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New York · Nonprofit

THE ENGINE ROOM INC

THE ENGINE ROOM INC (New York) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,166,508 to it, the largest being THE FORD FOUNDATION ($3,476,333). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$3.7M
Funders on record
12
Grants received
$7.2M
Net assets
$3.1M
5/12 repeat fundersgrants exceed reported revenue in one year
01What it does

What The Engine Room Inc does

Mission

We strengthen the fight for social justice by supporting civil society to use technology and data in strategic, effective, and responsible ways.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Program

  1. To increase impact by supporting individuals making informed technology and data decisions, support the effective use of data and technology for people's empowerment, and cut down on wasteful costs in civil society's adoption of technology and data.in 2024 the engine room continued to support partners in using data and technology responsibly, strategically and effectively, and to shift narratives around data and technology toward justice by: 1. Providing contextual support to over 80 organizations on tech and data challenges through our light-touch support (lits), and longer-term partnerships.2. Providing in-depth tech strategy and infrastructure support to a few selected groups in sub-saharan africa and latin america through our matchbox program. 3. Building evidence on critical tech and data issues through research, such as biometrics technologies, chatbots tools, technologies for cash and vouched assistance, low-tech initiatives, alternative social media and the digital divide for lgbtqi+ technologies.

    $1,201,104 spent$56,851 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,201,104.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($1.4M) Expenses 100 ($1.2M) Net assets 100 ($764k)2018 Revenue 108 ($1.5M) Expenses 103 ($1.3M) Net assets 138 ($1.1M)2019 Revenue 107 ($1.5M) Expenses 131 ($1.6M) Net assets 128 ($974k)2020 Revenue 243 ($3.5M) Expenses 114 ($1.4M) Net assets 399 ($3.0M)2021 Revenue 96 ($1.4M) Expenses 136 ($1.7M) Net assets 360 ($2.7M)2022 Revenue 53 ($763k) Expenses 153 ($1.9M) Net assets 214 ($1.6M)2023 Revenue 68 ($975k) Expenses 133 ($1.6M) Net assets 129 ($985k)2024 Revenue 257 ($3.7M) Expenses 126 ($1.5M) Net assets 409 ($3.1M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (257)Expenses (126)Net assets (409)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2023 to 2024, from $1.1M to $3.2M (+190%).

$801k
$1.1M
$1.0M
$3.1M
$2.8M
$1.7M
$1.1M
$3.2M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

98% of THE ENGINE ROOM INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (81% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 11,793 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$203k
’17
$287k
’18
−$76k
’19
$2.1M
’20
−$300k
’21
−$1.1M
’22
−$650k
’23
$2.1M
’24
1.4
months of
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

Paola Mosso

Executive director

Board chair

Ivan Sigal

Chair

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed56555667
Joined·+1+2+2+0+2+1+3
No longer listed·0320112
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 5 funders, grant income rose $344k → $1.1M.

2 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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 THE ENGINE ROOM 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

THE ENGINE ROOM INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 49% of grant income and the top three 85%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

49%
largest funder
85%
top three
~3
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 73% · 2018 67% · 2019 49% · 2020 47% · 2021 50% · 2022 78% · 2023 36% — 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

43% of THE ENGINE ROOM INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 42% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

76% of THE ENGINE ROOM INC's grant income comes from New York funders.

IL
NY
CA
DC

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
New York out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $360k 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.

04Its place in the field

Against its field

THE ENGINE ROOM INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,263 human services nonprofits its size.

Operating margin58% · top quartile
Months of reserve1.4mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)14% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,263 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Organizations like THE ENGINE ROOM 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 New York

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

78% of spending goes to programs.

Program 78%Management 16%Fundraising 6%

Governance

5
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention–Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

17%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

NY

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE ENGINE ROOM 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.

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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 THE ENGINE ROOM INC?
THE ENGINE ROOM INC (New York) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,166,508 to it, the largest being THE FORD FOUNDATION ($3,476,333). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does THE ENGINE ROOM INC have?
IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $7,166,508 in grants to THE ENGINE ROOM INC, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of THE ENGINE ROOM INC?
THE FORD FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $3,476,333 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like THE ENGINE ROOM INC 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 Engine Room →

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 12 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