Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Jul 1974.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
79 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
Something off? Claim to add context
Who runs it and what they're paid
31 people listed on the 990; $2.9M paid to officers and key staff.
Virginia W Knox’s $578K as President is at the 95th percentile of top reported officer pay among 414 $10–100M employment nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia W Knox | $577,629 | $537,852 | $460,846 | $445,532 |
| Jesus M Amadeo | $474,585 | $456,910 | $391,346 | $398,929 |
| Dan J Bloom - SR Vice Pres | $305,331 | $292,384 | — | — |
| Dan J Bloom | — | — | $258,935 | $272,662 |
| Sharon Rowser Thru 072021 | — | — | $268,123 | — |
| Charles Michalopoulos | $264,924 | $257,339 | $232,624 | $229,588 |
| James a Riccio | $260,920 | $248,103 | $230,724 | $233,609 |
| Rose Kob | $251,854 | $239,945 | $232,994 | — |
Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.
See Mdrc executive salaries →Questions the 990 asks
The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.
- Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
- Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes
Programs and updates
Conducts rigorous social policy research and evaluations to help schools and public programs improve the well-being and academic achievement of low-income individuals.
Questions for Mdrc
Your first name shows with your question. Mdrc answers here, for everyone.
Family well-being and child developmentchildren who grow up in poverty face much greater risks of academic failure, poor health, and emotional distress and, as adults, are more likely to be unemployed and poor.
Youth development, criminal justice, and employmentmdrc was originally established to study programs for the "hard-to-employ," americans who face serious obstacles to finding and keeping steady work.
Economic mobility, housing, and communitieslong regarded as the premier investigator of policies to improve the lives of families on welfare, MDRC has brought its program development skills and reputation for methodological rigor to the challenge of learning how best to improve the economic mobility, housing and communities.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
Federal money
Plus 8 smaller programs.
The auditor reported no findings.
Plus 13 smaller programs.
The auditor reported no findings.
Plus 15 smaller programs.
The auditor reported no findings.
Plus 14 smaller programs.
The auditor reported no findings.
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | FY20 | FY19 | FY18 | FY17 | FY16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| End of yearLn 1g | $42.6M | $38.6M | $35.3M | $37.5M | $32.9M |
| SpentLn 1d–1f | $1.4M | $2.0M | $1.3M | $393K | $372K |
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $23.1M | $30.4M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $61.5M | $55.6M |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $8.7M | $8.3M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $112.6M | $118.5M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $31.9M | $33.8M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $80.6M | $84.8M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $3.9M | $3.9M | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $1.8M | $1.3M | $483K | $565 |
| Pay of disqualified personsLn 6 | $437K | $319K | $118K | $138 |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $25.8M | $18.9M | $7.0M | $8K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $1.7M | $1.2M | $437K | $511 |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $4.9M | $3.6M | $1.3M | $2K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $1.9M | $1.4M | $503K | $588 |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $276K | $68K | $208K | |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $569K | $569K | ||
| Investment management feesLn 11f | $204K | $204K | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $58K | $47K | $11K | |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $3.5M | $3.4M | $106K | $1K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $3.2M | $2.6M | $624K | |
| TravelLn 17 | $316K | $188K | $128K | |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $184K | $33K | $150K | |
| InterestLn 20 | $246 | $246 | ||
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $735K | $537K | $198K | $232 |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $269K | $196K | $72K | $85 |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $14.4M | $13.0M | $1.5M | $108 |
| All other expensesLn 24e | $1.8M | $1.5M | $371K | $57 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $66.0M | $52.1M | $13.9M | $13K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024 LatestFiled with the IRS Nov 17, 2025 | $89.3M | $93.9M | −$4.6M | $92.0M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023Filed with the IRS Nov 13, 2024 | $83.9M | $85.0M | −$1.1M | $95.9M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $82.8M | $85.7M | −$3.0M | $91.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021Filed with the IRS Nov 11, 2022 | $93.1M | $75.1M | $18.0M | $106.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 ViewingFiled with the IRS Nov 14, 2021 | $65.6M | $66.0M | −$447K | $84.8M | 990 PDF |
Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $65,579,736 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 16 of 16 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $65,579,736 across 7 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $66,026,292 across 20 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $118,549,591 assets, 22 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $84,770,846 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2020 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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