Connecticut · Nonprofit
Freedom to Operate Inc
Freedom to Operate Inc (Connecticut) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,198,600 to it, the largest being Turnbull Family Foundation Inc ($907,500). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2023
- $13k
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $1.2M
- Net assets
- $0
What Freedom to Operate Inc does
Mission
To advance science and education and, specifically, to support and facilitate medical and scientific research in the public interest for the public benefit, primarily by challenging certain patent rights which are improperly claimed and which inappropriately prevent others from engaging in research and innovation in the public interest.
As stated on its FY2023 Form 990.
Program
On its FY2023 return the organization reported a significant change in how it conducts a program.
Pursuant to unanimous written consent of the Board of Directors, Freedom to Operate ("FTO") voluntarily dissolved in accordance with Section 276(a) of the DGCL. Final Articles of Termination were filed with the Delaware Secretary of State in November 2023, and FTO formally concluded all administrative wind-down procedures by December 31, 2023. Accordingly, this is the Organization's final tax return. Through its termination, FTO continued to support medical and scientific research and to improve access to information until all net assets were liquidated in furtherance of this charitable mission or in settlement of wind-down procedures and obligations.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 3).
FTO promotes medical and scientific research by searching patent literature for issued or pending patents to identify those which are overbroad or potentially invalid or which may interfere with access to publicly known and available medicinal products. FTO may then take action to raise public awareness of identified problems with these patents and patent applications, through petitioning relevant Patent Offices, providing information to journalists, and providing information to individuals and organizations that are interested in research and development of the known and available medicinal products. These actions allow research organizations to more efficiently achieve their goals, to expedite scientific advancement, and to avoid wasteful expenditures.
$7,938 spent100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2023 Form 990. Program spending in total: $7,938.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2020, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2020, 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 2020 to 2021, from $15k to $0 (−100%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $305k → $6k.
1 of 3 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 16% 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 Freedom to Operate 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
Freedom to Operate Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 76% of grant income and the top three 100%; 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: 2020 100% · 2021 46% · 2022 83% · 2023 100% — 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.
Where its funders are
100% of Freedom to Operate Inc's grant income comes from Connecticut funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $191k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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 Freedom to Operate 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 Connecticut
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
50% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- Turnbull Family Foundation · exempt
- B More Incorporated · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Freedom to Operate 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 Freedom to Operate Inc?
- Freedom to Operate Inc (Connecticut) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,198,600 to it, the largest being Turnbull Family Foundation Inc ($907,500). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Freedom to Operate Inc have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $1,198,600 in grants to Freedom to Operate Inc, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Freedom to Operate Inc?
- Turnbull Family Foundation Inc is the largest funder on record, with $907,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Freedom to Operate Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Connecticut. 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 Freedom to Operate →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2023 (financials across 2020–2023), and the filings of 3 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