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Institute for Policy Studies at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Institute for Policy Studies

The INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES (the institute) is a 60-year-old organization that is dedicated to building a more equitable, ecologically sustainable, and peaceful society.

$259k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Arts & Culture$1.6MEnvironment$89kScience & Tech$84kReligion$84kPublic Benefit$70kEducation$63kCommunity Improvement$34kPhilanthropy$29k
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 1 grants below total $250,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $258,945 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $8,945 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.
$250,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$12M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ECONOMIC HARDSHIP REPORTING PROJECT$250,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 16%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 95% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%WBUR: $10k → 16%SOJOURNER TRUTH SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL CHANGE LEADERSHIP: $56k → 17%MOVEMENT STRATEGY CENTER: $34k → 10%ECONOMIC HARDSHIP REPORTING PROJECT: $500k → 16%ECONOMIC HARDSHIP REPORTING PROJECT: $800k → 17%COLLEGE HORIZONS INC: $26k → 10%NEW MEXICO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $29k → 12%CENTER FOR CIVIC POLICY: $40k → 14%WK KELLOGG FOUNDATION: $29k → 14%RETRO REPORT: $23k → 9%ROZ PELLES - REPAIRERS OF THE BREACH: $84k → 18%BALTIMORE BROTHERS LLC: $52k → 11%THE SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $24k → 10%ECONOMIC HARDSHIP REPORTING PROJECT: $250k → 17%CENTER FOR CIVIC POLICY: $30k → 14%UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $7k → 17%THE MAGNUM CULTURAL FOUNDATION: $9k → 17%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

MI
NY
MA
CT
CA
MD
NM
NC
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

83%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.7M · 3 repeat orgs$337k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +32% since the first grant, against +8% for those funded once.

3 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2024, 2 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
11

Total granted

$1.7M
$337k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+32%
+8%

Still filing today

100%
91%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
Arts & CultureEducationEnvironmentReligionPublic BenefitCommunity ImprovementOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • ECONOMIC HARDSHIP REPORTING PROJECT
    3× · 2021–2024 · $1.6M · revenue +14% · 83% of their budget
  • CF
    CENTER FOR CIVIC POLICY
    2× · 2020–2021 · $70k · revenue +32%
  • NM
    NEW MEXICO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER
    2× · 2022–2023 · $55k · revenue +182%

Funded once

  • Repairers of the Breach
    one grant, 2019 · $84k · revenue -41%
  • ST
    SOJOURNER TRUTH SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL CHANGE LEADERSHIP INC
    one grant, 2020 · $56k · revenue -20%
  • BB
    BALTIMORE BROTHERS INC
    one grant, 2019 · $52k
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Third Way

To research and develop centrist policy ideas.

Civil Rights
2
Institute for State Effectiveness

The institute for state effectiveness seeks to close the governance gap and advance inclusive growth so that states and markets deliver to citizens. ise advances practical approaches to strengthen capacity for transformation, through…

International
3
Center for Strategic Research and Communication
—
4
Climate Institute

The climate institute is organized for the purpose of educating the general public and policy makers as to the gravity of potential climate change, exploring the policy implications of the latest scientific findings on climate modelling…

Environment
5
The Center for Transcultural Studies
—
6
The Union of Concerned Scientists Inc

The union of concerned scientists puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future.

International
7
Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources

The organization pursues higher standards of news coverage of natural resources and the environment -- standards of accuracy, fairness, balance, depth and context.

Arts & Culture
8
Washington Monthly Institute

Dedicated to increasing public knowledge through washington monthly magazine and website www.washingtonmonthly.com published since 1969, the print magazine is the country's most important watchdog of american government, focusing on what's…

Social Science
9
Free Press

Free press was created to give people a voice in the crucial decisions that shape our media. we believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse…

Arts & Culture
10
Institute for New Global Politics Inc

The Institute for New Global Politics is a California-based educational nonprofit corporation organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes. It is an independent and nonpartisan thinktank dedicated to educating the general…

International
11
World Resources Institute

Wri is committed to creating change that improves people's lives and ensures the natural world can thrive. (see schedule o)wri's bold vision requires a formula for success we call "count it. change it. scale it.": - count it: our work is…

International
12
Nuclear Threat Initiative Inc

Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing nuclear, biological, and emerging technology threats imperiling humanity. NTI works to transform global security by developing and advancing…

International
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Movement Strategy Center; the most unlike its peers is Retro Report Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

13 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 13 of the 14 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/13
Grantees still filing
8/13
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ECONOMIC HARDSHIP REPORTING PROJECT: $1,550,002 · Arts & CultureECONOMIC HARDSHIP REPORTING PROJECT+2 more: $31,140 · Arts & CultureBALTIMORE BROTHERS INC: $51,800 · OtherSIERRA CLUB: $24,225 · OtherTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $10,000 · OtherRepairers of the Breach: $84,000 · ReligionCENTER FOR CIVIC POLICY: $70,034 · Public BenefitNEW MEXICO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $54,600 · EnvironmentVOICES FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: $10,000 · EnvironmentSOJOURNER TRUTH SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL CHANGE LEADERSHIP INC: $56,302 · EducationUNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $7,000 · EducationMOVEMENT STRATEGY CENTER: $33,848 · Community ImprovementWK Kellogg Foundation: $29,159 · Philanthropy
Arts & Culture$1,581,142Other$86,025Religion$84,000Public Benefit$70,034Environment$64,600Education$63,302Community Improvement$33,848Philanthropy$29,159

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetECONOMIC HARDSHIP REPORTING PROJECT: $1,550,002 over 3y, 83% of budgetRepairers of the Breach: $84,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetCENTER FOR CIVIC POLICY: $70,034 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetNEW MEXICO ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER: $54,600 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetMOVEMENT STRATEGY CENTER: $33,848 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetWK Kellogg Foundation: $29,159 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB: $24,225 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetRETRO REPORT INC: $22,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetVOICES FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetTRUSTEES OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMAGNUM CULTURAL FOUNDATION: $8,640 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY: $7,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Amalgamated Charitabl…The Ford FoundationTides FoundationVanguard Charitable E…Fidelity Investments …Donor Advised Charita…Amazonsmile Foundation
Amalgamated Charitable Foundation IncDC14.9× affinity5 shared granteesties to 6 of 6Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · The Ford Foundation · Tides Foundation · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Amazonsmile Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Institute for Policy Studies funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Institute for Policy Studies. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%23%51%90%funder's share of their income ↑0%4%8%11%15%share of the org’s income from government →median 12%
  • Trustees of Boston University: 12% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–15%
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 14 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions
grants reported with no recipient in the public record
The regranting layer
51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer
The DAF merry-go-round
$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds
The endowment market
who holds foundation money, and what just moved
The camps
funders cluster by geography, not ideology
By state
where grant money is based, and what stays home