn't provide athletic facilities or equipment), or the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.

Category: Arts, Culture and Humanities / Printing, Publishing (NTEE)

Donations to this organization are tax deductible.

Revenue

$310k (2023)

Expenses

$326k (2023)

Total Assets

$1.31M (2023)

Total Liabilities

$40k (2023)

Source: Form 990 tax filings from 2011 to 2023

Tax Filings by Year

Form 990 is an information return that most organizations claiming federal tax-exempt status must file yearly with the IRS. Nonprofit Explorer has IRS digitized Form 990 data for filings processed in 2012 and later. If this organization filed an amended return, it may not be reflected below. Duplicate download links may indicate a resubmission or amendment to this organization's original return. Form 990 data is from the IRS.

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2023

Revenue

$309,510

Expenses

$325,677

Net Income

-$16,167

Net Assets

$1,272,160

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions	$94,849	30.6%
Program Services	$176,579	57.1%
Investment Income	$38,082	12.3%
Bond Proceeds	$0
Royalties	$0
Rental Property Income	$0
Net Fundraising	$0
Sales of Assets	$0
Net Inventory Sales	$0
Other Revenue	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation	$0
Professional Fundraising Fees	$0
Other Salaries and Wages	$0

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$1,312,138
Total Liabilities	$39,978
Net Assets	$1,272,160

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Related	Other
Michael Shermer (President)	$143,323	$0	$0
Diane Knudtson (Cfo)	$0	$0	$0

990

Filed on May 20, 2024

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing

Schedules ▼

XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2022

Revenue

$1,016,456

Expenses

$495,745

Net Income

$520,711

Net Assets

$1,451,386

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions	$27,050	2.7%
Program Services	$251,372	24.7%
Investment Income	$21,667	2.1%
Bond Proceeds	$0
Royalties	$0
Rental Property Income	$0
Net Fundraising	$0
Sales of Assets	$716,367	70.5%
Net Inventory Sales	$0
Other Revenue	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation	$0
Professional Fundraising Fees	$0
Other Salaries and Wages	$0

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$1,498,997
Total Liabilities	$47,611
Net Assets	$1,451,386

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Related	Other
Diane Knudtson (Cfo)	$0	$0	$0
Michael Shermer (President)	$0	$0	$0

990

Filed on May 9, 2023

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

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Schedules ▼

XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2021

Revenue

$493,400

Expenses

$623,463

Net Income

-$130,063

Net Assets

$930,675

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions	$65,079	13.2%
Program Services	$237,180	48.1%
Investment Income	$191,141	38.7%
Bond Proceeds	$0
Royalties	$0
Rental Property Income	$0
Net Fundraising	$0
Sales of Assets	$0
Net Inventory Sales	$0
Other Revenue	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation	$0
Professional Fundraising Fees	$0
Other Salaries and Wages	$0

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$957,620
Total Liabilities	$26,945
Net Assets	$930,675

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Related	Other
Pat Linse (Cfo)	$0	$0	$0
Michael Shermer (President)	$0	$0	$0

990

Filed on May 6, 2022

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

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Schedules ▼

XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2020

Revenue

$413,520

Expenses

$643,295

Net Income

-$229,775

Net Assets

$1,060,738

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions	$90,577	21.9%
Program Services	$280,820	67.9%
Investment Income	$42,123	10.2%
Bond Proceeds	$0
Royalties	$0
Rental Property Income	$0
Net Fundraising	$0
Sales of Assets	$0
Net Inventory Sales	$0
Other Revenue	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation	$0
Professional Fundraising Fees	$0
Other Salaries and Wages	$0

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$1,079,673
Total Liabilities	$18,935
Net Assets	$1,060,738

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Related	Other
Pat Linse (Cfo)	$0	$0	$0
Michael Shermer (President)	$0	$0	$0

990

Filed on May 14, 2021

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing

Schedules ▼

XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2019

Revenue

$328,732

Expenses

$690,360

Net Income

-$361,628

Net Assets

$1,291,512

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions	$72,145	21.9%
Program Services	$200,925	61.1%
Investment Income	$55,662	16.9%
Bond Proceeds	$0
Royalties	$0
Rental Property Income	$0
Net Fundraising	$0
Sales of Assets	$0
Net Inventory Sales	$0
Other Revenue	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation	$0
Professional Fundraising Fees	$0
Other Salaries and Wages	$0

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$1,309,946
Total Liabilities	$18,434
Net Assets	$1,291,512

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Related	Other
Pat Linse (Cfo)	$0	$0	$0
Michael Shermer (President)	$0	$0	$0

990

Filed on May 21, 2020

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing

Schedules ▼

PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2018

Revenue

$1,120,945

Expenses

$712,055

Net Income

$408,890

Net Assets

$1,653,140

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions	$556,562	49.7%
Program Services	$228,867	20.4%
Investment Income	$335,516	29.9%
Bond Proceeds	$0
Royalties	$0
Rental Property Income	$0
Net Fundraising	$0
Sales of Assets	$0
Net Inventory Sales	$0
Other Revenue	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation	$0
Professional Fundraising Fees	$0
Other Salaries and Wages	$0

