Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Jun 2012.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File
Where the money goes
78 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
5 people listed on the 990; $176K paid to officers and key staff.
Ruben Bloom’s $211K as Team Lead is at the 61st percentile of top reported officer pay among 360 $1–10M medical research 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 | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Mushkatblat | — | $166,250 | $339,862 | $156,117 | — | — |
| Jacob Lagerros | — | — | $229,135 | $141,141 | — | — |
| Rafe Kennedy | $201,667 | $169,729 | $224,622 | — | — | — |
| Ruben Bloom | $211,430 | $165,236 | $216,358 | $192,670 | $115,367 | — |
| Ben Pace | $133,649 | $149,154 | $185,696 | $210,022 | — | — |
| James Babcock | — | $97,131 | $194,628 | $176,667 | — | — |
| Raymond Arnold | — | $135,000 | $153,391 | $149,474 | — | — |
| Oliver Habryka | — | $93,765 | $151,341 | — | — | — |
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
Researching and testing ways to improve human and artificial intelligence.
Questions for Center for Applied Rationality
Your first name shows with your question. Center for Applied Rationality answers here, for everyone.
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Main Workshops
Cfar has performed literature reviews in psychology, cognitive science, and related fields in order to develop a range of mental techniques designed to help improve clarity of thinking and decision-making, and increase internal alignment towards goals.
Lesswrong2.0
Lesswrong is a community dedicated to improving our reasoning and decision-making. We seek to hold true beliefs and to be effective at accomplishing our goals. More generally, we work to develop and practice the art of human rationality.
Research and Training
Our research activities consist of literature reviews and small-scale trials, followed by testing techniques at workshops. Our training primarily consists of weekend workshops for alumni volunteers to attend so they can develop the skill set to be mentors or instructors for our workshops.
Funders
Who pays for it.
From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.
Grants
By the numbers
The FY2020 990, line by line.
Download 990
| Line | Start FY20 | End FY20 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and savingsLn 1–2 | $1.4M | $1.6M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $3 | $3 |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $1.7M | $1.6M |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $3.1M | $3.4M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $1.0M | $943K |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $2.1M | $2.4M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $219K | $219K | ||
| Grants to domestic individualsLn 2 | $0 | |||
| Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3 | $0 | |||
| Benefits paid to or for membersLn 4 | $0 | |||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $214K | $155K | $60K | |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $673K | $486K | $187K | |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $66K | $48K | $18K | |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $61K | $44K | $17K | |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $30K | $30K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $81K | $77K | $5K | |
| Office expensesLn 13 | $55K | $38K | $16K | |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $41K | $34K | $7K | |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $229K | $191K | $39K | |
| TravelLn 17 | $1K | $1K | $237 | |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $57K | $17K | $40K | |
| InterestLn 20 | $53K | $52K | $1K | |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $25K | $25K | ||
| InsuranceLn 23 | $26K | $5K | $21K | |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $133K | $133K | $0 | $0 |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $2.0M | $1.5M | $441K | $0 |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest | $2.4M | $2.1M | $337K | $895K | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $6.3M | $10.2M | −$3.8M | $579K | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $9.1M | $9.4M | −$320K | $4.4M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $11.6M | $10.2M | $1.5M | $4.7M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $4.5M | $3.6M | $879K | $3.3M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 Viewing | $2.3M | $2.0M | $356K | $2.4M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2020 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $2,323,476 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 2 of 3 board members independent, 1 to look at
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $2,323,476 across 13 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $1,967,112 across 19 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $3,355,803 assets, 16 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $2,412,985 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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