Company lists · Data refreshed September 2026
Top 25 Nonprofit research centers based in the United States
RevenueBase identified 245 nonprofit research centers headquartered in the United States as of September 2026 and tracks 20,501 professional contacts across them, including 5,349 with verified work emails. Washington is the largest hub.
This list covers nonprofit research centers headquartered in the United States, matched on what each company actually does as described in its own words. Ranked by team size, largest first. Every row shows the company's own description, its RevenueBase Smart Search rating, and when it was last checked. Data refreshed September 20, 2026.
Published by RevenueBase, a B2B data infrastructure company. This list was built with RevenueBase Smart Search, the natural-language company search RevenueBase customers use to build their own targeted lists and unlock verified emails and direct dials at the companies on them. How these lists are built and judged.
The 25 largest nonprofit research centers based in the United States
Ranked by team size| # | Company | Contacts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2,660 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “RAND is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization that provides leaders with the information they need to make evidence-based decisions.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 2 | 1,386 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “CNA is a nonprofit research and analysis organization dedicated to the safety and security of the nation.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 3 | 1,343 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “IDA (Institute for Defense Analyses) – a not-for-profit corporation headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia just outside Washington, DC – operates three Federally Funded Research…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 4 | 961 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “For more than 75 years we have used data to make a difference-addressing the challenges of a changing world by illuminating issues, creating common ground, and advancing ambitious…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 5 | 937 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is a bipartisan, nonprofit policy research organization dedicated to advancing practical ideas to address the world’s…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 6 | 517 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “In 1958 the Air Force needed a technically qualified unbiased organization that could rapidly provide analysis for identified and evolving mission requirements.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 7 | 297 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is a private, nonprofit research organization dedicated to conducting and disseminating nonpartisan economic research.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 8 | 237 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 9 | 213 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “The Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) is recognized as one of the world's leading developers of cleaner, more efficient energy to power the world and environmental…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 10 | 174 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) is an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit organization that develops strong, pragmatic, and principled national security and defense…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 11 | 113 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies is an independent, 501(c)(3), not-for-profit public policy research institute.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 12 | 97 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 13 | 85 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “The Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) is the national leader in market solutions for conservation, with over 40 years of research and a network of respected scholars…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 14 | 80 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “The Century Foundation is a progressive, independent, public policy think tank.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 15 | 77 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “The Charles F.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 16 | 69 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “The Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) is an independent nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to strengthening prosperity and human welfare in…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 17 | 69 contacts → | ||||
Indirect evidence “The mission of Discovery Institute is to advance a culture of purpose, creativity and innovation.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 18 | 65 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “The Mackinac Center for Public Policy is a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Michigan residents by promoting sound…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 19 | 57 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Founded in 2006, ITIF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan research and educational institute-a think tank-focusing on a host of critical issues at the intersection of…” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 20 | 54 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “Sagamore is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 21 | 44 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “The Ramos Research Institute is a research institute working on original research, polling, and policy analysis to tackle today's wicked problems.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 22 | 41 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “At The Policy & Research Group, we use rigorous research and evaluation to improve the potential of people through equitable public policy and improved practice.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 23 | 37 contacts → | ||||
Strong evidence “Lawfare is a nonpartisan, nonprofit multimedia publication and research organization dedicated to hard choices in national security.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 24 | 35 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “The Jain Family Institute is a nonpartisan applied research organization in the social sciences.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
| 25 | 33 contacts → | ||||
Partial evidence “We are a non-profit research organization building alternative macroeconomic models.” Source: RevenueBase Database · checked Sep 20, 2026Thanks. The Data Team will review it. | |||||
RevenueBase Smart Search
RevenueBase Smart Search assesses information from a company’s LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website, and other publicly available sources. It uses that information to rate how closely the company relates to this list’s category: nonprofit research centers. Every row carries its rating and the description the rating was read from, so each one can be checked rather than taken on trust.
- Strong evidence
- The company's own public description of its business names nonprofit research centers.
- Partial evidence
- Its own public description names part of nonprofit research centers, so it works in or next to the category without describing itself that way.
- Indirect evidence
- The description shown does not name nonprofit research centers. The match rests on the rest of the company's public profile rather than the one sentence quoted here, so this is the rating to check first.
RevenueBase Smart Search is how these lists are built: RevenueBase's data engine and AI assemble the companies that match a category defined in a user's own words, so a list can be about what companies actually do rather than about whichever industry code they were filed under.
Showing 25 of 245 nonprofit research centers based in the United States
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Nonprofit research centers based in the United States at a glance
As of Sep 20, 2026Companies by employee count
Email recency for this list is measured worldwide rather than for United States, so it is reported there. Company counts and contact totals on this page are exact for United States, over 245 companies.
How this list was built
Company categories are rarely black and white. RevenueBase reads each company's own description of its business to decide whether it belongs among nonprofit research centers, so some rows will be adjacent to the category rather than pure plays. The description and RevenueBase Smart Search rating on every row are there so you can check each match yourself.
- Source
- The RevenueBase company graph: 60 million companies and 398.9 million professional contacts resolved from primary sources, queried with RevenueBase Smart Search, the natural-language company search available to every RevenueBase user.
- What qualifies
- Companies headquartered in the United States whose own description of what they do matches “nonprofit research centers”. Matching reads each company's description, not its industry code or its name.
- RevenueBase Smart Search
- RevenueBase Smart Search is how this list is assembled and how each row is rated. RevenueBase's data engine and AI assess a company's LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website and other publicly available information, then relate it to a category defined in a user's own words. Each row is rated strong evidence (its own description names nonprofit research centers), partial evidence (it names part of the category) or indirect evidence (the description shown names none of it and the match rests on the rest of the company's profile). The description supporting each rating is quoted on the row.
- What we exclude
- Companies whose own description does not clearly place them among nonprofit research centers, and records with no verified work email. Companies headquartered outside United States are excluded even when they keep an office there.
- Match quality
- In blind human judging of this matching method, 86% of matched companies were on target. Expect roughly 1 in 7 rows to be adjacent to the category rather than a pure play. Every row shows the company's own description and its RevenueBase Smart Search rating so you can judge each match yourself. Read the full methodology: how the lists are built, how the judging worked, and what the figure means.
- Ranking
- Team size, largest first: companies are ordered by the number of professionals RevenueBase tracks at each one. Employee ranges shown are reported bands, for context.
- Verification
- Every listed company carries at least one verified work email, 5,349 across the full list. Contacts re-verify on a rolling cadence, and each contact's own verification date is shown inside RevenueBase.
- Refresh
- This page's figures were pulled from the company graph on September 20, 2026. Lists refresh periodically as the graph is re-checked.
- Corrections
- Wrong category, wrong headquarters, or a company that has closed? Use “Report an issue” on any row. Reports go to the RevenueBase Data Team and feed back into the company graph.
Nonprofit research centers by metro
- Nonprofit research centers in Washington36
Frequently asked
What is RevenueBase Smart Search?
RevenueBase Smart Search is how RevenueBase decides which companies belong on this list and how strongly each one fits. Its data engine and AI assess a company's LinkedIn profile, information supplied directly by the company, its website and other publicly available information, then relate it to the category the list is about. Each row is rated strong evidence when the company's own description names nonprofit research centers, partial evidence when it names part of the category, and indirect evidence when the description shown names none of it and the match rests on the rest of the company's profile.
How many nonprofit research centers are there based in the United States?
RevenueBase identified 245 nonprofit research centers headquartered in the United States as of September 2026, matched on each company's own description of what it does rather than its industry code.
What is the largest company on this list?
RAND, headquartered in Santa Monica, tops this list with the largest team on record.
Which city has the most nonprofit research centers?
Washington leads with 36 headquartered companies, followed by New York (13) and Arlington (10).
How do I get contact information for these companies?
A free RevenueBase account lets you run this exact search and work the top results, verified emails and direct dials included. Upgrading unlocks all 5,349 verified decision-maker contacts tracked across these 245 companies.
How current is this list?
The list refreshes periodically as the company graph is re-checked. This page's figures were pulled on September 20, 2026.
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About this data
RevenueBase is a B2B data infrastructure company. Its company graph covers 60 million companies and 398.9 million professional contacts, with emails verified on a rolling cadence rather than scraped once and left to decay. These company lists are generated directly from that graph with RevenueBase Smart Search, the same natural-language company search every RevenueBase user has: describe a market in plain words, get the companies that match, and add verified emails and direct dials for the people at them. It is the same data that powers RevenueBase's B2B data products, and a free account includes 500 credits to start. How these lists are built and judged.
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