The Heartland Institute is a 29-year-old national nonprofit research organization dedicated to finding and promoting ideas that empower people.
Founded: Heartland was founded in Chicago in 1984.
Mission: Its mission is to discover, develop, and promote free-market solutions to social and economic problems.
Staff: A full-time staff of 31, including 21 working in the Chicago office. Joseph Bast directs the Chicago office. Herbert Walberg is chairman of the board.
Policy Advisors: Approximately 235 academics and professional economists participate in its peer-review process, and more than 160 elected officials serve on its Legislative Forum.
Publications: Heartland sends five monthly public policy newspapers addressing the major domestic public policy issues to every national and state elected official in the U.S. plus 8,400 county and local officials and thousands of civic and business leaders. It also produces books, policy studies, and booklets.
Communications: We appeared in print and on television or radio at least 1,004 times in 2012. More than 1.7 million people visited our Web sites that year. Our Facebook page registers nearly 57,000 fans and approximately 58,000 post views every week.
Government Relations: Our government relations staff made nearly 1.1 million contacts with elected officials in 2012. Of those contacts, 23,539 were one-on-one in person, by phone, or by one-to-one emails.
Survey Results: A telephone survey of randomly selected state and local elected officials conducted in 2011 found 79% of state legislators and 63% of local elected officials read at least one of our publications. 45% of state legislators say a Heartland publication changed their mind or led to a change in public policy.
Funding: Approximately 5,300 supporters contribute to an annual budget of $6 million. Heartland does not accept government funding. Contributions are tax-deductible under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Contact information: One South Wacker Drive #274