Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SERVICES
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SERVICES (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $365,569 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($209,814). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $28M
- Funders on record
- 9
- Grants received
- $366k
- Net assets
- $15M
What Center for the Study of Services does
Mission
Research, investigate, develop information,educate and inform the public government officials,service providers and others directly & through relationships with others on the performance,quality availability & costs of service providers, including retailers.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Healthcare system measurement and researchwe conduct surveys and perform data analysis to produce objective reports that provide information on the performance of the healthcare provider and insurance industries. The data and reports inform and educate the public, government agencies, healthcare collaboratives, healthcare providers, and industry leaders. The resulting information enables consumers and industry participants to make informed choices when selecting providers and insurers. Our work also supports accreditation efforts, pay-for-performance programs, and quality-improvement initiatives. In 2024, our nationwide studies surveyed over 2,000,000 consumers and 200,000 providers about their experiences with the healthcare system. Included in the expenses above are $1,608,148 of costs deducted against the $2,709,478 of unrelated business income reported on form 990-t.
$17,149,465 spent$19,509,965 earned by the program75% of program spendingHealthcare decision-support toolswe design and host online decision-support tools that help consumers select health plans based on premium costs, out-of-pocket expenses, plan quality, and provider participation. These tools educate consumers on key factors to consider when choosing coverage and enable them to make sound decisions based on accurate information and expert analysis. Our tools are currently offered in seven states and the district of columbia, and we also provide nationwide tools to assist federal employees and annuitants with their health plan selections. In 2024, more than 800,000 users accessed our tools to assist in their health plan enrollment.
$2,291,113 spent$3,355,624 earned by the program10% of program spendingConsumers' checkbook publications and researchconsumers' checkbook publishes and disseminates information to help consumers choose and effectively use high-quality, cost-effective providers in areas such as healthcare, home repair, automobile servicing, pet care, and personal finance. We do not accept advertising in our publications. In addition, we share consumer information through podcasts (consumerpedia), radio, television, and collaborations with other media organizations. Our research includes consumer surveys, regulatory reviews, analysis of industry best practices, blind shopping, and use of public databases to study service industries and provide reliable consumer guidance. Our publication serves 60,000 subscribers in seven major metropolitan areas. The public can access a significant amount of free consumer information through our website checkbook.org, which had visits from over 500,000 non-subscribers in 2024, and through our media collaborations.
$3,443,901 spent$1,334,887 earned by the program15% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $22,884,479.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 2021 to 2022, from $15M to $17M (+12%).
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.
4% of CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SERVICES’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (30% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 4 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
Tod Herbers
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base held at 2 funders, grant income rose $14k → $45k.
4 of 9 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 100% 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 THE STUDY OF SERVICES’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 THE STUDY OF SERVICES leans on a few funders — its largest provides 57% of grant income and the top three 98%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 THE STUDY OF SERVICES.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 60% · 2018 68% · 2019 64% · 2020 63% · 2021 100% · 2022 48% · 2023 57% — 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
33% of CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SERVICES's funders are still giving 1 year after their first grant; 44% 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
100% of CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SERVICES'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 $575 that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 5 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $365k arriving through sponsors registered in 4 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 THE STUDY OF SERVICES is better cushioned than half of the 269 public benefit nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 269 public benefit nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SERVICES receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $5.6M on record — $159k federal, $5.4M state.
- Department of Health and Human Services$107k
- Office of Personnel Management$52k
- Department of Justice$150
- OR$4.7M
- VT$743k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SERVICES
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
84% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
89%
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 THE STUDY OF SERVICES: 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 THE STUDY OF SERVICES?
- CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SERVICES (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 9 organizations whose IRS filings report $365,569 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($209,814). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 100% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SERVICES have?
- IRS filings report 9 organizations giving $365,569 in grants to CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SERVICES, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SERVICES?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $209,814 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SERVICES 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.
Play a game about who funds Center for the Study of Services →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2021–2024), 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