Center of the American Experiment

What it reported doing in 2025

Our Policy Fellows were hard at work during this year's legislative session. We testified 13 times on a variety of topics, including public safety, healthcare, the budget, energy, education, and fraud. We submitted written testimony on even more issues, including housing and childcare. We also appeared in Congress, in the North Dakota and Ohio legislatures, and in front of the Minneapolis City Council. (Accomplishments continued on schedule o)In the legislature we: -With more than 20,000 emails, we led the chorus of Minnesotans who demanded that House Democrats return to work, and they did, with a favorable outcome for conservatives after a 23-day boycott. -Successfully pressured the legislature to terminate the program funding healthcare for illegal immigrants -Successfully opposed the "sick tax" proposed by Senate Democrats that would have led to a cost increase on all health care services -Played a prominent role in the establishment of the House Fraud Prevention committee, and testified twice in front of that committee In the community we: -Released an exclusive recording of Keith Ellison's private meeting with Feeding Our Future fraudsters, who he assures he's "here to help" -Debuted a viral video debunking wind and solar's status as "clean" energy sources that has been watched over 6 million times-Launched significant initiative to bring real school choice to Minnesota, and awarded our first ever scholarship to support students receiving high-quality private education -Exposed Mary Moriarty's harmful policies as Hennepin County Attorney through publication of her decisions and their results, including her refusal to properly charge carjacking crimes. She will not be seeking re-election-Received national attention for exposing Governor Walz's radical Ethnic Studies framework, and successfully suing the Department of Education when they withheld this framework from the public. -Rebutted the failed socialist policies attempting to rebrand as "democratic socialism and take root in the Twin Cities As an organization we:-Increased our email audience to over 200,000 subscribers -Put on 51 events across the state of Minnesota, including a 20-stop summer tour called Minnesota DOGE: Cut the waste, save the budget.-Received donations from more than 11,000 Minnesotans, with the median donation being $35-Released 6 original reports and 6 policy briefings aimed at educating policy makers and citizens on conservative solutions to our biggest problems -Reached more people on social media than ever before, amassing tens of millions of impressions with our content, and hundreds of millions of contacts through all media In North Dakota we: -Helped pass a long-overdue bill legalizing charter schools and micro schools to give parents and children more educational options -Got a high-quality school choice bill to the Governor's desk -were awarded a prize by the State Policy Network for our innovative plan to support new charter schools in North Dakota

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 80.8%; rating input score 81
• Program expense ratio: 88.6%; rating input score 89
• Fundraising efficiency: $11.62 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 41; 41st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 21st percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Compensation committee: Pass
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 75th percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 97.4%; rating input score 97; 27th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Fail
  • Document-retention policy: Fail
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 8.9%; rating input score 53; 53rd percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.54; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.38; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 17.1%; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 12.8% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 11.6% per year; rating input score 100; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 12.2% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings