Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 409 organizations whose IRS filings report $205,623,149 to it, the largest being BETH AND RAVENEL CURRY FOUNDATION ($28,735,500). 279 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $75M
- Funders on record
- 409
- Grants received
- $206M
- Net assets
- $365M
What American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research does
Mission
The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. Aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the highest standards of research and exposition.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Domestic policy studies: aei's domestic policy studies scholars explore a broad range of topics including k-12 and higher education reform, citizenship, ethics, judiciary issues, executive and legislative politics, polls and elections, federalism, poverty, civil rights, crime, and other public policy issues. Aei's scholars are thought leaders in their fields and convene conferences, in-person and online events, and public and private seminars. In addition to its many events and seminars, aei promotes its research and ideas through print and digital publications, blog posts and social media, conferences, and working groups.
$14,008,784 spentof which $757,190 as grants$1,764,377 earned by the program24% of program spendingForeign and defense policy studies: aei's foreign and defense policy studies scholars seek to understand how american interests and political and economic freedom can be protected and advanced around the world. The program's research areas include u.s. National security and defense, terrorism, international sovereignty, and u.s. Policy in the middle east, asia, russia, and numerous other areas. Aei's scholars focus on current policy issues as well as those further over the horizon. In the process, they educate policymakers, business leaders, academics, journalists, students, and all interested citizens on our nation's most critical policy issues.
$12,823,421 spent$38,665 earned by the program22% of program spendingSocial, cultural, and constitutional studies: aei's social cultural and constitutional studies scholars explore issues related to three research areas: 1.) legal and constitutional topics 2. Politics and public opinion, and 3. Society and culture. Topics studied by legal and constitutional scholars include congress, the us presidency, the courts (including the supreme court of the united states), the administrative state, and the us constitution. Politics and public opinion scholars focus on polling, elections, and political theory. Society and culture scholars study and comment on liberal education (specifically, the humanities, higher education, and classical education), civil institutions, the media, american history, and religion.
$11,286,374 spent$134,139 earned by the program20% of program spendingOther program services
$19,584,944 spent$125,112 earned by the program34% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $57,703,523.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $310M to $389M (+26%).
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.
81% of AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
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.
Board chair
Daniel A D'Aniello
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 118 funders to 186 funders, grant income rose $17M → $36M.
58 of 409 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 32% 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 AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 409 funders by total. 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
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 14% of grant income, and it takes 13 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 13 funders to its left
35% 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 AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 31% · 2018 12% · 2019 13% · 2020 20% · 2021 11% · 2022 11% · 2023 8% — diversifying over time.
“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
52% of AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 68% give in more than one year at all.
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
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 37 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $65M arriving through sponsors registered in 24 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.
Against its field
AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH's funding base is broadening — from 118 funders to 186 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 27 social science nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
81%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 25 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Aei 1785 Massachusetts Avenue Property Owner LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: 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.
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 AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH?
- AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 409 organizations whose IRS filings report $205,623,149 to it, the largest being BETH AND RAVENEL CURRY FOUNDATION ($28,735,500). 279 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH have?
- IRS filings report 409 organizations giving $205,623,149 in grants to AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH, 279 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH?
- BETH AND RAVENEL CURRY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $28,735,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 409 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing