Virginia · Nonprofit
Atlas Economic Research Foundation
Atlas Economic Research Foundation (Virginia) receives grants from 57 organizations whose IRS filings report $63,584,908 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($25,881,900). 37 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 62% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $29M
- Funders on record
- 57
- Grants received
- $64M
- Net assets
- $17M
What Atlas Economic Research Foundation does
Mission
Atlas Network increases global prosperity by strengthening a network of independent partner organizations that promote individual freedom and are committed to identifying and removing barriers to human flourishing.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Compete - Through Atlas Network's competitive grant and prize programs, partner organizations design and implement impactful projects in their regions, with funding and recognition awarded based on performance and demonstrated results.
$20,750,509 spentof which $15,496,715 as grants76% of program spendingCelebrate - Atlas Network fosters camaraderie and recognizes significant achievements of partner organizations by convening a global community through Regional Liberty Forums and the annual Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner to share results and highlight program impact.
$3,395,112 spent$435,501 earned by the program12% of program spendingCoach - Atlas Network Academy and Atlas Network Partner Consulting empower professionals in the freedom movement with the necessary skills and peer connections to develop their teams and sharpen their organizational focus, ensuring our partners can continuously improve organizational efficiency and act strategically in their efforts to further free society principles.
$1,939,541 spentof which $165,527 as grants7% of program spendingInnovation Lab - Atlas Network engages in exploratory projects with its non-profit partners to develop new cohorts, events, and research products.
$923,392 spentof which $112,679 as grants3% of program spendingAtlas Network Partner Consulting - Atlas Network offers our partners in-depth, confidential consulting services to get their organization to the next level, accelerating impact.
$191,214 spent$8,000 earned by the program1% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $27,199,768.
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 2022 to 2023, from $17M to $24M (+40%).
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.
96% of Atlas Economic Research Foundation’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (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.
Chief executive
Bradley A Lips
CEO
Board chair
Montgomery Brown
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 31 funders to 20 funders, grant income rose $4.4M → $7.8M.
12 of 57 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 62% 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 Atlas Economic Research Foundation’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 57 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
Atlas Economic Research Foundation leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% 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
62% 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 Atlas Economic Research Foundation.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 45% · 2019 58% · 2020 28% · 2021 42% · 2022 56% · 2023 50% — broadly stable.
“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
48% of Atlas Economic Research Foundation's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% 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
62% of Atlas Economic Research Foundation's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $24M that is directly attributable, 98% of it comes from funders outside Virginia, across 21 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $39M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
Atlas Economic Research Foundation has grown faster than three-quarters of the 25 social science nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 25 social science nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like Atlas Economic Research Foundation
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 Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
52%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 38 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Atlas Economic Research Foundation: 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 Atlas Economic Research Foundation?
- Atlas Economic Research Foundation (Virginia) receives grants from 57 organizations whose IRS filings report $63,584,908 to it, the largest being VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM ($25,881,900). 37 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 62% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Atlas Economic Research Foundation have?
- IRS filings report 57 organizations giving $63,584,908 in grants to Atlas Economic Research Foundation, 37 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Atlas Economic Research Foundation?
- VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM is the largest funder on record, with $25,881,900 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Atlas Economic Research Foundation find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 57 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