Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 1158 organizations whose IRS filings report $145,575,549 to it, the largest being DIANA DAVIS SPENCER FOUNDATION INC ($15,001,000). 760 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $134M
- Funders on record
- 1,158
- Grants received
- $146M
- Net assets
- $334M
What The Heritage Foundation does
Mission
To formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional american values, and a strong national defense.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Educational programs and communications:The Heritage Foundation (the foundation) hosts events and sponsors programs to educate policymakers, government officials, the academic community, journalists, and the general public on topics ranging from the constitution and civil society to political philosophy and legal jurisprudence.in 2024, a strategy forum was held that convened 200 movement leaders and experts in policy research, strategy, and communication to exchange actionable insights, develop strategic plans, and strengthen collaboration on key priorities shaping the conservative movement.the foundation's events and programming team produced 56 public events, attracting over 11,000 virtual and in-person attendees. Over 160 individuals in and outside the organization spoke on our public stage. Speakers included current and former government officials. Programs were focused on a range of policy issues including foreign policy, education, marriage and family, immigration, energy, and more.the intern program hosted a total of 167 interns in a fully immersive work-study experience that included first principles and policy lectures, professional development sessiions, and field…
$50,089,211 spentof which $8,665,000 as grants$69,247 earned by the program43% of program spendingPublic policy research:the foundation produces research papers annually, including issue briefs, blog posts, fact sheets, backgrounders, guides, and books addressing a broad range of economic, domestic, foreign, national security, and legal policy issues. The foundation published 33 issue briefs, 66 backgrounders, 20 legal memoranda, 20 factsheets and 27 special reports. The foundation also regularly publishes content across social media platforms as the public has shifted its content and consumption to those channels. The social media footprint grew to 3.3 million total followers, including 1.9 million on facebook, 720,000 on x, 424,000 youtube subscribers, and 262,000 on instagram. The asian studies center produced 21 reports, 40+ op-eds, and hosted 22 events to counter china's influence, while the tech policy center supported multiple state-level big tech investigations.the foundation's project 2025 presidential transition project garnered millions of page views and downloads of the mandate for leadership, representing over 100 conservative organizations and sparking 50 plus fact checks in major media outlets.during 2024, a personal inflation calculator was released that…
$48,914,924 spentof which $25,150 as grants42% of program spendingMedia, government relations, and outreach:the foundation distributes its research products to members of congress, congressional staff, policymakers in the executive branch of the federal government, state officials, journalists, members of the academic community, other non-profit organizations, the general public, and donors. The foundation conducts hundreds of briefings for domestic and international officials, policymakers, experts, and lawmakers and their staff on issues ranging from federal spending and unfunded liabilities to homeland security, tax, and health policy. In 2024, the government relations team held 194 meetings with congressional staff and saw 32 members of congress participate in events, while conducting 72 educational meetings with hill staff and 18 nonpartisan candidate briefings.in 2024, the foundation amplified its national presence with 1,983 tv hits, 2,325 radio hits, 158 podcast appearances, and 870 op-eds placed, shaping public discourse coast to coast.the foundation reached 34 million americans and non-partisan voter registration efforts engaged 85,000 homes and 25,000 voters.the foundation hosted or sponsored 128 events across 28 states and 40…
$18,343,317 spentof which $356,000 as grants16% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $117,347,452.
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 $295M to $366M (+24%).
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.
79% of THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (0% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Board chair
Barb Van Andel-Gaby
Chairman
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 308 funders to 496 funders, grant income rose $7.3M → $24M.
113 of 1158 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 37% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $3k from one payer (the payer's own filing calls it a related party, largest Msw Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION raised.
From the IRS filings of THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 1158 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
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 10% of grant income, and it takes 10 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 10 funders to its left
39% 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 THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 29% · 2018 54% · 2019 18% · 2020 16% · 2021 9% · 2022 8% · 2023 21% — 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
50% of THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION'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
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION draws 99% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 49 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $55M arriving through sponsors registered in 36 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
THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION's funding base is broadening — from 308 funders to 496 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 66 public benefit nonprofits over $100M, FY2024
Government funding THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2k on record.
- Department of Health and Human Services$2k
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 THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION
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
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
86%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 30 states
Part of a family of 9 related entities
- Intern Housing LLC · disregarded
- Massachusetts Avenue Properties LLC · disregarded
- 3rd Street Properties LLC · disregarded
- Education Freedom LLC · disregarded
- Heritage Action for America · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: 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 THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION?
- THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 1158 organizations whose IRS filings report $145,575,549 to it, the largest being DIANA DAVIS SPENCER FOUNDATION INC ($15,001,000). 760 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 1158 organizations giving $145,575,549 in grants to THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION, 760 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION?
- DIANA DAVIS SPENCER FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $15,001,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION 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 1158 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