Is it real?
Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2025. IRS ruling in Sep 1984.
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
21 people listed on the 990; $1.7M paid to officers and key staff.
Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII
| Name | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | FY2021 | FY2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kent Lassman | $359,403 | $346,621 | $278,255 | $313,279 | $254,835 | $244,359 |
| Wayne Crews | $185,918 | $176,647 | — | $165,996 | $172,415 | $157,967 |
| Joel Zinberg | $182,652 | $183,136 | $178,442 | $173,000 | — | — |
| Carrie Diamond | $176,796 | $137,539 | $117,261 | $117,461 | $115,073 | — |
| Greg Conko | — | — | — | — | $175,742 | — |
| Daren Bakst - Dir of Center | $171,456 | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wayne Crews Fred L Smith | — | — | $169,603 | — | — | — |
| Iain Murray | $161,635 | $153,963 | $145,668 | $147,856 | $145,939 | $129,687 |
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 15aYes
Programs and updates
Researches and educates on free enterprise and limited government principles.
Questions for Competitive Enterprise Institute
Your first name shows with your question. Competitive Enterprise Institute answers here, for everyone.
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Communications and outreachcei's communications and outreach department assists the cei policy centers with their efforts to disseminate research findings and analysis to various audiences including policymakers, news media, allied organizations, and the general public.
Center for energy and environment cei's center for energy and environment makes the positive case for abundant energy and promotes environmental policies based on economic freedom, property rights, and limited government.
Center for economic freedomcei's center for economic freedom addresses many of the industries and activities where long-established, and often paternalistic, regulatory policies tend to stymie the creation and evolution of new products and services, technologies, business practices, and work arrangements.
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 | $4.6M | $6.1M |
| InvestmentsLn 11–13 | $702K | $765K |
| Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c | $408K | $501K |
| Total assetsLn 16 | $9.4M | $15.3M |
| LiabilitiesLn 26 | $3.5M | $5.7M |
| Net assetsLn 32 | $5.8M | $9.6M |
| Line | Total | Programs | Management | Fundraising |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1 | $3K | $3K | ||
| Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5 | $896K | $405K | $196K | $294K |
| Other salaries and wagesLn 7 | $3.9M | $3.2M | $76K | $622K |
| Pension plan contributionsLn 8 | $47K | $35K | $4K | $8K |
| Other employee benefitsLn 9 | $439K | $326K | $10K | $103K |
| Payroll taxesLn 10 | $383K | $297K | $24K | $63K |
| Legal feesLn 11b | $50K | $34K | $16K | |
| Accounting feesLn 11c | $105K | $105K | ||
| Lobbying feesLn 11d | $43K | $43K | ||
| Professional fundraising feesLn 11e | $105K | $105K | ||
| Other fees for servicesLn 11g | $1.2M | $1.2M | $2K | $5K |
| Advertising and promotionLn 12 | $113K | $113K | ||
| Office expensesLn 13 | $141K | $95K | $32K | $15K |
| Information technologyLn 14 | $184K | $139K | $17K | $28K |
| OccupancyLn 16 | $674K | $583K | $18K | $73K |
| TravelLn 17 | $143K | $114K | $791 | $28K |
| Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19 | $240K | $238K | $478 | $866 |
| InterestLn 20 | $4K | $3K | $96 | $388 |
| Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22 | $118K | $102K | $3K | $13K |
| InsuranceLn 23 | $52K | $45K | $1K | $5K |
| Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24 | $273K | $176K | $22K | $75K |
| Total functional expensesLn 25 | $9.1M | $7.1M | $511K | $1.5M |
Filing history
| Year | Money in | Money out | In minus out | Net assets | Download |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 Latest Viewing | $12.9M | $9.1M | $3.7M | $9.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2024 | $8.8M | $8.6M | $208K | $5.8M | 990 PDF |
| FY2023 | $10.1M | $8.4M | $1.7M | $5.6M | 990 PDF |
| FY2022 | $7.8M | $6.7M | $1.1M | $3.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2021 | $6.7M | $6.6M | $153K | $2.5M | 990 PDF |
| FY2020 | $6.8M | $6.2M | $635K | $2.3M | 990 PDF |
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Schedules filed Part IV
See the full FY2025 990 (6 parts)
Part I · Summary $12,854,082 revenue, 12 lines filed
Part VI · Governance 10 of 11 board members independent, no flags
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $12,854,082 across 8 lines filed
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $9,105,214 across 21 lines filed
Part X · Balance sheet $15,260,215 assets, 16 lines filed
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $9,584,133 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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