Data on Libertarian Charities


Isn't "libertarian charity" an oxymoron?  Don't all libertarians believe that if you have no money, you should be allowed to starve and die?  That's what liberals would have you believe, of course.  Libertarians simply believe that it's wrong to take by force money from one group of people and give it to another group of people.  That's why libertarians oppose all types of government welfare, whether it's for politicians, corporations, foreign countries or even the poor.  In one sense, then, all privately funded charities are libertarian since they rely on voluntary giving for support.  However, there are some charities that are explicitly libertarian, in that they focus on helping people by protecting their rights or by informing the public of libertarian solutions to problems.  Below I've listed some libertarian charities that I've found on the web, using Free-market.net, the State Policy Network, Policy Experts, and Guidestar, a resource for charities.  Although not all of these would describe themselves as libertarian, they are sufficiently pure in their mission to merit listing.  They are all 501 (C)(3) tax-exempt organizations.  The information on assets and income are pulled from Guidestar.

Charity Purpose Assets (year) Income (year)
Advocates for Self-Government educates the public on libertarian ideas $20,545 (2000) $386,458 (2000)
Alchemind Society works to protect the right to freedom of the mind $47,913 (2000)
$97,893 (2000)
American Civil Rights Institute anti-affirmative action
$415,180 (2000)
$810,091 (2000)
American Liberty Foundation educational advertisements
$65,528 (2001)
$336,063 (2001)
Americans for Free Choice in Medicine free market health care $25,908 (1999) $69,177 (1999)
Ayn Rand Institute objectivism
$1,368,241 (2000)
$2,813,480 (2000)
Bastiat Institute libertarian think tank
$27,217 (2001)
$4,731 (2001)
Cascade Policy Institute Oregon free market think tank
$144,043 (2000)
$584,524 (2000)
Cato Institute libertarian think tank $21,801,767 (2002) $16,975,933 (2002)
Center for Independent Thought libertarian publishing $956,265 (2000) $1,479,284 (2000)
Center for Individual Rights public interest law firm $1,766,086 (2000) $1,368,501 (2000)
Center for Libertarian Studies libertarian theory $39,032 (2001) $183,109 (2001)
Common Sense for Drug Policy Foundation drug law reform
$187,289 (1998)
$685,353 (1998)
Critical Review Foundation, Inc. publishes Critical Review $64,334 (2000) $169,596 (2000)
Defenders of Property Rights public interest law firm
$183,183 (2000)
$333,233 (2000)
Drcnet Foundation, Inc. drug law reform $157,263 (2000) $196,578 (2000)
The Drug Policy Foundation drug law reform
$2,151,921 (1999)
$3,056,480 (1999)
Extropy Institute libertarian-leaning futurism $6,937 (2000) $39,917 (2000)
Families Against Mandatory Minimums sentencing reform $272,197 (2000) $648,264 (2000)
Fully Informed Jury Assocation jury rights $52,679 (2001) $118,017 (2001)
Forfeiture Endangers American Rights Foundation anti-civil asset forfeiture
N/A
N/A
Foundation for Economic Education pro-freedom research organization
$4,704,722 (2000)
$1,790,214 (2000)
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education academic freedom
$303,626 (2000)
$482,837 (2000)
Foundation for Rational Economics and Education educates public
$375,055 (2000)
-$884,441 (2000)
Foundation for Research on Economics and the Environment free market environmentalism
$995,388 (2001)
$739,579 (2001)
Foundation for the Advancement of Monetary Education sound money $30,107 (2000) $34,970 (2000)
Future of Freedom Foundation libertarian op-eds and writing $249,385 (2000) $390,821 (2000)
Gun Owners Foundation gun rights $382,714 (2000) $404,571 (2000)
Independence Institute Colorodo conservative/libertarian think tank $130,338 (2000) $425,676 (2000)
Independent Institute California based libertarian think tank
$2,391,194 (2000)
$1,905,361 (2000)
Institute for Civil Society defends civil society $105,261 (2000) $154,957 (2000)
Institute for Health Freedom free market medicine $284,877 (2000)
$332,519 (2000)
Institute for Humane Studies college scholarships $2,190,255 (2000) $2,496,403 (2000)
Institute for Justice public interest law firm $6,434,936 (2001) $5,423,723 (2001)
International Society for Individual Liberty international libertarianism
$51,722 (2000)
$148,607 (2000)
Libertarian Futurist Society promotes libertarian science fiction N/A
N/A
Libertarian Nation Foundation libertarian think tank N/A N/A
Liberty Foundation publishes Liberty magazine $1,029,029 (2000) $401,099 (2000)
Ludwig Von Mises Institute austrian economics
 $19,026,709 (2000)
$5,911,089 (2000)
Marijuana Policy Project Foundation drug law reform
$37,102 (1999)
$260,418 (1999)
Media Awareness Project, Inc. drug law reform
$19,107 (2000)
$98,798 (2000)
Milton & Rose D. Friedman Foundation pro-school vouchers
$5,025,610 (2000)
$3,907,260 (2000)
NORML Foundation marijuana law reform
$906,257 (2001)
$188,469 (2001)
National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation anti-compulsory unionism
$10,534,739 (2000)
$8,446,212 (2000)
NRA Civil Rights Defense Fund gun rights $2,032,674 (1999) $431,355 (1999)
The Objectivist Center objectivism
$222,980 (2000)
$1,042,441 (2000)
Political Economy Research Center free market environmentalism
 $2,266,369 (2000)
$1,811,499 (2000)
Reason Foundation privatization
$848,358 (2001)
$4,912,664 (2001)
Separation of School and State Alliance school reform
$28,462 (2002)
$291,306 (2002)
Thoreau Institute environment
$3,394 (2000)
$55,060 (2000)
Women's Freedom Network women's rights $130,185 (2002) $47,583 (2002)

N/A = Not Available

The total assets and yearly income for all the charities whose information is available is $61,076,315 and $37,443,746, respectively.  To put that into perspective, the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, has assets and incomes of $107,352,753 and $38,171,956 (both 2000 figures), respectively and the ACLU, a liberal litigator, has $117,023,659 and $44,597,661 in assets and incomes (both 2000 figures), respectively.