Funding search · EIN 263241764 · Houston, TX

Laura and John Arnold Foundation

A private foundation (files IRS Form 990-PF). Most private foundations do not take unsolicited applications; the route in is usually a program officer.

2,588
grants reported
$754.5M
total given
2020–2024
filing years
$138,933
median grant

Based on grants this organization reported to the IRS for tax years 20202024. This is what they filed, not a complete record of their giving, and recent years may be incomplete because filings lag.

What they fund

researchpolicyrandomizedtrialcontrolledstateconductcare

Funder website ↗Full IRS filings ↗How this is builtReport an error

Funding pattern

What this funder pays for, at what size, and how to position adjacent work. Read from their filings, with every number checked against the record.

Where the money goes

  • Criminal justice research: pretrial, policing, sentencing, community supervision
  • Health care cost and drug pricing policy analysis for policymakers
  • Randomized controlled trials and evidence-to-policy infrastructure (J-PAL, MDRC)
  • Medicare Advantage, dual-eligibles, and insurance market research
  • K-12 and postsecondary education reform, student lending accountability
  • Housing supply, zoning reform, fiscal and tax policy analysis

Typical grant

Median grant is $138,933, with the middle half between $50,713 and $297,174. University research projects and evaluations cluster in the $500,000 to $1,000,000 range; the eight-figure checks go to long-term intermediary partners like The City Fund and MDRC receiving general operating support. Repeat funding is heavy, with MIT, RAND, Yale, Penn, Brown, Harvard, Kaiser Family Foundation, and Urban Institute appearing multiple times across years.

Their words

Phrases from their own grant descriptions, worth speaking back to them.

  • randomized controlled trial
  • to inform policy discussions
  • evidence-based
  • technical assistance to policymakers
  • policy translation
  • nonpartisan

Positioning adjacent work

  • Lead with a causal design: RCT or rigorous evaluation, not descriptive work or program delivery.
  • Name the specific policymaker audience and the decision your findings will inform.
  • Ask $500K to $1M for a single university research project; larger only with institutional track record.
  • Connect to a live reform: pretrial assessment, Medicare Advantage payment, zoning, drug pricing, or supervision revocations.
  • Pair research with a dissemination or technical assistance arm; they fund translation, not just findings.

Worth knowing: Money concentrates in DC think tanks and a small set of elite research universities, and the same institutions recur year after year, so this reads as a relationship-driven portfolio built around known research teams. Recent years show heavy weighting toward health care cost containment and criminal justice evaluation, with education flowing mostly through a few large intermediaries rather than individual scholars.

30 grants matching “producer · $14.4M

  • $551,403

    Emory University · Atlanta, GA · 2024

    To explore the pros and cons of computational simulation in clinical trials, using ai/ml methods to produce simulated controls at either the aggregate or the individual level, to measure the safety and effectiveness of read all
  • $534,000

    Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation · San Francisco, CA · 2024

    To produce timely analyses and policy briefs to inform efforts to improve care and reduce inefficiencies for the dual-eligible population.

  • $254,750

    Council On Criminal Justice · Atlanta, GA · 2024

    To explore current crime trends and build consensus for significant improvements in the nation's data infrastructure and capacity to produce timely, accurate, and complete crime data.

  • $245,354

    Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget · Washington, DC · 2024

    To produce non-partisan policy options that improve the integrity and sustainability of the medicaid program for all beneficiaries, including dual-eligible individuals.

  • $215,511

    Cornell University · Ithaca, NY · 2024

    To produce a centralized nursing home data repository and customized data reporting tool to support state and federal nursing home policy reform aimed at (i) improving transparency and accountability and (ii) reducing u read all
  • $200,000

    Unidosus · Washington, DC · 2024

    To support grantee's efforts to build support for higher education accountability, data transparency, and college completion, and to produce analyses to support the postsecondary student success grant ("pssg") program.

  • $99,596

    Duke University · Durham, NC · 2024

    To produce a comprehensive national report on pretrial reform.

  • $25,000

    The Sycamore Institute · Nashville, TN · 2024

    To produce a report on the fiscal implications of incarceration in the state of tennessee.

  • $19,243

    National Academy of Sciences · Washington, DC · 2024

    To produce a consensus report on how public policy can reduce racial inequities in the criminal justice system.

  • $9,737

    Research Triangle Institute · Research Triangle Park, NC · 2024

    To produce and disseminate outreach efforts on the development and implementation of the durham community safety department, an alternative crisis response department that aims to enhance public safety through community read all
  • $257,712

    Council On Criminal Justice · Atlanta, GA · 2023

    To explore current crime trends and build consensus for significant improvements in the nation's data infrastructure and capacity to produce timely, accurate, and complete crime data.

