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Massachusetts · Nonprofit

THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC

THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,340,040 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($5,682,000). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 91% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

$1.2M
Revenue FY2025
12
Funders on record
$7.3M
Grants received
$3.0M
Net assets
10/12 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 90%

Against its field

THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 1,812 community improvement nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−39% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve21.1mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)9% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,812 community improvement nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Three funders worth looking at

Grantmakers with no record of funding this organization, ranked by how strongly the co-funder graph and the mission embeddings agree. The evidence is in section 03.

See all 12 prospects and why each one surfaced →
01The 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 ($593k) Expenses 100 ($695k) Net assets 100 ($1.4M)2018 Revenue 211 ($1.3M) Expenses 134 ($933k) Net assets 124 ($1.7M)2019 Revenue 128 ($758k) Expenses 149 ($1.0M) Net assets 103 ($1.4M)2020 Revenue 237 ($1.4M) Expenses 184 ($1.3M) Net assets 113 ($1.5M)2021 Revenue 231 ($1.4M) Expenses 184 ($1.3M) Net assets 119 ($1.6M)2022 Revenue 552 ($3.3M) Expenses 194 ($1.3M) Net assets 261 ($3.5M)2023 Revenue 204 ($1.2M) Expenses 208 ($1.4M) Net assets 265 ($3.6M)2024 Revenue 183 ($1.1M) Expenses 231 ($1.6M) Net assets 243 ($3.3M)2025 Revenue 203 ($1.2M) Expenses 241 ($1.7M) Net assets 218 ($3.0M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (203)Expenses (241)Net assets (218)Peer revenue range

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
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 11% · 2025 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

76% of THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (61% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 4,406 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$103k
17
$319k
18
$275k
19
$125k
20
$88k
21
$1.9M
22
$233k
23
$521k
24
$470k
25
21
months of
reserve
02Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 5 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $536k → $571k.

8 of 12 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF)91% 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 RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE 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 RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 77% of grant income and the top three 87%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

92% 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 RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC.

77%
largest funder
87%
top three
~2
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 42% · 2018 80% · 2019 68% · 2020 73% · 2021 88% · 2022 93% · 2023 97%growing more concentrated.

“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

67% of THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 83% 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

91% of THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC'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 $650k that is directly attributable, 88% of it comes from funders outside Massachusetts, across 3 states.

MA
PA
CA

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

17
18
19
20
21
22
Massachusetts out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $6.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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.

03Its place in the field

Funders to approach

Grantmakers that don’t fund you yet, surfaced two ways: they back organizations that share your funders, or their grantees resemble your mission. The ones both signals agree on come first. Your 12 funders put you under-funded among the 400 organizations that share them.

From the co-funder graph (funders backing at least two comparable organizations, shrunk for grantee count, donor-advised and mega-funds excluded) and the universe embeddings. A research starting point; overlap is association, not a guarantee of fit.

Government funding THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $14k on record.

State$14k
22
26
Top programs
  • Pass thru Grant Non-State$13k
  • Educ & Training For Employees$500

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 RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC

Nonprofits whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over the universe of US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.

In Massachusetts

Nationally

04Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

69% of spending goes to programs.

Program 69%Management 13%Fundraising 18%

Governance

8
board members
88%
independent
Conflict-of-interest policyWhistleblower policyDocument retentionBoard reviewed the 990Audited financials

Public support

77%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 3 states

NY
MA
CA

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf

Questions and answers

Who funds THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC?
THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC (Massachusetts) receives grants from 12 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,340,040 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($5,682,000). 10 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 91% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC have?
IRS filings report 12 organizations giving $7,340,040 in grants to THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC, 10 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC?
NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $5,682,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like THE RIGHT QUESTION INSTITUTE INC find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. 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 12funders 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 August 27, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing