Pennsylvania · Nonprofit
RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC
RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,511,499 to it, the largest being GATES FOUNDATION ($2,680,471). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.2M
- Funders on record
- 23
- Grants received
- $14M
- Net assets
- $4.5M
What Research for Action Inc does
Mission
The mission of research for action, inc. (rfa) is to engage in and use research as the basis for the improvement of educational opportunities and outcomes for traditionally underserved students.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Rfa envisions a just education system, where all students, especially learners from underserved communities, have opportunities to thrive from pre-k through postsecondary and into the workforce. Recognizing research as a powerful mechanism for advancing education systems change, we partner with change agents on actionable research and evaluation projects that inform the development and scale of high-quality education programs and policies. (continued on schedule o).in fiscal year 2025, rfa's approximately 30 researchers partnered with more than 20 unique partners and clients across the united statesranging from direct-service nonprofits to philanthropic foundations to public school districts and state systems of higher education, to state and local education departments, and the federal government. Through these partnerships, rfa designed and implemented over two dozen innovative research projects yielding approximately 50 actionable reports distilling empirical insights and policy guidance. Further, we make research accessible to the public through accompanying social media posts, blogs, media citations, legislative testimony and other thought leadership, demonstrating rfa's…
$4,071,707 spentof which $147,906 as grants$2,026,604 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $4,071,707.
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 2018 to 2019, from $6.4M to $2.9M (−54%).
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 12% · 2022 15% · 2023 14% · 2024 13% · 2025 25%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
60% of RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (81% 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.
Chief executive
Martha Kate Callahan
Executive director
Board chair
Jameel Rush
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 11 funders, grant income rose $1.5M → $2.0M.
2 of 23 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% 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 RESEARCH FOR ACTION 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
RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 20% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 97% · 2018 51% · 2019 59% · 2020 22% · 2021 24% · 2022 29% · 2023 32% — 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
70% of RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 70% 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
RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC draws 59% of its grant income from funders outside Pennsylvania, across 10 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $104k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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
RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 97 social science nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 97 social science nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Government funding RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.2M on record.
- Department of Education$3.1M
- Department of Health and Human Services$100k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like RESEARCH FOR ACTION 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 Pennsylvania
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
75% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
51%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for RESEARCH FOR ACTION 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 RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC?
- RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC (Pennsylvania) receives grants from 23 organizations whose IRS filings report $13,511,499 to it, the largest being GATES FOUNDATION ($2,680,471). 16 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC have?
- IRS filings report 23 organizations giving $13,511,499 in grants to RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC, 16 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC?
- GATES FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $2,680,471 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like RESEARCH FOR ACTION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Pennsylvania. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 23 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing