New York · Nonprofit
MLRC INSTITUTE
MLRC INSTITUTE (New York) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $232,450 to it, the largest being JOHN S AND JAMES L KNIGHT FOUNDATION ($225,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $0
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $232k
- Net assets
- $141k
What Mlrc Institute does
Mission
The objects and purposes for which the Mlrc Institute is organized and operated are to support and benefit the charitable and educational purposes and programs of the media law resource center,inc. By providing support to the media law resource center,inc. And by conducting such programs directly. More specifically, the Mlrc Institute will sponsor and engage in research, sponsor and conduct conferences and public forums, educate journalists and other members of the public as to media law, engage in publishing activities, support or participate in litigation (including filing of amicus curiae briefs), and advance public education, all of the foregoing for the advancement of first amendment interests in libel and related fields.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Program
In late 2015 the board of the institute held a retreat where it determined to somewhat alter its execution of its mission. Responding to a public need, it decided to present a series of legal workshops for journalists aimed at independent reporters and photographers, such as bloggers, freelancers, etc., who do not have access to a corporate attorney but would be aided by a seminar given by media law experts. The institute organized such workshops in new york and other cities, and at national journalistic conferences.in 2025, the institute with support from a grant from knight foundation conducted a number of workshops, some in person and some webinar aimed at reporters, editors and photographers as well as independent bloggers, freelancers, etc. On legal issues pertinent to their journalistic careers, such as libel, privacy, newsgathering, etc.
$0 spent
The program described on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $0.
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 2018 to 2019, from $168k to $193k (+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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
Leadership and staff
Chief executive
George Freeman
Executive director
Board chair
Ashley Messenger
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2019: the base held at 1 funder, grant income held at $75k.
1 of 2 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% 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 MLRC INSTITUTE’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
MLRC INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 97% 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: 2017 100% · 2018 100% · 2019 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
MLRC INSTITUTE draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 1 state in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7k 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 MLRC INSTITUTE
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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for MLRC INSTITUTE: 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 MLRC INSTITUTE?
- MLRC INSTITUTE (New York) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $232,450 to it, the largest being JOHN S AND JAMES L KNIGHT FOUNDATION ($225,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does MLRC INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $232,450 in grants to MLRC INSTITUTE, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of MLRC INSTITUTE?
- JOHN S AND JAMES L KNIGHT FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $225,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like MLRC INSTITUTE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 Mlrc Institute →
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 2 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