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$1,672,282
Total Liabilities	$19,142
Net Assets	$1,653,140

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Related	Other
Michael Shermer (President)	$0	$0	$0
Pat Linse (Cfo)	$0	$0	$0

990

Filed on May 2, 2019

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

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Schedules ▼

PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2017

Revenue

$1,005,299

Expenses

$750,644

Net Income

$254,655

Net Assets

$1,244,250

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions	$178,760	17.8%
Program Services	$233,799	23.3%
Investment Income	$592,740	59.0%
Bond Proceeds	$0
Royalties	$0
Rental Property Income	$0
Net Fundraising	$0
Sales of Assets	$0
Net Inventory Sales	$0
Other Revenue	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation	$0
Professional Fundraising Fees	$0
Other Salaries and Wages	$0

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$1,258,038
Total Liabilities	$13,788
Net Assets	$1,244,250

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Related	Other
Michael Shermer (President)	$0	$0	$0
Pat Linse (Cfo)	$0	$0	$0

990

Filed on May 16, 2018

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

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Schedules ▼

PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2016

Revenue

$655,026

Expenses

$695,655

Net Income

-$40,629

Net Assets

$989,595

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions	$249,187	38.0%
Program Services	$263,793	40.3%
Investment Income	$142,046	21.7%
Bond Proceeds	$0
Royalties	$0
Rental Property Income	$0
Net Fundraising	$0
Sales of Assets	$0
Net Inventory Sales	$0
Other Revenue	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation	$0
Professional Fundraising Fees	$0
Other Salaries and Wages	$0

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$1,011,919
Total Liabilities	$22,324
Net Assets	$989,595

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Related	Other
Michael Shermer (President)	$0	$0	$0
Pat Linse (Cfo)	$0	$0	$0

990

Filed on May 2, 2017

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing

Schedules ▼

PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2015

Revenue

$901,709

Expenses

$946,324

Net Income

-$44,615

Net Assets

$1,030,224

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions	$245,392	27.2%
Program Services	$634,462	70.4%
Investment Income	$21,855	2.4%
Bond Proceeds	$0
Royalties	$0
Rental Property Income	$0
Net Fundraising	$0
Sales of Assets	$0
Net Inventory Sales	$0
Other Revenue	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation	$0
Professional Fundraising Fees	$0
Other Salaries and Wages	$0

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$1,048,050
Total Liabilities	$17,826
Net Assets	$1,030,224

Compensation

Key Employees and Officers	Compensation	Related	Other
Michael Shermer (President)	$0	$0	$0
Pat Linse (Cfo)	$0	$0	$0

990

Filed on May 5, 2016

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing

Schedules ▼

PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2014

Revenue

$593,488

Expenses

$740,014

Net Income

-$146,526

Net Assets

$1,074,839

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions	$136,747	23.0%
Program Services	$370,272	62.4%
Investment Income	$86,469	14.6%
Bond Proceeds	$0
Royalties	$0
Rental Property Income	$0
Net Fundraising	$0
Sales of Assets	$0
Net Inventory Sales	$0
Other Revenue	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation	$0
Professional Fundraising Fees	$0
Other Salaries and Wages	$0

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$1,096,527
Total Liabilities	$21,688
Net Assets	$1,074,839

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2013

Revenue

$1,551,780

Expenses

$716,607

Net Income

$835,173

Net Assets

$1,221,365

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions	$1,046,982	67.5%
Program Services	$435,760	28.1%
Investment Income	$69,038	4.4%
Bond Proceeds	$0
Royalties	$0
Rental Property Income	$0
Net Fundraising	$0
Sales of Assets	$0
Net Inventory Sales	$0
Other Revenue	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation	$0
Professional Fundraising Fees	$0
Other Salaries and Wages	$0

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$1,240,930
Total Liabilities	$19,565
Net Assets	$1,221,365

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2012

Revenue

$719,658

Expenses

$681,424

Net Income

$38,234

Net Assets

$386,192

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions	$170,456	23.7%
Program Services	$461,466	64.1%
Investment Income	$87,736	12.2%
Bond Proceeds	$0
Royalties	$0
Rental Property Income	$0
Net Fundraising	$0
Sales of Assets	$0
Net Inventory Sales	$0
Other Revenue	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation	$0
Professional Fundraising Fees	$0
Other Salaries and Wages	$0

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$401,353
Total Liabilities	$15,161
Net Assets	$386,192

