Virginia · Nonprofit
STATE POLICY NETWORK
STATE POLICY NETWORK (Virginia) receives grants from 192 organizations whose IRS filings report $94,695,379 to it, the largest being Donors Trust Inc ($46,352,675). 126 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $19M
- Funders on record
- 192
- Grants received
- $95M
- Net assets
- $18M
What State Policy Network does
Mission
State Policy Network's (spn) mission is to catalyze thriving, durable freedom movements in every state, anchored with high-performing, independent think tanks.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Catalyze multi-state policy solutions: spn empowers a nationwide network of independent think tanks to collaborate on state and community challenges, conduct rigorous research, and promote proven policy solutions nationwide. Through strategic grants, hands-on support, and fostering deep collaboration among state leaders, spn accelerates innovative reforms that strengthen self-governance and expand opportunities for americans.
$8,473,899 spentof which $4,201,369 as grants$368,863 earned by the program47% of program spendingBuild and strengthen state-based durable freedom infrastructure: through targeted training, coaching, grants, and peer-to-peer collaboration, spn accelerates the growth and impact of high-performing state-based organizations and leaders. By connecting state leaders and equipping them to defend federalism, advance free-market reforms, and champion community-driven solutions, spn ensures policy changes take root, endure, and ultimately improve the lives of americans.
$5,275,694 spentof which $1,625,881 as grants$295,090 earned by the program29% of program spendingAdvance practical federalism: spn equips policymakers with training, information, and practical tools to resist federal overreach and implement solutions tailored to their communities. By empowering states to act as laboratories of democracy, spn ensures policy decisions are shaped by the people closest to the challenges.
$2,256,544 spentof which $265,000 as grants$73,773 earned by the program12% of program spendingOther programs
$2,150,193 spentof which $16,495 as grants12% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $18,156,330.
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 $13M to $20M (+47%).
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.
93% of STATE POLICY NETWORK’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (96% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 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
Lawson Bader
Chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 51 funders to 89 funders, grant income rose $771k → $22M.
20 of 192 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 56% 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 STATE POLICY NETWORK’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 192 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
STATE POLICY NETWORK leans on a few funders — its largest provides 49% of grant income and the top three 68%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
57% 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 STATE POLICY NETWORK.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 48% · 2018 19% · 2019 17% · 2020 64% · 2021 51% · 2022 47% · 2023 48% — 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
55% of STATE POLICY NETWORK's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 66% 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
56% of STATE POLICY NETWORK's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $41M that is directly attributable, 99% of it comes from funders outside Virginia, across 38 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $53M arriving through sponsors registered in 17 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
STATE POLICY NETWORK's revenue grew 41% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 63 civil rights nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like STATE POLICY NETWORK
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 Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
85%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 41 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for STATE POLICY NETWORK: 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 STATE POLICY NETWORK?
- STATE POLICY NETWORK (Virginia) receives grants from 192 organizations whose IRS filings report $94,695,379 to it, the largest being Donors Trust Inc ($46,352,675). 126 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 56% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does STATE POLICY NETWORK have?
- IRS filings report 192 organizations giving $94,695,379 in grants to STATE POLICY NETWORK, 126 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of STATE POLICY NETWORK?
- Donors Trust Inc is the largest funder on record, with $46,352,675 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like STATE POLICY NETWORK find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 192 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