California · Nonprofit
The URSA Institute
The URSA Institute (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $432,060 to it, the largest being THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION ($237,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.5M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $432k
- Net assets
- $747k
What The URSA Institute does
Mission
To work collectively in love unity and cultural humility to educate empower and engage our communities to end commercial tobacco use. We believe the elimination of commercial tobacco use is necessary for the health and prosperity of the Black community. We will work towards a tobacco free California where the tobacco industry no longer has influence over our leaders organizations communities and families.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
California dept of public health: tobacco control contracts implement and evaluate policy systems and environmental change efforts aimed at preventing and reducing tobacco use among population groups with high rates of smoking
$512,825 spentof which $597,353 as grants44% of program spendingCampaign for tobacco free kids: engage african american leadership with education outreach; urge support for federal legislation that would prohibit flavored tobacco products: campaign support at the local level to restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products.
$185,868 spentof which $225,000 as grants16% of program spendingRobert woods johnson foundation operational support of policy systems and environmental change efforts. Strengthen organizational capacity. Advance work on national local levels. Create and implement leadership development initiative.
$252,411 spentof which $310,415 as grants22% of program spendingThe Los Angeles Department of Public Health $156,423 -- The Center for Black Health & Equity $101,201 -- Chessen Family Trust $50,000 -- Kaiser Foundation $10,725 -- NCTOH Sponsors $15,360 -- other donations $4,004. These funds have been instrumental in enabling us to advance our mission of promoting health and equity within our community. We have been able to develop and implement critical initiatives that address disparities and improve health outcomes. We have been strategic in providing services that ensure that we can continue making a meaningful impact in the community.
$213,271 spentof which $337,713 as grants18% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,164,375.
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 $198k to $403k (+104%).
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: 2023 0% · 2024 0% · 2025 51%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
100% of The URSA Institute’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 6 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
Carol McGruder
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income fell $30k → $24k.
3 of 6 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 28% 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 URSA Institute’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 URSA Institute leans on a few funders — its largest provides 55% of grant income and the top three 90%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
33% 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 URSA Institute.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 95% · 2022 48% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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
The URSA Institute draws 93% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 3 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $120k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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 URSA Institute has grown faster than half of the 431 civil rights nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 431 civil rights nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like The URSA 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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for The URSA 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 URSA Institute?
- The URSA Institute (California) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $432,060 to it, the largest being THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION ($237,000). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does The URSA Institute have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $432,060 in grants to The URSA Institute, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of The URSA Institute?
- THE ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $237,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The URSA Institute find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 URSA Institute →
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 6 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