American Brownstone Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
871368060
IRS 990 coverage
2022–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Austin, TX, USA
Phone
3347030884
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,569,313
Expenses
$2,197,147
Assets
$3,564,240
Liabilities
$0

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JEFFREY TUCKER (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • LUCIO EASTMAN (Secretary/Media): $164,780 total reported compensation
  • JEFFREY TUCKER (President): $31,699 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Brownstone Institute is an educational nonprofit corporation that strives to provide an independent voice for personal liberty and free enterprise in the United States. We look to influence a post-lockdown world by generating new ideas in public health, scientific discourse, economics, and social theory to defend and promote the liberty that is critical for an enlightened society from which everyone benefits. The purpose is to point the way to a better understanding of essential freedoms.

What it reported doing in 2024

The organization conducted research in areas including history, politics, economics, science, psychology and sociology. Topics included revealing hard truths related to public health, generating new ideas in public health, scientific discourse, economics, and social theory with the goal of defending and promoting liberty. Information and articles were published on the Institute's website and social media, in print and audio formats. In addition, educational conferences and lecture dinners and gatherings were held with the goal of educating those in attendance regarding personal liberty and free enterprise, across all areas of our society. Print materials were also produced to educate readers in our post-lockdown world by examining the global crises created by policy responses to the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, discovering and explaining alternative paths, waking the world to truths, and seeking reforms to prevent such events from happening again.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 89% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Hybrid. The nonprofit split its reported program spending across 73% for direct work, and 27% for grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 84
  • Transparency & Controls: 59
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 64
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.5%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 91.2%; rating input score 91
  • Fundraising efficiency: $47.16 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 88.9%; rating input score 89; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 44
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.5%; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.62; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 97; 97th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 8.9%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 59.9% per year; rating input score 100; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 17.4% per year; rating input score 100; 85th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 22.3% per year; rating input score 100; 87th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.5% of revenue deployed · 91.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 6 of 6 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $165K · 8 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $122K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 filed money-flow records
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grants require schedule f did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.