  • $90,000

    Research Triangle Institute · Research Triangle Park, NC · 2023

    To produce and disseminate outreach efforts on the development and implementation of the durham community safety department, an alternative crisis response department that aims to enhance public safety through community read all
  • $75,000

    The Council of State Governments · Lexington, KY · 2023

    To produce updates of the confined and costly report on the impact of revocations on state prison populations.

  • $53,982

    National Academy of Sciences · Washington, DC · 2023

    To produce a consensus report on how public policy can reduce racial inequities in the criminal justice system.

  • $50,000

    National Academy of Sciences · Washington, DC · 2023

    To produce a consensus report about successful reentry and identify gaps in existing knowledge.

  • $50,000

    Bipartisan Policy Center · Washington, DC · 2023

    To produce policy proposals for permitting reform in the united states, through the convening of a series of non-partisan roundtables.

  • $13,988

    Impact for Equity · Chicago, IL · 2023

    To produce a paper that analyzes the use and outcomes of traffic stops in chicago.

  • $10.0M

    Civica Foundation · Lehi, UT · 2022

    To support the grantee's program to produce nonprofit biosimilar insulin.

  • $229,366

    The Regents of the University of California Davis · Davis, CA · 2022

    To support an in-person convening that will produce scholarly papers, a research agenda, and action report with recommendations to reduce gun violence.

  • $142,601

    Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation · San Francisco, CA · 2022

    To produce nonpartisan, educational analyses, policy briefs, and explainers examining the effect of proposed health policy changes on prices, costs and affordability.

  • $121,171

    National Academy of Sciences · Washington, DC · 2022

    To produce a consensus report on how public policy can reduce racial inequities in the criminal justice system.

  • $112,783

    The Council of State Governments · Lexington, KY · 2022

    To produce updates of the confined and costly report on the impact of revocations on state prison populations.

  • $69,940

    Impact for Equity · Chicago, IL · 2022

    To produce a paper that analyzes the use and outcomes of traffic stops in chicago.

  • $300,000

    Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation · San Francisco, CA · 2020

    To produce nonpartisan, educational analyses, policy briefs, and explainers examining the effect of proposed health policy changes on prices, costs and affordability.

  • $300,000

    Yale University · New Haven, CT · 2020

    To produce a series of policy briefs that identify issues that raise healthcare spending.

  • $158,960

    Bipartisan Policy Center · Washington, DC · 2020

    To produce near-term policy recommendations for increasing integration between medicare and medicaid.

  • $131,015

    The Council of State Governments · Lexington, KY · 2020

    To produce updates of the confined and costly report on the impact of revocations on state prison populations.

  • $65,800

    Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area · San Francisco, CA · 2020

    To document municipal infraction enforcement and the debt burden it produces in six california counties.

  • $25,000

    National Academy of Sciences · Washington, DC · 2020

    To produce a consensus report on using de-incarceration to mitigate the spread of covid-19.

  • $19,530

    University of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2020

    To partner with the regents of the university of california, berkeley to study the impact of minimum wage policies on producer prices.

Top recipients

Repeat recipients are the strongest signal of whether a funder has an open door or quietly re-funds the same organizations.

  • The City Fund3 grants · $30.9M
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology19 grants · $28.2M
  • Urban Institute76 grants · $26.4M
  • Mdrc40 grants · $24.7M
  • Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania41 grants · $21.6M
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College65 grants · $21.1M
  • Center for Effective Public Policy5 grants · $17.0M
  • Research Triangle Institute39 grants · $14.5M
  • Accelerate - the National Collaborative for Accelerated Learning2 grants · $13.3M
  • Regents of the University of California at Berkeley56 grants · $11.1M

Giving over time

$212.4M
2020
$185.8M
2022
$162.9M
2023
$193.3M
2024

Grant history

The 100 largest of 2,588 grants.

  • $17.3M

    The City Fund · Falls Church, VA · 2020

    To provide general operating support.

  • $12.5M

    The City Fund · Beaverton, OR · 2024

    To provide general operating support to support grantee's efforts to partner with local leaders to create innovative public school systems, with the overall goal of improving the quality of public education in cities ac read all
  • $10.0M

    Accelerate - the National Collaborative for Accelerated Learning · Nashville, TN · 2023

    To support the national tutoring program.

  • $10.0M

    America Achieves · New York, NY · 2022

    To support a national tutoring program and accompanying research to improve academics and wellness for students.

  • $10.0M

    Civica Foundation · Lehi, UT · 2022

    To support the grantee's program to produce nonprofit biosimilar insulin.

  • $6.4M

    Evidence for Healthcare Improvement · Boston, MA · 2020

    To support the institute for clinical and economic review research that provides independent analyses of the comparative cost effectiveness for newly-introduced pharmaceutical drugs.

  • $5.0M

    Urban Institute · Washington, DC · 2020

    To support research to advance and elevate tax and spending policy.

  • $5.0M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2024

    To support grantee to develop and advance multiple strategies to significantly increase its organizational impact in areas including: (i) strengthening connections between its research and policymakers; (ii) building a read all
  • $5.0M

    Habitat for Humanity International · Americus, GA · 2023

    To provide a program-related investment in support of habitat affiliates with early-stage capital for affordable housing development.

  • $5.0M

    Habitat for Humanity International · Americus, GA · 2022

    To provide habitat affiliates with early-stage capital for affordable housing development.

  • $4.8M

    Center for Effective Public Policy · Kensington, MD · 2020

    To provide training and technical assistance for the public safety assessment and pretrial reform.

  • $4.6M

    Center for Effective Public Policy · Kensington, MD · 2023

    To provide training and technical assistance for the public safety assessment and pretrial reform.

  • $4.0M

    Justice Action Network Foundation · Washington, DC · 2023

    To support grantee's charitable and non-partisan criminal justice reform activities.

  • $4.0M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2020

    To support the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab's north america regional office.

  • $3.5M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2024

    To support j-pal north america, including by funding landmark randomized evaluations, expanding the capacity and diversity of researchers who work on randomized evaluations, translating findings into actionable insights read all
  • $3.5M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2023

    To support the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab north america in its work to generate randomized controlled trials that measure the impact of social programs and policies.

  • $3.5M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2022

    To support the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab north america in its work to generate randomized controlled trials that measure the impact of social programs and policies.

  • $3.5M

    Center for Effective Public Policy · Kensington, MD · 2022

    To provide training and technical assistance for the public safety assessment and pretrial reform.

  • $3.3M

    Accelerate - the National Collaborative for Accelerated Learning · Nashville, TN · 2024

    To support grantee's states leading recovery grant program.

  • $3.2M

    Coalition for Public Safety · Washington, DC · 2020

    To support nonpartisan criminal justice reform efforts in 2020.

  • $3.2M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2020

    To study the impacts of preschool, summer curricula, and enhanced teacher training on early childhood learning.

  • $3.1M

    Children'S Hospital Corporation Dba Children'S Hospital Boston · Boston, MA · 2020

    To fund a randomized controlled trial analyzing how carbohydrates, fat, and added sugar affect body fat and metabolism.

  • $3.1M

    Persistent Surveillance Systems Llc · Xenia, OH · 2020

    To conduct a six-month pilot test of the aerial investigative research program to assist the baltimore city police department.

  • $3.0M

    Center for Effective Public Policy · Kensington, MD · 2024

    To provide training and technical assistance for the public safety assessment and pretrial reform.

  • $3.0M

    Coalition for Public Safety · Washington, DC · 2022

    To provide general operating support.

  • $3.0M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2024

    To support the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab north america in its work to generate randomized controlled trials that measure the impact of social programs and policies.

  • $3.0M

    Urban Institute · Washington, DC · 2023

    To fund the tax policy center.

  • $3.0M

    President and Fellows of Harvard College · Cambridge, MA · 2022

    To provide general operating support.

  • $3.0M

    Urban Institute · Washington, DC · 2022

    To fund the tax policy center.

  • $3.0M

    President and Fellows of Harvard College · Cambridge, MA · 2020

    To provide general operating support.

  • $2.8M

    President and Fellows of Harvard College · Cambridge, MA · 2020

    To support the operations of the harvard healthcare markets and regulations lab.

  • $2.5M

    Research Triangle Institute · Research Triangle Park, NC · 2020

    To conduct research on the public safety assessment in up to ten research and implementation sites.

  • $2.5M

    Charter Fund · Broomfield, CO · 2020

    To support the expansion and replication of high-quality schools in camden, new jersey.

  • $2.5M

    Pew Charitable Trusts · Philadelphia, PA · 2020

    To support improved management of state and local public retirement systems.

  • $2.5M

    William Marsh Rice University · Houston, TX · 2020

    To provide operational support to launch the texas policy lab.

  • $2.4M

    Urban Institute · Washington, DC · 2022

    To launch a prison research and innovation initiative to infuse transparency, accountability, and innovation into the prison sector.

  • $2.3M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2022

    To support the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab's north america regional office.

  • $2.3M

    New Venture Fund · Washington, DC · 2020

    To support the clean slate campaign.

  • $2.2M

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2020

    To support implementation of the transitional care model across four hospital systems.

  • $2.1M

    Vera Institute of Justice · Brooklyn, NY · 2022

    To help reimagine the american prison system through strategic communications and expanding and evaluating the restoring promise initiative.

  • $2.0M

    Johns Hopkins University · Baltimore, MD · 2024

    To continue to develop and publicly disseminate policy options to regulate and control drug spending.

  • $2.0M

    Vera Institute of Justice · Brooklyn, NY · 2024

    To support the restoring promise initiative that partners with state departments of corrections to design and facilitate rigorous evaluation of reimagined housing units for incarcerated young adults in a way that center read all
  • $2.0M

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2022

    To support improvement of the penn wharton budget model.

  • $2.0M

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2020

    To support the analysis and impact of federal budget policy reform proposals for policymakers.

  • $2.0M

    Urban Institute · Washington, DC · 2020

    To launch a prison research and innovation initiative to infuse transparency, accountability, and innovation into the prison sector.

  • $2.0M

    Georgetown University · Washington, DC · 2024

    To support grantee's center on health insurance reforms in providing policymakers and key stakeholders with educational resources and non-partisan technical assistance to support effective cost containment strategies.

  • $1.9M

    American Journalism Project · Washington, DC · 2022

    To support civic news organizations' business development.

  • $1.9M

    American Journalism Project · Washington, DC · 2020

    To support civic news organizations' business development.

  • $1.9M

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2024

    To expand pwbm's ability to provide accurate, accessible, and transparent budget and economic analysis of public policy by providing more access to the model and data while deepening the model's capabilities.

  • $1.8M

    Center for Health Policy Development · Portland, ME · 2020

    To provide educational resources for prescription drug and commercial health care prices.

  • $1.8M

    Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center · New York, NY · 2020

    To support grantee's continued efforts to communicates viable, evidence-based methodologies and solutions to drug pricing that balance patient affordability with sustained incentives for innovation.

  • $1.7M

    Research Triangle Institute · Research Triangle Park, NC · 2022

    To conduct research on the public safety assessment in up to ten research and implementation sites.

  • $1.7M

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2022

    To support implementation of the transitional care model across four hospital systems.

  • $1.7M

    Social Finance · Boston, MA · 2022

    To support the acceleration of donor-advised fund capital toward impact investing.

  • $1.6M

    Oregon Health & Science University · Portland, OR · 2020

    To fund the state medicaid alternative reimbursement and purchasing test for high cost drugs (smart-d) and support the development of value-based alternative drug purchasing models through pharmacy policy interventions, read all
  • $1.5M

    Brown University · Providence, RI · 2020

    To develop and fund initial operations of the brown policy lab.

  • $1.5M

    Henry J Kaiser Family Foundation · San Francisco, CA · 2024

    To support grantee's work in bringing greater attention and visibility to hospital and health system spending, prices, finance, and business practices that impact access to care and lead to higher costs for families, em read all
  • $1.5M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2024

    To construct a cyclotron facility and procuring the installation of the first 30 mev proton beam within the cyclotron facility.

  • $1.5M

    The Brigham and Women'S Hospital · Boston, MA · 2024

    To support the program on regulation, therapeutics, and law ("portal") project on prescription drug policy and promoting meaningful drug innovation and regulation.

  • $1.5M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2023

    To advance evidence-based policy through high-quality research and technical assistance to generate sustainable, measurable change across several grantee divisions.

  • $1.5M

    The Brigham and Womens Hospital · Boston, MA · 2023

    To support the program on regulation, therapeutics, and law ("portal") project on prescription drug policy and promoting meaningful drug innovation and regulation.

  • $1.5M

    Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania · Philadelphia, PA · 2023

    To support improvement of the penn wharton budget model.

  • $1.5M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2022

    For continued support of the state and local government innovation initiative.

  • $1.5M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2022

    To advance evidence-based policy through high-quality research and technical assistance to generate sustainable, measurable change across several grantee divisions.

  • $1.5M

    Johns Hopkins University · Baltimore, MD · 2020

    To develop and disseminate research on policy options that maximize access to and affordability of prescription drugs without stifling innovation.

  • $1.5M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2020

    To support the state and local government innovation initiative at the abdul latif jameel poverty action lab's regional office in north america.

