Persuasion Institute

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
853357582
IRS 990 coverage
2020–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2029646090
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$584,134
Expenses
$483,294
Assets
$441,240
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Yascha Mounk (President)

Highest reported compensation

  • David Hamburger (Treasurer): $116,993 total reported compensation
  • Yascha Mounk (President): $106,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Persuasion institute exists to promote the values of democracy, free speech, free inquiry, and philosophical liberalism by developing a community dedicated to these values and by advancing them through civic education and journalism.

What it reported doing in 2024

Persuasion Institute continued the operations of "Persuasion Community," a project including the online digital magazine, Persuasion, and the production of online discussions and an annual symposium for members on topics discussed in the magazine. Articles and related podcast episodes were made freely available to the public in keeping with Persuasion Institute's nonprofit civic educational mission. In Q4 2024, Persuasion added the "American Purpose," "Frankly Fukuyama," "Yascha Mounk, and Bookstack" column offerings to "Persuasion Community."

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and assets have declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 75
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 77
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68%; rating input score 68
  • Program expense ratio: 82.2%; rating input score 82
  • Fundraising efficiency: $84.97 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 85; 85th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • 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: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.3%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.91; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 46.1%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 31.4% per year; rating input score 100; 91st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.4% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.4% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68% of revenue deployed · 82.2% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $397K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $117K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 19 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 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.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.