Skip to content
ProPublica Donate
ProPublica Donate

Third Way Institute

  • Washington, DC
  • Tax-exempt since Dec. 2009
  • EIN: 26-0535276

Organization summary

Type of Nonprofit

Designated as a Organizations for any of the following purposes: religious, educational, charitable, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition (as long as it doesn't provide athletic facilities or equipment), or the prevention of cruelty to children or animals.

Category: Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy / Research Institutes and/or Public Policy Analysis (NTEE)

Donations to this organization are tax deductible.

Summary charts: organization finances over time

Revenue
$18.4M (2023)

Expenses
$20.4M (2023)

Total Assets
$31.9M (2023)

Total Liabilities
$15.7M (2023)

Source: Form 990 tax filings from 2011 to 2023

Tax Filings by Year

Form 990 is an information return that most organizations claiming federal tax-exempt status must file yearly with the IRS. Nonprofit Explorer has IRS digitized Form 990 data for filings processed in 2012 and later. If this organization filed an amended return, it may not be reflected below. Duplicate download links may indicate a resubmission or amendment to this organization's original return. Form 990 data is from the IRS.

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2023

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$18,435,203
Expenses
$20,439,102
Net Income
-$2,003,899
Net Assets
$16,159,861
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $17,689,532
96.0%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $653,890
3.5%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $91,781
0.5%
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $105,115
0.5%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $90,501
0.4%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $31,865,844
Total Liabilities $15,705,983
Net Assets $16,159,861
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Jonathan Cowan (President) $0 $413,528 $38,950
Brenda Bethea (Treasurer Until April) $0 $252,701 $11,195
David Heller (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Jacquie Lawing Ebert (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Thurgood Marshall Jr (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Rogan Kersh (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Steve J Dieterle Cfo (Board Treasurer As Of June) $0 $175,594 $7,755
Matthew Bennett (Secretary) $0 $379,363 $44,808
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 9, 2024

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2022

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$16,673,694
Expenses
$18,624,669
Net Income
-$1,950,975
Net Assets
$14,671,490
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $16,423,854
98.5%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $274,994
1.6%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets -$25,154
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $106,688
0.6%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $209,700
1.1%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $31,095,329
Total Liabilities $16,423,839
Net Assets $14,671,490
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Jonathan Cowan (President) $0 $414,937 $34,164
Brenda Bethea (Treasurer) $0 $251,386 $28,149
David Heller (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Jacquie Lawing Ebert (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Thurgood Marshall Jr (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Rogan Kersh (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Matthew Bennett (Secretary) $0 $383,379 $39,719
Chad Fitzgerald (Sr. Advisor To The President) $0 $205,445 $32,872
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 15, 2023

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2021

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$13,168,631
Expenses
$13,609,991
Net Income
-$441,360
Net Assets
$20,693,860
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $11,943,933
90.7%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $35,267
0.3%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $1,189,431
9.0%
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $97,540
0.7%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $288,000
2.1%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $31,398,339
Total Liabilities $10,704,479
Net Assets $20,693,860
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Chad Fitzgerald (Sr. Advisor To The President) $147,567 $52,271 $34,235
Brenda Bethea (Treasurer) $37,600 $215,515 $13,447
Jonathan Cowan (President) $34,100 $306,684 $35,635
Matthew Bennett (Secretary) $15,500 $291,581 $42,996
David Heller (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Jacquie Lawing Ebert (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Thurgood Marshall Jr (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Rogan Kersh (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 11, 2022

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2020

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$13,267,901
Expenses
$12,133,756
Net Income
$1,134,145
Net Assets
$20,012,902
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $13,078,977
98.6%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $100,896
0.8%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $88,028
0.7%
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $90,921
0.7%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $270,608
2.2%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $24,555,720
Total Liabilities $4,542,818
Net Assets $20,012,902
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Chad Fitzgerald (Sr. Advisor To The President) $152,400 $43,261 $26,939
Jonathan Cowan (President) $35,000 $306,145 $33,488
Brenda Bethea (Treasurer) $33,800 $192,907 $10,584
Matthew Bennett (Secretary) $15,400 $291,887 $35,695
David Heller (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Jacquie Lawing Ebert (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Thurgood Marshall Jr (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Rogan Kersh (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 11, 2021

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2019

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$12,100,620
Expenses
$11,599,533
Net Income
$501,087
Net Assets
$18,155,481
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $11,550,561
95.5%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $278,145
2.3%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $271,914
2.2%
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $83,173
0.7%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $81,237
0.7%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $23,801,324
Total Liabilities $5,645,843
Net Assets $18,155,481
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Jonathan Cowan (President) $33,997 $306,634 $30,049
Brenda Bethea (Treasurer) $28,816 $197,529 $7,684
Matthew Bennett (Secretary) $15,454 $291,517 $31,891
David Heller (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Jacquie Lawing Ebert (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Thurgood Marshall Jr (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Rogan Kersh (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on July 1, 2020

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2018

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$8,457,099
Expenses
$211,169
Net Income
$8,245,930
Net Assets
$16,221,959
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $8,082,250
95.6%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $111,971
1.3%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $262,878
3.1%
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $103,275
48.9%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $1,362
0.6%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $18,826,482
Total Liabilities $2,604,523
Net Assets $16,221,959
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Jonathan Cowan (President) $33,997 $307,146 $27,727
Brenda Bethea (Treasurer As Of 12/17/2018) $28,212 $160,768 $8,202
Nancy Hale (Treasurer Until 12/17/2018) $19,257 $516,147 $17,739
Matthew Bennett (Secretary) $15,454 $292,134 $29,292
David Heller (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Jacquie Lawing Ebert (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Thurgood Marshall Jr (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Rogan Kersh (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 13, 2019

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2017

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$10,630,450
Expenses
$8,379,387
Net Income
$2,251,063
Net Assets
$8,744,202
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $10,483,644
98.6%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $54,232
0.5%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $92,574
0.9%
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $66,816
0.8%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $38,688
0.5%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $8,834,746
Total Liabilities $90,544
Net Assets $8,744,202
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Jonathan Cowan (President) $33,996 $307,049 $16,853
Nancy Hale (Treasurer) $15,454 $293,968 $19,675
Matthew Bennett (Secretary) $15,454 $292,086 $26,698
David Heller (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Jacquie Lawing Ebert (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Thurgood Marshall Jr (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Howard Rossman (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
Rogan Kersh (Trustee) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 15, 2018

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML
View Filing (2 of 2)

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2016

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$8,930,483
Expenses
$7,184,416
Net Income
$1,746,067
Net Assets
$5,821,732
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $8,576,390
96.0%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $65,123
0.7%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $288,970
3.2%
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $64,094
0.9%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $39,097
0.5%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $10,749,354
Total Liabilities $4,927,622
Net Assets $5,821,732
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Jonathan Cowan (President) $33,996 $320,188 $17,808
Nancy Hale (Treasurer) $15,454 $292,293 $20,722
Matthew Bennett (Secretary) $15,454 $291,961 $28,791
Jacquie Lawing Ebert (Director) $0 $0 $0
David Heller (Director) $0 $0 $0
Rogan Kersh (Director) $0 $0 $0
Thurgood Marshall Jr (Director) $0 $0 $0
Howard Rossman (Director) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 15, 2017

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2015

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$8,298,096
Expenses
$7,712,417
Net Income
$585,679
Net Assets
$4,075,121
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $8,240,771
99.3%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $57,325
0.7%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $67,106
0.9%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $39,752
0.5%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $4,413,674
Total Liabilities $338,553
Net Assets $4,075,121
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Jonathan Cowan (President) $33,994 $306,853 $21,423
Nancy Hale (Treasurer) $15,453 $292,294 $26,438
Matthew Bennett (Secretary) $15,453 $291,962 $38,202
Jacquie Lawing Ebert (Director) $0 $0 $0
David Heller (Director) $0 $0 $0
Rogan Kersh (Director) $0 $0 $0
Thurgood Marshall Jr (Director) $0 $0 $0
Howard Rossman (Director) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 13, 2016

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2014

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$8,352,728
Expenses
$5,912,835
Net Income
$2,439,893
Net Assets
$3,804,347
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $8,334,750
99.8%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $16,261
0.2%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $1,717
0.0%
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $0
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $98,089
1.7%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $3,879,480
Total Liabilities $75,133
Net Assets $3,804,347
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Jonathan Cowan (President) $33,330 $300,938 $18,623
Brenda Bethea (Director Of Administration) $15,640 $138,743 $9,068
Nancy Hale (Treasurer) $15,150 $286,916 $19,083
Matthew Bennett (Secretary) $15,150 $286,318 $30,203
Jacquie Lawing Ebert (Director) $0 $0 $0
David Heller (Director) $0 $0 $0
Rogan Kersh (Director) $0 $0 $0
Thurgood Marshall Jr (Director) $0 $0 $0
Howard Rossman (Director) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 11, 2015

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2013

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$6,840,767
Expenses
$5,871,024
Net Income
$969,743
Net Assets
$1,247,360
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $6,845,064
> 100%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $1,445
0.0%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets -$5,742
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $52,383
0.9%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $33,223
0.6%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $1,325,801
Total Liabilities $78,441
Net Assets $1,247,360
Compensation
Key Employees and Officers Compensation Related Other
Jonathan Cowan (President) $23,840 $295,755 $17,909
Nancy Hale (Treasurer) $14,291 $280,328 $17,909
Matthew Bennett (Secretary) $14,252 $276,305 $29,100
Brenda Bethea (Dir Administ) $13,565 $126,595 $8,026
Jacquie Lawing Ebert (Director) $0 $0 $0
David Heller (Director) $0 $0 $0
Rogan Kersh (Director) $0 $0 $0
Thurgood Marshall Jr (Director) $0 $0 $0
Howard Rossman (Director) $0 $0 $0
+ View more people

Document Links

990
Filed on May 14, 2014

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

View Filing
PDF XML

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2012

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$5,470,935
Expenses
$5,675,152
Net Income
-$204,217
Net Assets
$277,617
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $5,468,852
100.0%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $2,083
0.0%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $37,373
0.7%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $98,823
1.7%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $359,125
Total Liabilities $81,508
Net Assets $277,617

Document Links

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2011

Extracted Financial Data

Extracted Financial Data from Form 990
Revenue
$5,496,994
Expenses
$5,562,295
Net Income
-$65,301
Net Assets
$482,183
Notable Sources of Revenue Percent of Total Revenue
Contributions $5,495,017
100.0%
Program Services $0
Investment Income $1,977
0.0%
Bond Proceeds $0
Royalties $0
Rental Property Income $0
Net Fundraising $0
Sales of Assets $0
Net Inventory Sales $0
Other Revenue $0
Notable Expenses Percent of Total Expenses
Executive Compensation $47,890
0.9%
Professional Fundraising Fees $0
Other Salaries and Wages $111,746
2.0%
Assets/Debt
Total Assets $632,911
Total Liabilities $150,728
Net Assets $482,183

Document Links

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2010

No Extracted Financial Data

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

Document Links

990

Primary tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

Fiscal Year Ending Dec.
2009

No Extracted Financial Data

Extracted financial data is not available for the forms filed in this tax period, but Form 990 documents are available for download.

Document Links

990-EZ

Short form tax return for a nonprofit’s activities, finances, and governance

PDF

About This Data

Nonprofit Explorer includes summary data for nonprofit tax returns and full Form 990 documents, in both PDF and digital formats.

The summary data contains information processed by the IRS during the 2012-2019 calendar years; this generally consists of filings for the 2011-2018 fiscal years, but may include older records. This data release includes only a subset of what can be found in the full Form 990s.

In addition to the raw summary data, we link to PDFs and digital copies of full Form 990 documents wherever possible. This consists of separate releases by the IRS of Form 990 documents processed by the agency, which we update regularly.

We also link to copies of audits nonprofit organizations that spent $750,000 or more in Federal grant money in a single fiscal year since 2016. These audits are copied from the Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

Which Organizations Are Here?

Every organization that has been recognized as tax exempt by the IRS has to file Form 990 every year, unless they make less than $200,000 in revenue and have less than $500,000 in assets, in which case they have to file form 990-EZ. Organizations making less than $50,000 don’t have to file either form but do have to let the IRS they’re still in business via a Form 990N "e-Postcard."

Nonprofit Explorer has organizations claiming tax exemption in each of the 27 subsections of the 501(c) section of the tax code, and which have filed a Form 990, Form 990EZ or Form 990PF. Taxable trusts and private foundations that are required to file a form 990PF are also included. Small organizations filing a Form 990N "e-Postcard" are not included in this data.

Types of Nonprofits

There are 27 nonprofit designations based on the numbered subsections of section 501(c) of the tax code. See the list »

Get the Data

For those interested in acquiring the original data from the source, here’s where our data comes from:

  • Raw filing data. Includes EINs and summary financials as structured data.
  • Exempt Organization profiles. Includes organization names, addresses, etc. You can merge this with the raw filing data using EIN numbers.
  • Form 990 documents. Prior to 2017, these documents were obtained and processed by Public.Resource.org and ProPublica. Bulk PDF downloads since 2017 are available from the IRS.
  • Form 990 documents as XML files. Includes complete filing data (financial details, names of officers, tax schedules, etc.) in machine-readable format. Only available for electronically filed documents. Electronic data released prior to October 2021 is also available through Amazon Web Services.
  • Audits. PDFs of single or program-specific audits for nonprofit organizations that spent $750,000 or more in Federal grant money in a single fiscal year. Available for fiscal year 2015 and later.

API

The data powering this website is available programmatically, via an API. Read the API documentation »

Byline

By Andrea Suozzo, Alec Glassford and Ash Ngu, ProPublica, and Brandon Roberts, Special to ProPublica.
Design by Jeff Frankl. Additional development by Ken Schwencke, Mike Tigas, and Sisi Wei.

E-file viewer adapted from IRS e-File Viewer by Ben Getson. Code for scraping audit documents adapated from Govwiki.

Updated