Home › Arts, culture & humanities
The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism
The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism reported $28.8 million in revenue and $11.8 million in expenses for calendar year 2025. Of every $100 it spent, $87.89 went to program services, $5.38 to management and general costs and $6.73 to fundraising. Its largest source of revenue was contributions and grants: 95.0% of the total. The highest compensation it reported for one person was $832,849 (PRESIDENT & CEO, BOARD MEM). 11 people received more than $100,000 in reportable compensation. Revenue rose 257% between FY2020 and 2025. Source: Form 990, 2025.
Where $100 of spending went
Calendar year 2025 · Form 990, Part IX, line 25 · total expenses $12MFor context, the median across 876 covered arts, culture & humanities charities: $79.98 programs, $13.89 management, $6.13 fundraising (medians computed separately, so they may not sum to $100).
Where $100 of revenue came from
Calendar year 2025 · Form 990, Part VIII · total revenue $29M- Contributions & grants (non-government)$94.71 $27M
- Program service revenue$1.81 $523K
- Investment income$3.48 $1.0M
Other revenue was negative: −$76,128. The bar shows the positive sources only.
The 990 scorecard · same measures for every charity, no grades
| Measure | 2025 | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Program services Part IX 25(B) ÷ 25(A) | 87.9% | 78.5% |
| Management & general Part IX 25(C) ÷ 25(A) | 5.4% | 13.6% |
| Fundraising Part IX 25(D) ÷ 25(A) | 6.7% | 6.0% |
| Fundraising cost per $1 of contributions Part IX 25(D) ÷ Part VIII 1h | $0.03 | $0.10 |
| Contributions & grants share of revenue Part VIII 1h ÷ 12 | 95.0% | 57.5% |
| Government grants share of revenue Part VIII 1e ÷ 12 | 0.0% | 1.7% |
| Program service revenue share Part VIII 2g ÷ 12 | 1.8% | 20.8% |
| Highest reported compensation Part VII-A, columns D–F | $832,849 | $385,706 |
| Highest compensation as share of expenses Part VII-A ÷ Part IX 25(A) | 7.04% | 2.03% |
| People paid over $100,000 Part VII, line 2 | 11 | 8 |
| Net assets, in months of expenses Part X 33(B) ÷ monthly expenses | 92.0 | 36.6 |
| Independent voting board members Part VI 1a–1b | 4 of 8 | 100.0% |
A median is context, not a target: hospitals, universities, food banks and grantmakers spend in very different ways. What these measures can and can't tell you.
What the money paid for, in its own words
2025 · Form 990, Part III · the three largest programs by expenseOutreach programs: we posted scores of new videos to our youtube channel, with significant growth in subscribers and views. Among the new videos were lectures, interviews, and podcasts on topics ranging from history and philosophy to cultural issues and foreign affairs. Our channel showcased rare and lesser-known Ayn Rand audio-video materials.six major conferences were held during the fiscal year: 1) arcon-europe was held in march 2025 in berlin, germany; 2) arcon USA was held at the end of feb 2025 to early march 2025 in austin, texas; 3) arcon latin america was held in august 2025 in…
Educational programs:in fy2025, we focused on growing our free books to teachers program, introducing new marketing campaigns and in-person outreach through teacher conferences. Our books for students program also saw steady growth as we refined our online strategy. Essay contests continued their strong performance, helping US to identify promising student leads for our educational programs. As always, in-person conferences were a culminating experience for many of the students who interact with our programs.aru, our program of online courses focused on objectivism and its philosophical…
Other: the Ayn Rand archives continued to enhance the protection of ari's physical archival materials and invested in projects that will provide significantly more access in coming years: volunteers and staff transcribed over 5,000 pages of written archival material. In addition to publishing essays and hosting online events featuring archival materials, we released more archival audio online and produced a physical exhibit, "this is Ayn Rand speaking," at ocon 2025."the ari estore (estore.aynrand.org) continued to sell books and recordings on objectivism and related topics. Ari continued to…
Highest reported compensation
2025 · Form 990, Part VII, Section A · roles as filed; names are in the filing, not here| Role | From this org | From related orgs | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRESIDENT & CEO, BOARD MEM Director/trustee, officer, 45.00 hrs/week | $818,213 | $0 | $14,636 | $832,849 |
| CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Officer, 45.00 hrs/week | $313,962 | $0 | $11,225 | $325,187 |
| CHIEF PHIL. OFFICER Director/trustee, officer, 45.00 hrs/week | $241,767 | $0 | $14,960 | $256,727 |
| VP OF CONTENT & SR. FELLOW Key employee, 45.00 hrs/week | $213,216 | $0 | $12,472 | $225,688 |
| VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETIN Highest compensated employee, 45.00 hrs/week | $181,333 | $0 | $6,542 | $187,875 |
| CONTROLLER Officer, 45.00 hrs/week | $171,269 | $0 | $12,019 | $183,288 |
| VP OF ED. & SR. FELLOW Key employee, 45.00 hrs/week | $155,329 | $0 | $13,845 | $169,174 |
| DIRECTOR OF ARU OPERATIONS Highest compensated employee, 45.00 hrs/week | $121,780 | $0 | $11,386 | $133,166 |
11 people received more than $100,000 in reportable compensation from The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism (Part VII, line 2). Compensation of current officers, directors and key employees totaled $1.1M (Part IX, line 5).
7 filings since FY2020
Form 990, Parts I, VII, IX and X · each row is that year's own filing, linkedGovernance answers, as filed
2025 · the organization's own yes/no answers; explanations, if any, are in Schedule O of the filing · what each means- Voting board members, and how many are independent Part VI, lines 1a–1b8 · 4 independent
- Audited financial statements Part XII 2bYes
- Conflict-of-interest policy Part VI 12aYes
- Whistleblower policy Part VI 13Yes
- Document retention policy Part VI 14Yes
- Independent process for top executive pay Part VI 15aYes
- Board given the 990 before filing Part VI 11aYes
- Family or business ties among insiders Part VI 2No
- Aware of a significant diversion of assets Part VI 5No
- Excess benefit transaction with an insider Part IV 25aNo
- Loans to or from insiders outstanding Part IV 26No
- Lobbying, or a 501(h) election in effect Part IV 4No
- Over $15,000 of professional fundraising services Part IV 18No
- Over $10,000 of activity outside the U.S. Part IV 14bYes
- Employees Part I, line 551
- Volunteers Part I, line 66
Largest outside contractors
2025 · Form 990, Part VII, Section B · businesses only| PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE LLC Book publishing | $735,366 |
| WESTIN COPLEY PLACE BOSTON Events venue and lodging | $485,432 |
| TEEV EVENTS INC Events production | $406,722 |
| IMAGINE STUDIO LLC Design services | $357,079 |
Individuals listed as contractors are left out. 5 contractors were paid more than $100,000 in all.
Private foundation grants it received
15 private foundations reported grants to The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism totaling $947K on their tax year 2023 Form 990-PF returns. See which foundations, on WHOFUNDS.
Source: WHOFUNDS open grant graph, matched from Form 990-PF Part XV.
Correct a figure or respond
Every number above is copied from The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism's own Form 990. If one doesn't match the filing, that's our error and we'll fix it. If you work for The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism, you can publish a response that is linked from this page.
Share or embed this breakdown
Of every $100 The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism spent in 2025, $87.89 went to programs. The full breakdown, from its IRS Form 990:
Embed on your site
Similar-sized charities in this cause
- Seventh Regiment Armory ConservancyNew York, NY · revenue $29M · programs 84.5% · 2024
- Musicares FoundationSanta Monica, CA · revenue $29M · programs 87.9% · FY2025
- Sealaska Heritage InstituteJuneau, AK · revenue $29M · programs 88.2% · 2024
- Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of ArtNashville, TN · revenue $29M · programs 81.4% · 2025
- Utah Symphony & OperaSalt Lake City, UT · revenue $29M · programs 87.3% · FY2025
All arts, culture & humanities charities · Largest charities in California
Questions people ask
How much of The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism's spending goes to programs?
In calendar year 2025, The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism reported that 87.9% of its $11.8 million in expenses went to program services, 5.4% to management and general and 6.7% to fundraising (Form 990, Part IX).
How much does The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism pay its top executive?
The largest total compensation The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism reported for one person in calendar year 2025 was $832,849, for the role of PRESIDENT & CEO, BOARD MEM (Form 990, Part VII, including compensation from related organizations and other compensation).
Where does The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism get its money?
Of $28.8 million in revenue in calendar year 2025, 95.0% came from contributions and grants and 1.8% from program service revenue (Form 990, Part VIII).
Is The Ayn Rand Institute the Center for the Advancement of Objectivism a registered charity?
The IRS lists EIN 22-2570926 as a 501(c)(3) organization (publicly supported organization (170(b)(1)(a)(vi))), and its records show contributions as tax-deductible. Form 990 filings on record here cover tax years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025. A filing shows what the organization reported; it doesn't by itself show whether a program works.
Sources
- 2025: Form 990 for calendar year 2025, object 202621569349301307 · read the filing · XML
- FY2024 (3 mo.): Form 990 for the 3-month short period ending December 31, 2024, object 202512469349300636 · read the filing
- FY2024: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, object 202531229349302493 · read the filing
- FY2023: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023, object 202411019349301546 · read the filing
- FY2022: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2022, object 202341769349300104 · read the filing
- FY2021: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021 (amended), object 202331369349302818 · read the filing
- FY2020: Form 990 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, object 202112289349302666 · read the filing
All filings for EIN 22-2570926: ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer · IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search. Figures are as the organization reported them; we have not audited them.