Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
R STREET INSTITUTE
R STREET INSTITUTE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 82 organizations whose IRS filings report $46,125,135 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION ($12,785,500). 48 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $15M
- Funders on record
- 82
- Grants received
- $46M
- Net assets
- $6.8M
What R Street Institute does
Mission
The R Street Institute is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public-policy research organization ("think tank"). Our mission is to engage in policy research and outreach to promote free markets and limited, effective government. (continued on schedule o)
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Harm reductionr street's harm reduction program is grounded in an understanding that "abstinence only" approaches to risky behavior are ineffective. With this in mind, rsi focuses on harm-reduction approaches that recognize that harmful behaviors may continue to happen even as policies are enacted to help mitigate-if not eliminate-those harms. The program connects the dots between historically siloed issues such as: tobacco, cannabis, and illicit drug use. In addition, the program's project for women and families conducts public policy research and outreach on pressing issues for the modern american family, focusing on pragmatic policy solutions like improving telehealth access, reducting regulatory burdens on child care, increasing labor flexibility for working parents, and enhancing economic mobility.
$2,379,134 spent19% of program spendingTechnology & innovationr street's technology and innovation policy program supports american innovation and pushes back against regulatory impediments to economic progress, individual liberty, and free speech. The team's work this year included defending against misguided antitrust laws in congress, thwarting attacks on content moderation and section 230-from both political parties-as well as outlining the future of artificial intelligence, broadband deployment and internet governance in the united states.
$2,212,410 spent18% of program spendingEnergy and environmentr street's energy and environment team seeks a cleaner environment through a combination of a thriving economy, well-founded science, and principles of market competition and limited government. Our experts have deep expertise in climate and environmental policy, as well as electricity policy.
$1,956,880 spentof which $30,000 as grants16% of program spendingGovernance r street's governance program aims to assess and improve america's system of self-governance, with a focus on congress and our electoral system. This year, the governance team's work focused on continued efforts to modernize the legislative branch, broad coalition work around improving our electoral system and defending election officials and voters from violence, reducing rampant overspending on capitol hill, and educating lawmakers, staff, and the public about their powers in congress through written work, briefings and podcasts like politics in question.
$1,678,658 spentof which $255,240 as grants13% of program spendingCriminal justice & civil libertiesr street's criminal justice and civil liberties policy program works across the ideological spectrum of public policy, impacting almost every stage of the criminal justice system: incarceration, juvenile justice, policing, pretrial, bail reform, reentry, and sentencing. Our reforms are grounded in ensuring public safety, due process, fiscal responsibility, and individual liberty.
$1,815,362 spent15% of program spendingFinance, insurance and trade r street's insurance policy program explores efficient and effective market-based approaches to public policy questions that involve the transfer of risk. Among its priorities are risk-based insurance regulation, ending environmentally destructive taxpayer subsidies through the national flood insurance program and the federal crop insurance corp. And exploring the benefits of mitigation through programs like the restore act and the coastal barrier resources system.
$1,180,890 spent9% of program spendingCybersecurity & emerging threatsr street's cybersecurity and emerging threats team works on data security and data privacy at the federal and state levels, emerging cyber and national security threats, cyber impacts on the private sector, and workforce diversity in cybersecurity, among other pressing public policy concerns.
$1,089,530 spent9% of program spendingCompetition policyr street's competition policy program addresses government barriers that hurt businesses and people. We support market-oriented policy solutions that enhance free enterprise, consumer choice, and public well-being. The team focuses primarily on occupational licensing, alcohol policy, health care disintermediation, telehealth policy, anti-poverty programming, and regulatory reform.
$131,792 spent1% of program spendingLobbying
$65,543 spent1% of program spending
The 9 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $12,510,199.
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 2019 to 2020, from $5.3M to $9.0M (+71%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 10%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
99% of R STREET INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 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.
Chief executive
Erica Schoder
Executive director
Board chair
Susanna Dokupil
Board chairwoman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 14 funders to 37 funders, grant income rose $3.2M → $5.2M.
11 of 82 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 9% 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 R STREET INSTITUTE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 82 funders by total. 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
R STREET INSTITUTE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 28% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
34% 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 R STREET INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 39% · 2018 64% · 2019 23% · 2020 30% · 2021 36% · 2022 21% · 2023 23% — 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
54% of R STREET INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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
R STREET INSTITUTE draws 83% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 16 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $4.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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
R STREET INSTITUTE is better cushioned than half of the 4,064 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,064 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like R STREET 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
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
70%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 19 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for R STREET 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 R STREET INSTITUTE?
- R STREET INSTITUTE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 82 organizations whose IRS filings report $46,125,135 to it, the largest being THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION ($12,785,500). 48 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does R STREET INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 82 organizations giving $46,125,135 in grants to R STREET INSTITUTE, 48 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of R STREET INSTITUTE?
- THE WILLIAM & FLORA HEWLETT FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $12,785,500 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like R STREET 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.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 82 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