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Illinois · Nonprofit

Institute for Public Affairs

Institute for Public Affairs (Illinois) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,081,721 to it, the largest being THE PUFFIN FOUNDATION LTD (F/K/A PUFFIN NEW JERSEY INC) ($2,655,951). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$2.5M
Funders on record
25
Grants received
$4.1M
Net assets
$565k
12/25 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 52%
01What it does

What Institute for Public Affairs does

Mission

Publication of a periodical magazine dedicated to advancing democracy and and economic justice informing movements for a more humane world and providing an accessible forum for debate about policies that shape our future.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Publication and distribution of a periodical magazine dedicated to advancing democracy and economic justice informing movements for a more humane world and providing an accessible forum for debate about the policies that shape our future.

    $1,898,572 spent$207,954 earned by the program
    100% of program spending
  2. Not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending
  3. Not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending
  4. Other program services, not described on the e-filed return.

    $0 spent
    0% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,898,572.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.

100 = 20182018 Revenue 100 ($2.0M) Expenses 100 ($2.2M) Net assets 100 ($1.6M)2019 Revenue 113 ($2.3M) Expenses 97 ($2.2M) Net assets 99 ($1.6M)2020 Revenue 133 ($2.7M) Expenses 110 ($2.4M) Net assets 113 ($1.8M)2021 Revenue 136 ($2.8M) Expenses 124 ($2.7M) Net assets 112 ($1.8M)2022 Revenue 119 ($2.4M) Expenses 114 ($2.5M) Net assets 105 ($1.7M)2023 Revenue 44 ($899k) Expenses 8 ($171k) Net assets 150 ($2.4M)2024 Revenue 121 ($2.5M) Expenses 125 ($2.8M) Net assets 35 ($565k)
2018201920202021202220232024
Revenue (121)Expenses (125)Net assets (35)

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $3.5M to $1.9M (−47%).

$2.4M
$2.3M
$2.8M
$2.9M
$2.8M
$3.5M
$1.9M
2018201920202021202220232024
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

−$177k
’18
$151k
’19
$276k
’20
$25k
’21
−$108k
’22
$728k
’23
−$308k
’24
0.2
months of
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.

2018201920202021202220232024
Listed13141415131515
Joined·+7+3+1+1+4+0
No longer listed·630320
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 7 funders, grant income rose $60k → $465k.

11 of 25 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 19% 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 Institute for Public Affairs’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

Institute for Public Affairs leans on a few funders — its largest provides 65% of grant income and the top three 78%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

65%
largest funder
78%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 75% · 2018 96% · 2019 69% · 2020 37% · 2021 81% · 2022 73% · 2023 74% — 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

54% of Institute for Public Affairs's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 48% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y

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

Institute for Public Affairs draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Illinois, across 9 states in all.

WA
IL
NY
MA
NJ
CA
MD
DE
DC

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Illinois out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $795k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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.

04Its place in the field

Organizations like Institute for Public Affairs

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 Illinois

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

68% of spending goes to programs.

Program 68%Management 24%Fundraising 7%

Governance

11
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention–Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

49%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 2 states

IL
CA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Institute for Public Affairs: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 Institute for Public Affairs?
Institute for Public Affairs (Illinois) receives grants from 25 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,081,721 to it, the largest being THE PUFFIN FOUNDATION LTD (F/K/A PUFFIN NEW JERSEY INC) ($2,655,951). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Institute for Public Affairs have?
IRS filings report 25 organizations giving $4,081,721 in grants to Institute for Public Affairs, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Institute for Public Affairs?
THE PUFFIN FOUNDATION LTD (F/K/A PUFFIN NEW JERSEY INC) is the largest funder on record, with $2,655,951 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Institute for Public Affairs find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Illinois. 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 Institute for Public Affairs →

These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2018–2024), and the filings of 25 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