CATO INSTITUTE

As filed

Subsection

03

NTEE code

W200

Classification

1000

Street

1000 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2025

• PUBLIC POLICY & RESEARCH - OUR VISION IS A FREE AND OPEN SOCIETY IN WHICH LIBERTY ALLOWS EVERY INDIVIDUAL TO PURSUE A LIFE OF PROSPERITY AND MEANING IN PEACE. TO THAT END, OUR SCHOLARS AND ANALYSTS CONDUCT AND PUBLISH INDEPENDENT, NONPARTISAN RESEARCH ON A WIDE RANGE OF POLICY ISSUES ACROSS MORE THAN 14 RESEARCH AREAS, INCLUDING LAW AND CIVIL LIBERTIES, TAX AND BUDGET POLICY, REGULATORY STUDIES, HEALTH CARE AND WELFARE, EDUCATION, FINANCE, BANKING AND MONETARY POLICY, FOREIGN POLICY AND NATIONAL SECURITY, TRADE POLICY, AND INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

  Expenses $24,773,747 · Grants $86,000 · Revenue $26,672

• EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS - CATO HOSTS PUBLIC EVENTS AND CONFERENCES IN ORDER TO ENGAGE DIVERSE AUDIENCES ON OUR RESEARCH AND POLICY PRESCRIPTIONS. CATO ALSO PROACTIVELY INVESTS IN THE NEXT GENERATION THROUGH ITS STUDENT PROGRAMS. THESE INCLUDE OUR CATO INTERNSHIP PROGRAM AND JOHN RUSSELL PASLAQUA INTERN SEMINAR SERIES, OUR STUDENT BRIEFING PROGRAM, CATO COURSES, AND CATO UNIVERSITY, WHICH TEACHES COLLEGE STUDENTS FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY ABOUT AMERICA'S FOUNDING PRINCIPLES OF INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY, LIMITED GOVERNMENT, AND FREE ENTERPRISE. OUR SPHERE PROGRAM SUPPORTS MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATORS WITH THE KNOWLEDGE AND TOOLS TO OVERCOME POLARIZATION AND ADVANCE CIVIL DISCOURSE ON CONTENTIOUS ISSUES IN THE CLASSROOM.

  Expenses $10,249,871 · Grants $30,000 · Revenue $285,254

• COMMUNICATIONS & EXTERNAL AFFAIRS - CATO SCHOLARS ENGAGE AND EDUCATE BROAD AUDIENCES ON OUR POLICY PRESCRIPTIONS BY DISSEMINATING OUR RESEARCH THROUGH SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, SOCIAL MEDIA, BRIEFINGS, OP-EDS AND BLOGS, PODCASTS, TELEVISION AND RADIO APPEARANCES, AND OUR WEBSITES, WHICH RECEIVE OVER 14.7 MILLION VISITS ANNUALLY. WE HAVE INVESTED SIGNIFICANTLY IN BUILDING A CATO DIGITAL PROGRAM TO SHOWCASE THIS CONTENT IN A DYNAMIC, ENGAGING, AND ACCESSIBLE WAY THROUGH ALL THESE CHANNELS. CATO SCHOLARS AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS PERSONNEL MEET WITH AND EDUCATE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS AND THEIR STAFF ON A VARIETY OF PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES, ADVANCING SOLUTIONS BASED ON THE PRINCIPLES OF INDIVIDUAL LIBERTY, LIMITED GOVERNMENT, FREE MARKETS, AND PEACE. CATO HOSTS A QUARTERLY CONGRESSIONAL FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM GEARED TO SHARE OUR RESEARCH AND FOSTER GREATER ENGAGEMENT ON MAJOR PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES. SCHOLARS REGULARLY OFFER CONGRESSIONAL TESTIMONY RELATED TO THEIR FIELDS OF RESEARCH.

  Expenses $5,747,997 · Grants $20,000

As filed on the 2025 return.

