Louisiana · Nonprofit
BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC
BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC (Louisiana) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,454,712 to it, the largest being Zemurray Foundation ($1,239,000). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.7M
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $2.5M
- Net assets
- $12M
What Bureau of Governmental Research Inc does
Mission
The bureau of governmental research is a private, nonprofit, independent research organization dedicated to informed public policy making and the effective use of public resources for the improvement of government in the new orleans metropolitan area.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Monitoring and reporting on local government issues: in 2025 bgr reported on many complex issues in local governance in 12 reports. Among the highlights: in 2025, bgr published 2 "on the ballot" reports to inform voters about important local propositions. These reports analyzed a $510 million capital bond authorization for new orleans, and a proposed amendment to the new orleans city charter related to the city attorney. Voters agreed with bgr's position for the bond authorization amendment and the city charter amendment. In december, bgr published a major report which presented several ways the new orleans ernest n. Morial convention center could restructure the public subsidies for its convention headquarters hotel project to save substantial tax dollars without jeopardizing the (cont'd on sch o) hotel project. In august, bgr published candidate q&as for the mayor, city council, and sheriff elections. This dashboard provided voters with an easy to navigate webpage that shared candidate answers to a bgr survey about key issues in the november elections. In 2025, bgr research staff monitored more than 70 state and local government agencies throughout the new orleans area,…
$760,053 spent96% of program spendingBreakfast briefings: bgr's breakfast briefings are public forum where experts and decision-makers are invited to share their thoughts on major public policy issues in the area. These events keep citizens informed and motivate civic engagement and an informed public policy dialogue, all of which are key components of bgr's mission and essential ingredients for effective government. In 2025, bgr hosted four breakfast briefings. On february 11, bgr presented a breakfast briefing with st. Tammany parish president mike cooper, economist robert habans, and st. Tammany corp.'s ceo chris masingill that discussed the implications and opportunities associated with st. Tammany's economic growth, in particular the shift from being a part of the new orleans metropolitan area to becoming its own (cont'd on sch o) economic area. On march 26, bgr presented a breakfast briefing with greater new orleans, inc. President and ceo michael hecht where mr. Hecht shared his insights from guiding the city's preparations for the 2025 super bowl. He discussed lessons new orleans can learn for future infrastructure and economic development projects. On june 18, bgr presented a breakfast briefing where bgr…
$32,251 spent4% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $792,304.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $11M to $9.3M (−15%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2020 6% · 2022 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Rebecca Mowbray
President/CEO
Board chair
Steven W Usdin
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 7 funders to 14 funders, grant income rose $37k → $109k.
2 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 6% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $534k from 3 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest The Greater New Orleans Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC raised.
From the IRS filings of BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC’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
BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 50% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 54% · 2019 28% · 2020 48% · 2021 83% · 2022 20% · 2023 23% — 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
71% of BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 73% 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
93% of BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC's grant income comes from Louisiana funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $150k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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.
Organizations like BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC
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 Louisiana
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
61% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
75%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC: 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 BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC?
- BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC (Louisiana) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,454,712 to it, the largest being Zemurray Foundation ($1,239,000). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $2,454,712 in grants to BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC, 19 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC?
- Zemurray Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $1,239,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Louisiana. 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 Bureau of Governmental Research →
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 26 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