How do think tanks make money

In addition, these alternative types of engagement may have many direct or indirect benefits for the think tank: for example, its brand and key messages may be better recognised by a wider stakeholder community, leading to further opportunities for revenue generation or policy influence.

In this way, what began principally as a funding diversification exercise could become an integral part of a new business model for the organisation. I briefly describe three of these approaches below and their possible utility for think tank leaders see recommendations.

With some modification, these elements or criteria can be instructive for think tank leaders in evaluating their organisational systems. Does this process reveal any gaps or limitations? Can these be easily addressed? Recommendation: Try writing that story, and then see if it rings true for key staff and stakeholders.

What defines a good business model, in other words, a business model that works well? Organisational development thinkers such as Casadeus-Masanell and Ricart , writing in the Harvard Business Review , have narrowed this to three essential characteristics:. Read the second blog post: are think tanks a distinctive type of organisation?

But how and how well do organisations learn in practice? Based on my experience of consulting to funding organisations This paper asks the following questions: Why is general or programme support insufficient to properly address the organisational effectiveness of grantees?

Step-by-step over the past 50 years the production of social science research, including policy research, has shifted from a solitary enterprise to a team effort. Raymond Struyk, author of Improving Think Tank Management, writes about the key empirical facts on the shift from solo-authored papers to team production, introducing couple of options for US foundations give away billions of dollars a year to improve human development around the world.

Most of the money goes to organisations, which in turn make efforts to Until recently, I was an associate with On Think Tanks OTT ; like many other associates, I was neither a sole trader operating in a free market, nor a salaried employee June 14, Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar. Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. Prev NEXT. Political Issues.

There are thousands of think tanks in the world. There's even one devoted to introducing people to Ayn Rand's novels and her philosophy of objectivism, and it's headquartered in Irvine, California. Do special interest groups hurt candidates? What is the difference between 'soft money' and 'hard money' campaign donations?

How the U. Washington, DC The Brookings Institution boasts two major claims when it comes to think tanks: it was likely the first think tank to be founded in the United States, and its studies are the most widely cited by the media.

Since its foundation in , Brookings has influenced and contributed to the creation of such historic phenomena as the United Nations, the Marshall Plan, the Congressional Budget Office, and various policies of deregulation, broad-based tax reform, welfare reform, and foreign aid. To keep up with its widespread influence, Brookings conducts research and education in a number of social sciences, including economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development.

And become influential it has! Today, Cato is a multi-billion, multi-issue organization consisting of more than faculty and staff members.

It also maintains popular websites such as Libertarianism. Auburn, AL Ludwig von Mises Institute is a Libertarian academic think tank that specializes in researching and promoting Classical Liberal viewpoints about subjects such as economics, philosophy, and political economy.

The Ludwig von Mises Institute resists being labeled as "conservative" by any standard. Specifically, their foreign policy views, their position on the US Constitution, and their views on social policy are all either non-conservative or anti-conservative.

The only place where conservatives may overlap with them is in market economics, but only in America is that considered to be a "conservative" position.

The Institute publishes a large number of books, journal articles, and online articles each year, including the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics and the Mises Review. Bush administration. Today, RAND is funded by the US government, a private endowment, universities, and major corporations especially healthcare , and as such has extended its areas of focus to include everything from energy and the environment, to transportation and public safety.

CAP's influence climaxed during the Presidential election, due in part to its campus outreach group, Generation Progress. Unfortunately, CAP has undergone a number of recent controversies due to its unwillingness to disclose its contributors.

All of its publications are researched and written with the goal of ensuring high standards of sexual and reproductive health for all people worldwide. The Institute works both in the United States and globally, evenly splitting its energies between the two.

The Center analyzes the impact of federal and state government budget policies from a Progressive viewpoint, and as such, generally argues for more spending for social programs and fewer tax cuts. The Center has been involved in the establishment of a number of influential government programs over the years, including the State Fiscal Analysis Initiative and the International Budget Partnership.

In recent years, NBER has developed additional research programs in subjects such as aging, children, education, and healthcare, among others. At first, EPIC focused solely on government surveillance and issues having to do with cryptology. Since then, it has expanded to include programs and research on a much wider variety of topics, including government transparency, electronic voting, identity theft, medical record privacy, commercial mining data, and the use of the Freedom of Information Act to publicize documents.

Appropriately, EPIC's publications are practically all online. In addition to maintaining websites and groups such as privacy. Washington, DC Founded in by C. Fred Bergsten, the Peterson Institute for International Economics devotes itself to the study of international economic policy. CSIS regularly publishes books, reports, newsletters, and commentaries targeted at major decision-makers.

Today, Urban conducts nearly individual projects at any given time, the subjects of which range from the cost-effectiveness of crime prevention to the success of immigrant children in US schools.

Most of Urban's researchers are economists, social scientists, or public policy researchers, and past Board of Trustee members have included such heavyweights as McGeorge Bundy and Robert McNamara. EPI deals with 12 main issues including education, immigration, race and ethnicity, and health , and runs three major programs: the Economic Analysis and Research Network, a nationwide network of advocacy groups; the Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy, which addresses economic inequalities faced by minorities; and the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education, a national campaign that seeks to remedy issues faced by children in education.

EPI also publishes State of Working America, a regularly published book that breaks down the economy's impact on the living standards of working families. Washington, DC The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is a DC-based think tank dealing primarily in issues of international development, science and technology, and security and international affairs.

The Woodrow Wilson Center Press publishes a number of books each year by fellows and other resident scholars, as well as the Center's journal, Wilson Quarterly. To do this, it publishes a number of books, articles, op-eds, and interviews targeted towards politicians, scholars, and journalists.

The Manhattan Institute also publishes the quarterly City Journal. But they might find themselves supplementing less fundable but more cutting-edge work with dependable income through consultancy or more mainstream research.

Funders of think tank research are not usually doing it for altruistic reasons, but that doesn't necessarily mean they expect a direct benefit. A reputable think tank will negotiate at the beginning of any contractual relationship what a partner can and cannot expect for their money. Funders will have three key drivers for why they decide to fund this research: positioning, business intelligence and corporate social responsibility.

A consultancy that deals with outsourcing contracts in the public sector may well wish to position themselves in the marketplace of ideas. They will see this as profile-raising for their company overall without it being connected to specific bids.

Equally, they may be seeking to find out which way the market is likely to be shaped in the coming years, what the factors that may influence that are and what choices policy makers might look at. They are investing in robust research not to influence government but their own direction.

A think tank will be able to look at this dispassionately. But generally this work would only be taken on as research, as opposed to consultancy, if there are also public policy implications. Finally, there is the simple fact that companies invest in their reputations. Most do this through investing in ethical behaviour change or charitable giving, but some see investing in research as a longer term and more substantial activity. Think tank reports can and have made huge impacts on society.

The key for think tanks seeking investment is to set out at the very beginning what role a funder will and will not have. An absolute red line would be any influence over the conclusions or methodology of the research. But a funder may expect visibility around the launch of the research — probably speaking on a panel to discuss the findings.