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2011

Revenue

$713,539

Expenses

$787,433

Net Income

-$73,894

Net Assets

$347,958

Notable Sources of Revenue		Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions	$166,434	23.3%
Program Services	$513,418	72.0%
Investment Income	$33,687	4.7%
Bond Proceeds	$0
Royalties	$0
Rental Property Income	$0
Net Fundraising	$0
Sales of Assets	$0
Net Inventory Sales	$0
Other Revenue	$0

Notable Expenses		Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation	$0
Professional Fundraising Fees	$0
Other Salaries and Wages	$0

Assets/Debt
Total Assets	$363,225
Total Liabilities	$15,267
Net Assets	$347,958

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2010

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2009

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2008

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

PDF (2 of 3) PDF (3 of 3)

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2007

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2005

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2004

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2003

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2002

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2001

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

About This Data

Nonprofit Explorer includes summary data for nonprofit tax returns and full Form 990 documents, in both PDF and digital formats.

The summary data contains information processed by the IRS during the 2012-2019 calendar years; this generally consists of filings for the 2011-2018 fiscal years, but may include older records. This data release includes only a subset of what can be found in the full Form 990s.

In addition to the raw summary data, we link to PDFs and digital copies of full Form 990 documents wherever possible. This consists of separate releases by the IRS of Form 990 documents processed by the agency, which we update regularly.

We also link to copies of audits nonprofit organizations that spent $750,000 or more in Federal grant money in a single fiscal year since 2016. These audits are copied from the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

Which Organizations Are Here?

Every organization that has been recognized as tax exempt by the IRS has to file Form 990 every year, unless they make less than $200,000 in revenue and have less than $500,000 in assets, in which case they have to file form 990-EZ. Organizations making less than $50,000 don’t have to file either form but do have to let the IRS they’re still in business via a Form 990N "e-Postcard."

Nonprofit Explorer has organizations claiming tax exemption in each of the 27 subsections of the 501(c) section of the tax code, and which have filed a Form 990, Form 990EZ or Form 990PF. Taxable trusts and private foundations that are required to file a form 990PF are also included. Small organizations filing a Form 990N "e-Postcard" are not included in this data.

Types of Nonprofits

There are 27 nonprofit designations based on the numbered subsections of section 501(c) of the tax code. See the list »

Get the Data

For those interested in acquiring the original data from the source, here’s where our data comes from:

Raw filing data. Includes EINs and summary financials as structured data.
Exempt Organization profiles. Includes organization names, addresses, etc. You can merge this with the raw filing data using EIN numbers.
Form 990 documents. Prior to 2017, these documents were obtained and processed by Public.Resource.org and ProPublica. Bulk PDF downloads since 2017 are available from the IRS.
Form 990 documents as XML files. Includes complete filing data (financial details, names of officers, tax schedules, etc.) in machine-readable format. Only available for electronically filed documents. Electronic data released prior to October 2021 is also available through Amazon Web Services.
Audits. PDFs of single or program-specific audits for nonprofit organizations that spent $750,000 or more in Federal grant money in a single fiscal year. Available for fiscal year 2015 and later.

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By Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford and Ash Ngu, ProPublica, and Brandon Roberts, Special to ProPublica.
Design by Jeff Frankl. Additional development by Ken Schwencke, Mike Tigas, and Sisi Wei.

E-file viewer adapted from IRS e-File Viewer by Ben Getson. Code for scraping audit documents adapated from Govwiki.

Updated December 20, 2024

Skeptic Society

Organization summary

Type of Nonprofit

Summary charts: organization finances over time

Revenue $310k (2023)

Expenses $326k (2023)

Total Assets $1.31M (2023)

Total Liabilities $40k (2023)

Tax Filings by Year

Fiscal Year Ending Dec. 2023

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990

Compensation

Document Links

990

Fiscal Year Ending Dec. 2022

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990

Compensation

Document Links

990

Fiscal Year Ending Dec. 2021

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990

Compensation

Document Links

990

Fiscal Year Ending Dec. 2020

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990

Compensation

Document Links

990

Fiscal Year Ending Dec. 2019

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990

Compensation

Document Links

990

Fiscal Year Ending Dec. 2018

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990

Compensation

Document Links

990

Fiscal Year Ending Dec. 2017

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990

Compensation

Document Links

990

Fiscal Year Ending Dec. 2016

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990

Compensation

Document Links

990

Fiscal Year Ending Dec. 2015

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990

Compensation

Document Links

990

Fiscal Year Ending Dec. 2014

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990

Document Links

990

Fiscal Year Ending Dec. 2013

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990

Document Links

990

Fiscal Year Ending Dec. 2012

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990

Document Links

990

Fiscal Year Ending Dec. 2011

Extracted Financial Data

Revenue

$310k (2023)

Expenses

$326k (2023)

Total Assets

$1.31M (2023)

Total Liabilities

$40k (2023)

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2023

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2022

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2021

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2020

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2019

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2018

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2017

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2016

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2015

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2014

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2013

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2012

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2011

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2010

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2009

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2008

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2007

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2005

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2004

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2003

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2002

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2001