Oregon · Nonprofit
THE ROOTS OF PROGRESS
THE ROOTS OF PROGRESS (Oregon) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,283,073 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($486,700). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 74% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.9M
- Funders on record
- 15
- Grants received
- $2.3M
- Net assets
- $1.2M
What The Roots of Progress does
Mission
The Roots of Progress is a non profit organization in the state of oregon. Our mission is to provide research and education on the history and nature of human progress. 'progress' is that which allows people to live better lives: anything that increases health, happiness, wealth, freedom, knowledge, peace, and the choices and opportunities open to each individual. Our mission is to define and communicate a new philosophy of progress for the twenty-first century. We study the nature, value, and causes of progress, and prescribe ways that humanity can accelerate and steer it. We will allocate 100% of our time towards our activities; which are the following: research: essays on the history of technology and industry, and on the nature of scientific, technological, industrial, economic, and social progress. Most of the results of this research will be made freely available to the public on our website. Writing: sponsoring writers to create books and magazine/journal articles on the same to
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
The progress conferencein 2024, The Roots of Progress hosted its first-ever progress conference, a major event bringing together thinkers, writers, scientists, and innovators to discuss the philosophy and future of human progress. The conference drew over 200 participants and featured talks, panels, and networking sessions on topics including technological innovation, the history of progress, and its moral and cultural foundations. The event served as a central gathering for the growing progress community and marked a significant milestone in advancing the organization's mission.
$221,522 spent$55,498 earned by the program33% of program spendingFellowshipThe Roots of Progress fellowship continued its mission to accelerate the careers of progress intellectuals. Its second annual blog-building intensive was held in 2024, with 24 fellows participating. The program provided writing instruction, editorial feedback, and audience-building support. Many fellows launched new publications or expanded their readership through the program.
$212,529 spent31% of program spendingWritingfounder and president jason crawford published 17 essays in 2024, totaling over 37,000 words. About half of the essays were chapters and excerpts from his book-in-progress, the techno-humanist manifesto. These were also some of the longest and most in-depth pieces.the most popular pieces, based on likes and comments, were: "announcing the techno-humanist manifesto" "what is progress?" "why you, personally, should want a larger human population" "biological risk from the mirror world"overall, his readership and online reach grew significantly. Email subscribers on substack increased 82% to nearly 33,000, while followers on the social network x (formerly twitter) rose 17% to 36,700. Crawford also expanded his presence on other platforms, including farcaster (3,400 followers), bluesky (1,700), and threads (over 1,000). Across all channels, his work received about 360,000 unique views on substack and 192,000 page views on the legacy roots of progress blog.talks and interviewscrawford gave multiple talks and interviews throughout the year, including at: progress conference 2024 abundance 2024 foresight institute's vision weekend
$81,787 spent12% of program spendingThe progress forumthe organization continued to sponsor the progress forum, an online discussion platform for the progress community, fostering thoughtful dialogue about science, technology, and human advancement.various other program expenses were also incurred.
$161,382 spent24% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $677,220.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 2023 to 2024, from $258k to $1.2M (+384%).
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.
96% of THE ROOTS OF PROGRESS’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 4 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.
Who funds it, year by year
2021 → 2023: the base held at 3 funders, grant income fell $285k → $167k.
8 of 15 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 74% 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 ROOTS OF PROGRESS’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 ROOTS OF PROGRESS has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% 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
91% 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 ROOTS OF PROGRESS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2021 88% · 2022 43% · 2023 43% — 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.
Where its funders are
74% of THE ROOTS OF PROGRESS'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 $584k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Oregon, across 5 states.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.7M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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 ROOTS OF PROGRESS runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,274 human services nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,274 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like THE ROOTS OF PROGRESS
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 Oregon
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
71% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE ROOTS OF PROGRESS: 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 ROOTS OF PROGRESS?
- THE ROOTS OF PROGRESS (Oregon) receives grants from 15 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,283,073 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($486,700). 7 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 74% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does THE ROOTS OF PROGRESS have?
- IRS filings report 15 organizations giving $2,283,073 in grants to THE ROOTS OF PROGRESS, 7 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE ROOTS OF PROGRESS?
- NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $486,700 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE ROOTS OF PROGRESS find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Oregon. 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 Roots of Progress →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2021–2024), and the filings of 15 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