Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Dec 2010.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
75 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.
Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.
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Who runs it and what they're paid
6 people listed on the 990; $185K paid to officers and key staff.
Charles Marohn’s $185K as President is at the 61st percentile of top reported officer pay among 2832 $1–10M community development 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 · 1 named individual · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Marohn | $185,000 | $190,317 | $149,725 | $133,675 | $136,983 |
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.
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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 15aNo
Programs and updates
Helps American towns grow financially strong and resilient.
Questions for Strong Towns
Your first name shows with your question. Strong Towns answers here, for everyone.
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Strong towns supports thousands of people across the united states and canada who are advocating for a radically new way of thinking about the way we build our world. We do this in six key ways: media, education, resources, events, neighborhood groups, and community action lab.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2025 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY25 | End FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $549K | $474K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $3K | $2K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $601K | $516K |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $278K | $210K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $323K | $307K |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $185K | $147K | $28K | $10K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $1.1M | $894K | $168K | $63K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $47K | $38K | $7K | $1K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $67K | $54K | $11K | $2K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $92K | $71K | $15K | $6K |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $16K | $16K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $158K | $137K | $20K | |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $35K | $15K | $187 | $19K |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $42K | $11K | $31K | $185 |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $37K | $20K | $16K | $1K |
| TravelLn 17 | $118K | $56K | $58K | $4K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $129K | $124K | $4K | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $782 | $782 | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $6K | $6K | ||
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $52K | $4K | $47K | $1 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $2.1M | $1.6M | $428K | $107K |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $2.1M | $2.1M | −$17K | $307K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $2.3M | $2.4M | −$135K | $323K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $2.3M | $2.1M | $212K | $458K | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $1.2M | $1.2M | $7K | $246K | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $1.1M | $852K | $218K | $239K | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $605K | $685K | −$80K | $21K | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $2,090,550 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 5 of 5 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $2,090,550 across 7 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $2,107,263 across 15 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $516,411 assets, 12 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $306,693 net assets at year end
Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2025 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File
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