Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE
POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,026,852 to it, the largest being GATES FOUNDATION ($5,235,150). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.7M
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $8.0M
- Net assets
- $1.2M
What Postsecondary National Policy Institute does
Mission
Pnpi's mission is to increase the knowledge, capacity, and diversity of federal postsecondary policymakers, leaders, and thinkers.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Pnpi hosted one virtual boot camp focused on microcredentials and one in-person boot camp focused on federal student aid; a virtual briefing series focused on the federal budget and appropriations process; a virtual briefing focused on pell grants; a legislative update briefing; an in-person briefing for washington d.c.-based interns focused on the legislative process; and a summer scholars intern program for two summer interns.
$368,410 spent52% of program spendingSmaller meetings were held with higher education stakeholders as a means to extend our reach and expertise. Pnpi also creates and publishes factsheets on postsecondary topics, hosts the pnpi explorer (a higher education data tool), and offered two virtual courses focused on federal student aid and higher education accreditation. Pnpi also hosted a virtual demonstration of how the pnpi explorer works.
$189,139 spent27% of program spendingPnpi hosted two in-person seminars for congressional staff. One focused on college cost and one focused on student debt and repayment.
$144,975 spent$60,892 earned by the program21% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $702,524.
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 2020 to 2021, from $945k to $1.8M (+91%).
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.
95% of POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 9 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
Laura Perna
Chair of the board
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $844k → $1.4M.
From the IRS filings of POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY 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
POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 65% of grant income and the top three 92%; 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 89% · 2018 54% · 2019 86% · 2020 57% · 2021 58% · 2022 84% · 2023 51% — 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.
Where its funders are
POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 4 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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
POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 497 public benefit nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 497 public benefit nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY 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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
60% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- New Venture Fund · exempt
- Telescope Fund · exempt
- Sunflower Services Pbc · corp_trust
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY 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 POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE?
- POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,026,852 to it, the largest being GATES FOUNDATION ($5,235,150). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $8,026,852 in grants to POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE?
- GATES FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $5,235,150 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like POSTSECONDARY NATIONAL POLICY INSTITUTE 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 Postsecondary National Policy 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 5 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