Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
THIRD WAY
THIRD WAY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,683,648 to it, the largest being Breakthrough Energy Action Inc ($2,556,954). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $32M
- Funders on record
- 27
- Grants received
- $7.7M
- Net assets
- $59M
What Third Way does
Mission
To research and develop centrist policy ideas.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Please note that for this program, and for all of the organization's programs, all reports developed by Third Way are made available to the general public through its website: www.thirdway.org.climate and energy:in 2024, Third Way's climate and energy program helped solidify the united states' position as a global leader in clean energy innovation and deployment. Third Way focused their efforts on addressing deployment challenges, clarifying the economic and national security benefits of clean energy, and supporting strategies that accelerate progress. Third Way's work centered on three priorities: 1) equipping decision-makers with data and insight to guide the energy transition; 2) identifying and addressing non-cost barriers to clean energy deployment; and 3) increasing public understanding of the benefits of clean energy.Third Way bridged gaps in the clean energy economy by providing strategic analysis and solutions. In 2024 Third Way's team:--developed an interactive map highlighting job creation and local investment across 11 clean energy technologies. The tool also featured progress reports on technology supply chains to help stakeholders assess america's global…
$12,742,201 spent59% of program spendingSocial policy and politics:in 2024, Third Way's social policy, education and politics team focused on three core areas: 1) defining what american want from washington; 2) centering value in the higher education debate; and 3) addressing threats on social issues:defining what americans want from washington: Third Way's politics team answered this question by: --utilizing electoral data sources including the catalist voter file, cooperative election study, and ap votecast, to draft reports analyzing and explaining the american electorate and differences in opinion, worldview, and voting behavior across states and districts with a focus on key presidential and senate states and battleground house districts; --conducting qualitative and quantitative public opinion research to better understand what voters prioritize, how they think about current issues under discussion in the administration and congress, and what they want from candidates and policymakers; --building a case against running a well-financed third-party candidate in the 2024 presidential election by employing historical and empirical data to show this candidate would have no path to victory and could only play a role as…
$5,014,692 spentof which $1,425,500 as grants23% of program spendingEconomics program:in 2024, Third Way's economic program focused on three core areas: 1) making the middle class more affordable and attainable for non-college educated workers; 2) strengthening the affordable care act and lowering health care costs; and 3) expanding entrepreneurial opportunity in america.making the middle class affordable and attainable: there are two americas today-one for the college educated and one for those without four-year degrees. Workers in these economies are worlds apart-the type of work they do, how they receive their pay, when they start their workday, and the benefits they get from employment are night and day. Much more must be done to make a middle-class life more affordable and attainable for all workers-but especially those without a four-year college degree. Work included:--deep analysis of the non-college workforce, including how they fared over the pandemic, experiences of non-college veterans, economic realities of non-college women, and how work has separated based on education level.--research into how artificial intelligence impacts the economy, workforce, and small businesses.--assessment of how different policies impact economic…
$3,328,404 spentof which $256,000 as grants15% of program spendingNational security program:in 2024, the national security program focused most exclusively on artificial intelligence, both domestically and as it relates to china. It is clear now that ai is the new arms race and that both the united states and china are well ahead of the rest of the world. Each country has a different model on how it will develop ai and each has goals on how it is regulated in deployed. Us-china on ai and the power competition: more than ever, the us-china competition will be decided by digital technology and ai. The national security program highlighted the importance and challenges the us faces with china. --the ai race will be shaped by the values each country holds. Third Way dissected the major values america and china bring to ai innovation and informed policymakers and the public how it may determine who wins the ai race. --in Third Way's paper titled clash of the tech titans, we argued to the public and policymakers that the frontlines in the us-china digital competition are the companies. Third Way educated the public on what each company does, how they compete, and the threat the chinese companies pose to national security and privacy. --Third Way's…
$430,844 spent2% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $21,516,141.
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 2019 to 2020, from $29M to $39M (+33%).
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: 2021 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
93% of THIRD WAY’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (96% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 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
Jonathan Cowan
President and CEO
Board chair
Rachel Pritzker
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 4 funders to 8 funders, grant income rose $168k → $687k.
2 of 27 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 5% 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: $104M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Third Way Institute). These are real filings, and they are not money THIRD WAY raised.
From the IRS filings of THIRD WAY’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
THIRD WAY leans on a few funders — its largest provides 33% of grant income and the top three 65%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 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 THIRD WAY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 49% · 2018 100% · 2019 100% · 2020 98% · 2021 50% · 2022 43% · 2023 42% — 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
25% of THIRD WAY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 33% 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
THIRD WAY draws 90% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 10 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $407k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
THIRD WAY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 152 civil rights nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 152 civil rights nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like THIRD WAY
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
88% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Third Way Institute · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THIRD WAY: 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 THIRD WAY?
- THIRD WAY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 27 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,683,648 to it, the largest being Breakthrough Energy Action Inc ($2,556,954). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THIRD WAY have?
- IRS filings report 27 organizations giving $7,683,648 in grants to THIRD WAY, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THIRD WAY?
- Breakthrough Energy Action Inc is the largest funder on record, with $2,556,954 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THIRD WAY 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 27 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