Officers and directors · 2025

As listed in Part VII of the 2025 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

• 2025

  Revenue

  $69,195,897

  Expenses

  $50,569,335

  Contributions

  $55,163,662

  Grants paid

  $136,000

• 2023

  Revenue

  $71,927,807

  Expenses

  $41,834,120

  Contributions

  $67,085,826

  Grants paid

  $200,000

• 2022

  Revenue

  $57,666,559

  Expenses

  $37,718,015

  Contributions

  $55,743,874

  Grants paid

  $133,754

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

• 2021 · 990

  Revenue

  $45,929,682

  Expenses

  $31,337,947

  Assets (EOY)

  $116,844,158

• 2020 · 990

  Revenue

  $43,021,209

  Expenses

  $28,207,239

  Assets (EOY)

  $103,817,347

• 2019 · 990

  Revenue

  $32,506,528

  Expenses

  $31,141,580

  Assets (EOY)

  $85,585,362

• 2018 · 990

  Revenue

  $30,261,118

  Expenses

  $30,601,421

  Assets (EOY)

  $84,375,877

• 2017 · 990

  Revenue

  $36,679,802

  Expenses

  $30,381,673

  Assets (EOY)

  $84,854,531

• 2016 · 990

  Revenue

  $36,889,645

  Expenses

  $30,150,105

  Assets (EOY)

  $78,534,414

• 2015 · 990

  Revenue

  $27,869,293

  Expenses

  $29,162,114

  Assets (EOY)

  $71,182,786

• 2014 · 990

  Revenue

  $36,069,847

  Expenses

  $28,246,157

  Assets (EOY)

  $72,934,328

• 2013 · 990

  Revenue

  $28,350,110

  Expenses

  $24,538,565

  Assets (EOY)

  $64,520,251

• 2012 · 990

  Revenue

  — not reported

  Expenses

  $26,028,845

  Assets (EOY)

  $60,639,117

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all. Showing the 10 most recent; the API carries the rest.

Grants made

• AMERICA'S FUTURE FOUNDATION

  $66,000

  2025 · GENERAL SUPPORT

• York College of Pennsylvania

  $62,500

  2023 · General Support

• Brookings Institution

  $37,500

  2023 · Collaboration

• America's Future Foundation

  $30,000

  2023 · General Support

• Moral Courage Project

  $30,000

  2023 · General Support

• YORK COLLEGE OF PENNSYLVANIA

  $20,000

  2022 · GENERAL SUPPORT

• AMERICAN LEGISLATIVE EXCHANGE COUNCIL

  $20,000

  2025 · GENERAL SUPPORT

• AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH

  $20,000

  2022 · EVENT SUPPORT

• AMERICA'S FUTURE FOUNDATION

  $17,500

  2022 · GENERAL SUPPORT

• STUDENTS FOR LIBERTY

  $13,300

  2022 · EVENT SUPPORT

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Where these grants went next →

Grants received

• FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

  $11,428,237

  2024 · For grant recipient's exempt purposes

• FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

  $10,130,384

  2022 · For grant recipient's exempt purposes

• T ROWE PRICE PROGRAM FOR CHARITABLE GIVING INC

  $5,010,500

  2025 · MULTIPLE

• DONORS TRUST INC

  $4,113,155

  2023 · for general operations

• DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING

  $3,398,266

  2023 · PUBLIC, SOCIETAL BENEFIT

• VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM

  $2,775,499

  2023 · FOR RECIPIENT'S EXEMPT PURPOSE

• FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND

  $2,364,946

  2023 · For grant recipient's exempt purposes

• VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM

  $1,913,344

  2022 · FOR RECIPIENT'S EXEMPT PURPOSE

• DONOR ADVISED CHARITABLE GIVING

  $1,534,218

  2024 · PUBLIC, SOCIETAL BENEFIT

• DONORS TRUST INC

  $1,163,125

  2024 · for general operations

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Other IRS files