The Heritage Foundation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237327730
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
Location
Washington, DC, USA
Phone
2025464400
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Research Institutes and Public Policy Analysis

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$133,868,147
Expenses
$142,200,535
Assets
$413,819,868
Liabilities
$80,258,948

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KEVIN ROBERTS (PRESIDENT)
  • DERRICK MORGAN (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • KEVIN ROBERTS (PRESIDENT): $950,545 total reported compensation
  • DERRICK MORGAN (EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT): $649,481 total reported compensation
  • ERIC KORSVALL (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $532,761 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The Heritage Foundation's mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.

What it reported doing in 2024

Media, government relations, and outreach: the foundation distributes its research products to members of congress, congressional staff, policymakers in the executive branch of the federal government, state officials, journalists, members of the academic community, other non-profit organizations, the general public, and donors. The foundation conducts hundreds of briefings for domestic and international officials, policymakers, experts, and lawmakers and their staff on issues ranging from federal spending and unfunded liabilities to homeland security, tax, and health policy. In 2024, the government relations team held 194 meetings with congressional staff and saw 32 members of congress participate in events, while conducting 72 educational meetings with hill staff and 18 nonpartisan candidate briefings.in 2024, the foundation amplified its national presence with 1,983 tv hits, 2,325 radio hits, 158 podcast appearances, and 870 op-eds placed, shaping public discourse coast to coast.the foundation reached 34 million americans and non-partisan voter registration efforts engaged 85,000 homes and 25,000 voters.the foundation hosted or sponsored 128 events across 28 states and 40 countries, reaching over 228,000 conservatives in-person, and invested $1.1 million in 72 partner organizations.the oversight project works for a u.s. Government that is responsible, and accountable to its citizens. In 2024, 65,000 freedom of information act (foia) requests were filed with the current administration in addition to various state governments. In addition, a total of 100 lawsuits were launched nationwide, exposing government activities and driving accountability.additional information is available in our 2024 annual report, available online at https://www.heritage.org/article/the-heritage-foundations-financial-information.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 96% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 92% 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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and fundraising costs are high for each dollar raised.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 80
  • Accountability: 96
  • Sustainability: 39
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 82.5%; rating input score 83
  • Fundraising efficiency: $5.25 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 5 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 83
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Pass
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.2%; rating input score 11; 11th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.91; rating input score 75; 75th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.5%; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.7% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 82.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $117.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $951K · 29 people listed · 5 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $14.7M reported
  • Consistency: 42 of 42 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 12 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 38 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 35 filed related-organization links
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight scored 0/100.
  • High — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 11/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 31/100.