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Ohio · Nonprofit

ACTION TANK

ACTION TANK (Ohio) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $244,264 to it, the largest being THE GREATER CINCINNATI FOUNDATION ($78,500). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2023
$49k
Funders on record
12
Grants received
$244k
Net assets
$0
6/12 repeat fundersgrants exceed reported revenue in one year
01What it does

What Action Tank does

Mission

Action Tank is a think tank that partners with artists to research and promote new public policy solutions at the local government level. We focus on planning and policy solutions to advance opportunity in neighborhoods and working with residents to promote policy changes that best meet everyones needs. We use creative placemaking approaches, working with artists, arts organizations, and designers to conduct research, build awareness, engage residents, and more. We also work on civic engagement and best government practices, including transparency, evidence-based policy, accessible policymaking, and creative community engagement.

As stated on its FY2023 Form 990.

Programs

  1. City council school is a free program for engaged residents who are interested in running for cincinnati city council and/or want a deeper understanding of the citys government systems and practices to successfully champion new policy. City council school participants engage with panelists representing government administration leadership and subject matter experts, political decision-makers, elected officials and their staff, journalists, council clerks, community leaders, and others who play critical roles in shaping local policy process and outcomes.

    $9,199 spent$7,000 earned by the program
    28% of program spending
  2. Action Tank academy is a set of free trainings and resources for engaged residents who are interested in running for cincinnati city council and/or want a deeper understanding of the city's government systems and practices to successfully champion new policy. Action Tank academy participants engage with panelists representing government administration leadership and subject matter experts, political decision-makers, elected officials and their staff, journalists, council clerks, community leaders, and others who play critical roles in shaping local polity process and outcomes. Action Tank academy also provides free informed voter guides for primary and general elections to the public.

    $8,743 spent$18,287 earned by the program
    27% of program spending
  3. Action Tank policy projects involve partnering with subject matter experts and artists to conduct best practices research community engagement on specific local policy issues, such as community benefits agreements and historic preservation. These projects result in free, artist-designed, user-friendly toolkits for residents interested in learning more and engaging on the topics.

    $7,807 spent
    24% of program spending
  4. Action Tank provides free technical assistance for resident-led groups and organizations seeking to engage in local government processes and systems.

    $7,058 spent$1,050 earned by the program
    22% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $32,807.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.

100 = 20202020 Revenue 100 ($157k) Expenses 100 ($115k) Net assets 100 ($51k)2021 Revenue 139 ($218k) Expenses 146 ($169k) Net assets 198 ($100k)2022 Revenue 144 ($227k) Expenses 206 ($238k) Net assets 175 ($89k)2023 Revenue 31 ($49k) Expenses 119 ($137k) Net assets 0 ($0)
2020202120222023
Revenue (31)Expenses (119)Net assets (0)

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $109k to $0 (−100%).

$51k
$100k
$109k
$0
2020202120222023
Total assetsTotal liabilities

How it's funded, over time

Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.

2020
2021
2022
2023
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 4 reported years ran a deficit.

$42k
’20
$49k
’21
−$11k
’22
−$89k
’23
4.2
months of
reserve

Leadership and staff

The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.

202120222023
Listed764
Joined·+4+0
No longer listed·52
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $28k → $55k.

4 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 38% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.

From the IRS filings of ACTION TANK’s funders (the co-funder graph). Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How concentrated its funding is

ACTION TANK leans on a few funders — its largest provides 32% of grant income and the top three 71%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

52% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund ACTION TANK.

32%
largest funder
71%
top three
~5
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 38% · 2021 47% · 2022 34% · 2023 50% — growing more concentrated.

“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

How long its funders stay

40% of ACTION TANK's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 50% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y

Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.

Where its funders are

88% of ACTION TANK's grant income comes from Ohio funders.

NY
OH
DC

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’20
’21
’22
’23
Ohio out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $93k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.

04Its place in the field

Organizations like ACTION TANK

Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Ohio

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

24% of spending goes to programs.

Program 24%Management 76%Fundraising 0%

Governance

4
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy–Whistleblower policy–Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990–Audited financials

Public support

100%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

OH

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ACTION TANK: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds ACTION TANK?
ACTION TANK (Ohio) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $244,264 to it, the largest being THE GREATER CINCINNATI FOUNDATION ($78,500). 6 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does ACTION TANK have?
IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $244,264 in grants to ACTION TANK, 6 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of ACTION TANK?
THE GREATER CINCINNATI FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $78,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like ACTION TANK find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Ohio. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.

Play a game about who funds Action Tank →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2023 (financials across 2020–2023), and the filings of 12 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing