PLATINUM2024

Wyoming Star Gazing

We make the Universe come alive!

Jackson, WY   |  www.wyomingstargazing.org

Mission

Our mission is to inspire and educate through Wyoming's extraordinary skies and the Universe beyond.

Ruling year info

2014

Principal Officer

Samuel Singer PhD

Main address

PO Box 9584

Jackson, WY 83002 USA

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EIN

46-3183809

NTEE code info

Astronomy (includes Observatories) (U31)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

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Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Save Our Night Skies

Light pollution in Jackson has become a problem for the health and safety of people and wildlife, not to mention the wasted money and energy associated with unnecessary artificial light. Light pollution also impedes our ability to enjoy dark night skies. Many other cities around the globe are capitalizing on promoting their efforts to restore their night skies. We can save our night skies too! Wyoming Stargazing is embarking on a campaign to Save Our Night Skies in Jackson Hole.

With generous support from the Community Foundation of Jackson Hole, the Teton Conservation District, 1% for the Tetons, the JH Travel and Tourism Board, Free Roaming Photography, the Teton Photography Group, the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, and many private donors we’re trying to help the Town of Jackson and Grand Teton National Park achieve Dark Sky Certification from the International Dark Sky Association.

Population(s) Served

Wyoming Stargazing is creating a mentorship and scholarship program for opportunity youth to attend college so they can successfully earn a degree in a STEM field. Our goal is to provide support beginning in middle school through college and to provide four annual $5,000 scholarships to Teton County graduating seniors for four years of college.

Mentorship will be offered in conjunction with Teton County School District. We will provide STEM tutoring and enrichment opportunities for students on a weekly basis beginning in the Fall of 2022 for 6th grade - 12th grade students. Our STEM mentorship lessons will address science and math reasoning as well as provide practical opportunities to do science through authentic learning activities including launching weather balloons with student-designed payloads, designing experiments for the International Space Station, building telescopes, and fabricating nanosats. We anticipate roughly 6,000 student-content-hours of instruction annually.

Population(s) Served
Students
Low-income people
Heterosexuals
LGBTQ people

We excel at making the often difficult to understand concepts of astronomy accessible to everyone. We offer public and private stargazing programs, solar astronomy programs, planetarium programs, indoor astronomy presentations, and online virtual astronomy programs.

Population(s) Served
Adults
Children
Low-income people
Students
Teachers

Where we work

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of students enrolled

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adolescents, Preteens, Students

Related Program

Astronomy Education

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

These metrics show the total number of students who attended any of our educational programs across the organization in a given year. The large increase in 2020 resulted from virtual programs.

Total number of classes offered

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adults, Adolescents, Preteens, Children, Students

Related Program

Astronomy Education

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Context Notes

This metric shows the total number of educational programs offered each year across the organization.

Total dollars received in contributions

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

Astronomy Education

Type of Metric

Input - describing resources we use

Direction of Success

Holding steady

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Our goals are to:

Provide educational outreach opportunities to Jackson Hole residents and visitors through public stargazing, solar astronomy programs, planetarium program, indoor presentations, and virtual astronomy programming;

Support local educators through in-class tutoring and by developing and implementing STEM curriculum;

Promote Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) in our organization, our community, and in STEM fields;

Protect dark night skies by offering educational materials and presentations concerning light pollution, its effects, and its mitigation in Jackson Hole and the surrounding area;

Offer services to private organizations in order to bring observatories and planetariums to Jackson Hole;

Establish a space science discovery center in Jackson, Wyoming.

To achieve our stated goals we employ the following strategies:

Fostering inclusive organizational culture and engaging all staff in decision making;

Cultivating existing relationships with Teton County School District administrators and teachers;

Establishing new cooperative agreements with vendors, hotels, travel agencies, and other tourism related organizations;

Seeking out new granting organizations and finding ways to streamline grant writing processes;

Engaging with our constituents to better understand our community's needs and how we can meet them;

Remaining open to new ideas, learning from our mistakes, and boldly embracing all opportunities.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time

Financials

Wyoming Star Gazing
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Wyoming Star Gazing

Board of directors
as of 01/27/2024
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

David Moxam

Mike Adler

Kathleen Glover

Brad Mead

Peta Roubin

David Moxam

Jim Rooks

David "JR" Dalby

Scott Fossel

Yolanda Lira Vasquez

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No