With more than a half-million members, The Heritage Foundation is the most broadly supported public policy research institute in the nation. This broad base of support guarantees that no donor or group of donors has the ability to direct the views or activities of Heritage.
Additionally, the total of all corporate support to Heritage amounts to less than 2% of all contributions, and Heritage takes no money from government—whether federal, state, local, tribal, or foreign—for any research activity or any other purpose. Rather, our power to impact government policy and to promote and defend America’s founding ideals comes directly from the voluntary support of our more than 500,000 members.
Our members make it possible for Heritage to conduct expert research, educate Congress and the American people, and promote consistently effective policy solutions based on the ideals of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense.
To honor the intent of our members, we ensure that all Heritage research and policy proposals are guided by a core set of principles. Heritage does not support policies that deviate from these principles, nor are our recommendations ever influenced by outside political pressure.
Heritage also carefully protects the independence and quality of our research by refusing to engage in contract research. Our research products all go through a rigorous, multi-layer review process prior to publication to ensure the highest research quality and integrity of our work.
>>> Read more about Heritage’s Research Independence and Integrity
The steadfast support of our members combined with Heritage’s operational effectiveness earned us the ranking of the No. 1 think tank in the world for our impact on public policy.
It is only with our members’ ongoing support that we can continue to create effective solutions to the biggest issues America faces; make significant policy impacts at the federal, state, and local levels; and build an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish.
A significant way we strive to be good stewards of our members’ gifts is by making our financial information easy to find and easy to understand. We disclose the names of donors, with their approval, in our annual report. You can find more detailed financial information in The Heritage Foundation’s annual reports and annual audited financial statements:
The Heritage Foundation’s IRS Form 990 is available here.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact our membership office at (800) 546-2843 or [email protected].