  • $1.5M

    Regents University of California Los Angeles · Los Angeles, CA · 2020

    To conduct a randomized controlled trial of the michigan contraceptive access research and evaluation program.

  • $1.5M

    Per Scholas · Bronx, NY · 2020

    To scale up grantee's workforce development program that provides information technology training for low-income adults.

  • $1.4M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2020

    To advance evidence-based policies that offer concrete, measurable, and lasting improvements to society.

  • $1.4M

    Reason Foundation · Los Angeles, CA · 2020

    To improve state and municipal pension systems.

  • $1.4M

    Social Finance · Boston, MA · 2024

    To support the acceleration of donor-advised fund capital toward impact investing.

  • $1.4M

    Per Scholas · Bronx, NY · 2022

    To scale up grantee's workforce development program that provides information technology training for low-income adults.

  • $1.3M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2023

    To study the impacts of preschool, summer curricula, and enhanced teacher training on early childhood learning.

  • $1.3M

    The Council of State Governments · Lexington, KY · 2020

    To implement a scalable technology solution to reduce revocations and recidivism in three states.

  • $1.3M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2022

    To advance evidence-based policies that offer concrete, measurable, and lasting improvements to society.

  • $1.3M

    Colorado Seminary · Denver, CO · 2020

    To help establish a policy lab in the state of colorado.

  • $1.3M

    Rand Corporation · Santa Monica, CA · 2022

    To conduct research on how to reduce gun violence.

  • $1.3M

    Social Finance · Boston, MA · 2023

    To support the acceleration of donor-advised fund capital toward impact investing.

  • $1.3M

    Mathematica · Princeton, NJ · 2022

    To support a randomized controlled trial to evaluate a nurse-led hospital discharge and home follow-up program for chronically ill older adults.

  • $1.3M

    Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget · Washington, DC · 2024

    To support fiscal policy work related to tax and budget policy.

  • $1.3M

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Cambridge, MA · 2024

    To support the state and local innovation initiative ("slii") of grantee's abdul latif jameel poverty action lab ("j-pal") north america.

  • $1.2M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2020

    To launch phase i of the scaling up community college efforts for student success (success) project to pilot and evaluate lower-cost student success interventions to improve such outcomes as completion and time-to-degre read all
  • $1.2M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2022

    To study the impacts of preschool, summer curricula, and enhanced teacher training on early childhood learning.

  • $1.2M

    Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget · Washington, DC · 2023

    To support fiscal policy and higher education analysis work.

  • $1.2M

    Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget · Washington, DC · 2022

    To support fiscal policy and higher education analysis work.

  • $1.2M

    University of Utah · Salt Lake City, UT · 2020

    To provide technical support, capacity building resources, and training to reproductive health providers in utah.

  • $1.2M

    University of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2020

    To pilot a project aimed at improving outcomes for youth ages 16 to 24 who are out of school and work in chicago.

  • $1.2M

    Terner Housing Innovation Labs · Oakland, CA · 2024

    To support (1) the scaling of grantee's housing supply simulator tool to new states and municipalities to assist policymakers and researchers in determining the market effects of individual land use policies and (2) pub read all
  • $1.2M

    Southern Poverty Law Center · Montgomery, AL · 2020

    To support litigation and public education efforts concerning indigent incarceration and drivers license suspensions.

  • $1.1M

    The Trustees of Princeton University · Princeton, NJ · 2023

    To develop a research infrastructure that helps cities better understand and respond to waves of gun violence.

  • $1.1M

    Center for Effective Public Policy · Kensington, MD · 2022

    To provide technical assistance for pretrial reform implementation in illinois.

  • $1.1M

    The City Fund · Falls Church, VA · 2020

    To improve the quality of public education in cities across the united states.

  • $1.1M

    Project On Predatory Student Lending · Jamaica Plain, MA · 2024

    To provide general operating support.

  • $1.1M

    University of Washington · Seattle, WA · 2022

    To conduct research exploring the impacts of monetary sanctions and identifying alternative legal system reforms.

  • $1.1M

    Rand Corporation · Santa Monica, CA · 2024

    To support and expand grantee's gun policy in america initiative which provides the public, policymakers, and journalists with needed information on the effects of gun policies.

  • $1.1M

    Mdrc · New York, NY · 2020

    To evaluate the least burdensome release conditions and supervision practices that improve court appearance.

  • $1.1M

    University of Southern California · Los Angeles, CA · 2020

    To support further research and policy development on surprise medical billing, analysis on the relationship between private equity and commercial health care prices, and the development of affordability policies and st read all
  • $1.1M

    Regents University of California Los Angeles · