The Institute on Religion and Democracy

The Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) is a nonprofit Christian think tank that seeks to protect religious freedom and advance public policy that supports biblical and historical Christian teachings. IRD concerns itself with issues that include marriage, religious liberty (both domestic and abroad), sexuality, immigration, and the environment. ¹

At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3)

Issue Areas: Multi-Issue Advocacy

Website: theird.org

Formation:

1985

President:

Mark Tooley

President’s Salary:

$170,001 ²

Location: Washington, DC

Tax ID: 52-1265221

Most Recent Filing: 2024

Budget (2024): Assets: $933,415 Revenue: $1,872,033 Expenses: $1,982,090

Contents

Activities

Founded in 1981 by United Methodists and other Christians concerned that church officials were supporting Marxist causes that opposed democracy and human rights, the Institute on Religion and Democracy serves as a watchdog of the religious and evangelical left. IRD is especially concerned with advocates who push a liberal policy agenda while claiming to represent the values of their church members. The Institute on Religion and Democracy notes that many church elites, while claiming to speak on the half of their Christian members, lobby for issues that the church does not support, including abortion rights, LGBT interests, extreme environmentalism, and big government. IRD aims to be a voice for church members by connecting them with renewal groups and empowering them to work for change in their denominations. ³

The Institute on Religion and Democracy’s blog, Juicy Ecumenism, includes posts revealing denominations that support political issues which conflict with IRD’s principles. A July 2022 post states that the General Convention of the Episcopal Church reaffirmed its support for legal abortion, a stance it has held since 1967; ⁴ a July 2021 post states that the United Church of Christ not only proposed resolutions that followed a left-leaning agenda at its General Synod, but made specific endorsements for the Green New Deal ⁵; a May 2021 post states that the Church of Scotland, which officially affirms a traditional understanding of marriage, has been working to develop legislation which would allow ministers and deacons to marry same-sex couples. ⁶

The Institute on Religion and Democracy conducts policy research using its expertise in mainline denominations, para-church organizations, and church renewal movements. IRD claims to research topics important for national and international debate that are often overlooked by other policy institutes. IRD’s recent publications include papers on defending traditional marriage and Christians and the environment. ³

The Institute on Religion and Democracy is committed to international religious freedom and intends to speak on behalf of persecuted Christians. IRD claims that American church elites are more likely to allow for the repression of religion and human rights by Marxists, Islamists, and others than to advocate for the repressed. ³

Funding

The Institute on Religion and Democracy is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and businesses. While IRD does not disclose its donors, tax filings confirm donations from the Sarah Scaife Foundation ($300,000 in 2020), ⁷ Donors Capital Fund ($250,000 in 2014), ⁸ and the Philos Project ($100,000 in 2019). ⁹

People

Mark Tooley is the president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy. Tooley formerly worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. ¹⁰

Paul Marshall is the chair of the board of IRD and a senior fellow at both the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and the Leimena Institute. ¹¹

Graham Walker is the vice-chair of the board of IRD and the executive director of the Independent Institute. Walker is a former senior research scholar at the Witherspoon Institute and a former visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. ¹²

Fred Barnes is co-founder and executive editor of The Weekly Standard and former senior editor and White House correspondent for The New Republic. ¹³

Matt Blunt is the president of the American Automotive Policy Council and a former Republican governor of Missouri. ¹⁴

Janice Shaw Crouse is a senior fellow at the Concerned Women for America’s Beverly LaHaye Institute. ¹⁵

Emilie Kao is a vice president and senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom and the former director of the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society at the Heritage Foundation. ¹⁶

Craig Vincent Mitchell is a senior fellow at the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation and the president of the Ethics and Political Economy Center. ¹⁷

Eric Patterson is the former associate director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. ¹⁸

Jim Robb is the vice president of operations at NumbersUSA. ¹⁹

William Saunders, Sr. is a program director at the Institute for Human Ecology, the chair of the Religious Liberties Group of the Federalist Society, and the president of the Fellowship of Catholic Scholars. Saunders is also of counsel at Americans United for Life. ²⁰

Wendy Wright is the former president of Concerned Women for America. ²¹

Other members of the board include Sara Anderson, Kenneth J. Collins, Mateen Elass, John Guernsey, Hans Jacobse, Martin Nicholas, and Ed Stewart. ²²

Financial Statistics

Total Assets

Total Revenue

Total Expenses

Year	Total Assets	Total Revenue	Total Expenses	Filing
2024	$933,415	$1,872,033	$1,982,090	View
2023	$1,188,088	$1,903,397	$2,021,863	View
2022	$1,374,000	$1,677,392	$1,710,750	View
2021	$591,610	$1,544,508	$1,418,411	View
2020	$441,731	$1,433,062	$1,300,273	View

Prior year filings: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011

Revenue Detail

Expenses Detail

Employee Compensation

Number of Employees: 21

Highest Earning Employees

Employee	Title	Total Compensation
Mr Mark Tooley	PRESIDENT	$200,120
Marc Livecche	JUST WAR AND GLOBAL STATECRAFT SCHOLAR	$136,000
Mr Richard Ghazal	EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, IN DEFENSE OF CHRISTIANS	$129,373
Dr Eric Patterson	DIRECTOR	$2,500
Dr Paul Marshall	CHAIR	$700

Grant Activity

All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:

Total Grant Value: $8,367,265
Number of Grants: 132
Number of Funders: 32

Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years:

Amount	Year	Funder	Subject
$525,000	2022	Donors Trust Inc	for general operations
$525,000	2021	Donors Trust Inc	for general operations
$400,000	2023	Donors Trust Inc	for general operations
$350,000	2024	Sarah Scaife Foundation Incorporated	GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
$350,000	2024	Donors Trust Inc	for general operations
$350,000	2020	Donors Trust Inc	for general operations
$340,000	2023	Sarah Scaife Foundation Incorporated	GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT
$130,000	2023	McDonald Agape Foundation	EDUCATION: ETHICS AND MORALITY – SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM SUPPORT
$130,000	2022	McDonald Agape Foundation	EDUCATION: ETHICS AND MORALITY – SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM SUPPORT
$120,000	2020	McDonald Agape Foundation	EDUCATION: THEOLOGY FELLOWSHIP
$100,000	2021	McDonald Agape Foundation	EDUCATION: ETHICS AND MORALITY
$100,000	2020	Philos Project Inc.	CHRISTIAN JOURNAL ON FOREIGN POLICY
$60,000	2020	New Hope Foundation	RELIGIOUS, EDUCATIONAL, HUMAN RIGHTS
$40,000	2021	New Hope Foundation	RELIGIOUS, EDUCATIONAL, HUMAN RIGHTS
$26,250	2020	National Christian Charitable Foundation, Inc.	CULTURE
$25,600	2020	Donor Advised Charitable Giving, Inc.	Public, societal benefit
$22,300	2024	National Christian Charitable Foundation, Inc.	PUBLIC POLICY
$20,000	2022	New Hope Foundation	RELIGIOUS, EDUCATIONAL, HUMAN RIGHTS
$20,000	2020	Brian and Caris Chan Family Foundation	General fund
$11,400	2023	National Christian Charitable Foundation, Inc.	CULTURE
$10,000	2024	Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc	UNRESTRICTED GENERAL SUPPORT
$10,000	2023	Liferay Foundation	CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
$9,675	2023	Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund	For grant recipient's exempt purposes
$7,500	2021	Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund	For grant recipient's exempt purposes
$7,000	2024	Community Foundation of Sarasota County	GENERAL SUPPORT, PROGRAM SUPPORT

All-time grants given statistics from Candid dataset:

Total Grant Value: $153,701
Number of Grants: 11
Number of Recipients: 6

Selection of highest value grants given from the last seven years:

Amount	Year	Funder	Subject
$24,000	2020	INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE INC	TO SUPPORT CHURCH INITIATIVE
$22,000	2022	Wesleyan Covenant Association	SUPPORT CHURCH INITIATIVES
$20,000	2021	INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE INC	TO SUPPORT CHURCH INITIATIVE
$12,500	2021	Forum for Scriptural Christianity Inc	TO SUPPORT CHURCH INITIATIVE

Contact InfluenceWatch to report errors, suggest edits, or provide tips for additional profiles.

Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

Mentioned in this Article

References

1. “About.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 18, 2022. https://theird.org/about/.

2. The Institute on Religion & Democracy Inc, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Part VII, Section A, Line 1a.

3. “Letter from the President.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 18, 2022. https://theird.org/about/letter-from-the-president/.

4. Walton, Jeffrey. “‘No Restriction’ on Abortion, Episcopalians Resolve at General Convention.” Juicy Ecumenism, July 14, 2022. Accessed July 18, 2022. https://juicyecumenism.com/2022/07/14/episcopal-abortion/.

5. Walton, Jeffrey. “‘Who Will Speak for the Trees?’ Asks United Church of Christ Resolution.” Juicy Ecumenism, July 13, 2021. Accessed July 18, 2022. https://juicyecumenism.com/2021/07/13/who-will-speak-for-the-trees-united-church-of-christ/.

6. Walton, Jeffrey. “Church of Scotland Moves Towards Redefinition of Marriage.” Juicy Ecumenism, May 26, 2021. Accessed July 18, 2022. https://juicyecumenism.com/2021/05/26/church-of-scotland-redefinition-marriage/.

7. Sarah Scaife Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2020, Part XV, Line 3.

8. Donors Capital Fund, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2014, Schedule I, Part II.

9. The Philos Project, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2019, Schedule I, Part II.

10. “Mark Tooley.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2022. https://theird.org/person/mark-tooley/.

11. “Dr. Paul Marshall.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2022. https://theird.org/person/dr-paul-marshall/.

12. “Dr. Graham H. Walker.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2022. https://theird.org/person/graham-h-walker/.

13. “Mr. Fred Barnes.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2022. https://theird.org/person/mr-fred-barnes/.

14. Gov. Matt Blunt.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2022. https://theird.org/person/gov-matt-blunt/.

15. “Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2022. https://theird.org/person/dr-janice-shaw-crouse/.

16. “Emilie Kao.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2022. https://theird.org/person/emilie-kao/.

17. “Dr. Craig Vincent Mitchell.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2022. https://theird.org/person/dr-craig-vincent-mitchell/.

18. “Dr. Eric Patterson.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2022. https://theird.org/person/dr-eric-patterson/.

19. “Mr. James Robb.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2022. https://theird.org/person/mr-james-robb/.

20. “Mr. William Saunders, Sr.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2022. https://theird.org/person/mr-william-saunders-sr/.

21. Wendy Wright.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2022. https://theird.org/person/wendy-wright/.

22. “Board of Directors.” The Institute on Religion and Democracy, 2022. Accessed July 15, 2022. https://theird.org/board-of-directors/.