Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW
CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,175,525 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($551,525). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $2.6M
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $1.2M
- Net assets
- $27M
What Center for Study of Responsive Law does
Mission
The Center for Study of Responsive Law (Center) supports and conducts a wide variety of research and educational projects to encourage the political, economic and social institutions of this country to be more aware of the needs of citizen-consumer.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Library Project -- Since 2002, the DC Library Renaissance Project has worked to develop local community leaders and community-based study groups that increase citizen participation in advancing broad public concerns about access to public libraries, library collections, and the siting and renovation of libraries.
$113,841 spentof which $1,734 as grants10% of program spendingThe Center for Study of Responsive Law supports and conducts a wide variety of research and educational projects to encourage the government and corporate institutions to be more aware of the needs of the citizen-consumer. The Center has published a variety of books, reports, newsletters and pamphlets on a number of public interest issues and donates many books to institutions and individuals. The Center also hosts conferences on emerging public policy matters. The Center has also served as an incubator for a variety of projects which have become independent 501(c)(3) organizations. For example, the Center has played a pivotal role in the creation of the Ocean Awareness Project, a 501(c)(3) organization, based in Washington, DC. In addition, Center staff and board members provide free strategic and policy advice to a variety of nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organizations.
$972,651 spentof which $87,600 as grants90% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,086,492.
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 2019 to 2020, from $19M to $25M (+33%).
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: 2017 0% · 2019 0% · 2020 0% · 2021 10% · 2022 0% · 2023 0% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
14% of CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 7 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 6 funders to 3 funders, grant income fell $292k → $22k.
3 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 50% 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 CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW’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
CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW leans on a few funders — its largest provides 47% of grant income and the top three 86%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
50% 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 CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 43% · 2018 51% · 2019 82% · 2020 91% · 2021 50% · 2022 83% · 2023 47% — 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
50% of CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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
CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 5 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $587k 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.
Against its field
CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 1,003 public benefit nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,003 public benefit nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW
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
81% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
28%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW: 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 CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW?
- CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,175,525 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($551,525). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $1,175,525 in grants to CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $551,525 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CENTER FOR STUDY OF RESPONSIVE LAW 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 9 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