Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
THE URBAN INSTITUTE
THE URBAN INSTITUTE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 254 organizations whose IRS filings report $401,027,329 to it, the largest being GATES FOUNDATION ($71,005,444). 151 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $130M
- Funders on record
- 254
- Grants received
- $401M
- Net assets
- $235M
What The Urban Institute does
Mission
The Urban Institute is a nonprofit research organization that drives impact by equipping changemakers with evidence and solutions to create a future where every person and community has the opportunity and power to thrive.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Social sciences - research and public policy analysis: the research to action lab is an innovation hub serving decisionmakers and creative thinkers eager to effect social change. We draw on the breadth and depth of The Urban Institute's research insights to test new strategies and develop cutting-edge tools, programs, and trainings, as well as provide strategic and philanthropic advice to public, nonprofit, and private-sector leaders. Nimble and creative, the lab takes an integrated approach to helping decisionmakers navigate current challenges and seize future opportunities in localities throughout the united states. Our multidisciplinary team offers expertise in identifying and cultivating approaches that shape public debate, improve decisionmaking, and spark disruptive solutions to today's complex social and economic challenges.
$20,028,982 spentof which $3,080,407 as grants17% of program spendingSocial sciences - research and public policy analysis: at the center on labor, human services, and population, we study how family, youth, and individual well-being is shaped by economic, social, and demographic trends, and how policies and programs can improve economic security, work, and child welfare and development. Understanding how families are faring in the face of economic pressures, demographic change, and public health and social challenges is essential for policymakers and practitioners who oversee social services and programs. Our research explores the implications of these changes for people and policies.
$18,395,637 spentof which $1,551,288 as grants16% of program spendingSocial sciences - research and public policy analysis: the income and benefits policy center gives decisionmakers crucial information by predicting how policy changes will affect people, programs, and government. We analyze family economic well-being from childhood through retirement and undertake research on a wide variety of issues, including income support, social insurance, taxes, and child support; education and training programs and policies; employers, workplaces, and the labor market; and workforce development systems and policies. As technological and demographic shifts transform the nature of jobs, our experts on postsecondary education and workforce development study what skills workers will need in the future and what challenges lie ahead for retirees. Our research explores the implications of these changes for people and policies.
$14,922,549 spentof which $397,635 as grants13% of program spendingUrban conducted additional programmatic activities including research and data analysis, convenings, data tools and modeling, strategic advising, program evaluation, and community engagement, that focused on economic and social policy issues that affect the well-being of people and communities.
$64,438,985 spentof which $5,372,987 as grants$46,571 earned by the program55% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $117,786,153.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $297M to $348M (+17%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2017 46% · 2018 42% · 2019 28% · 2020 34% · 2021 25% · 2022 25% · 2023 33% · 2024 31%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Chief executive
Sarah Rosen Wartell
President and chief executive officer
Board chair
Jamie S Gorelick
Chair (through 11/2024)
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 48 funders to 93 funders, grant income rose $25M → $46M.
44 of 254 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 11% 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 URBAN INSTITUTE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 254 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 URBAN INSTITUTE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 39% · 2018 37% · 2019 26% · 2020 22% · 2021 20% · 2022 31% · 2023 17% — 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
47% of THE URBAN INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% 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 URBAN INSTITUTE draws 96% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 33 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $43M arriving through sponsors registered in 21 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.
Government funding THE URBAN INSTITUTE receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $278.5M on record — $277.6M federal, $916k state.
- Department of Health and Human Services$122.9M
- Department of Labor$66.3M
- Department of Justice$39.3M
- Department of Education$13.2M
- Department of Housing and Urban Development$9.5M
- General Services Administration$7.0M
- DE$426k
- NJ$381k
- OR$50k
- MA$38k
- CT$20k
- FL$115
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 URBAN INSTITUTE
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
79% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
97%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 28 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE URBAN INSTITUTE: 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 URBAN INSTITUTE?
- THE URBAN INSTITUTE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 254 organizations whose IRS filings report $401,027,329 to it, the largest being GATES FOUNDATION ($71,005,444). 151 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE URBAN INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 254 organizations giving $401,027,329 in grants to THE URBAN INSTITUTE, 151 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE URBAN INSTITUTE?
- GATES FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $71,005,444 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE URBAN INSTITUTE 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 254 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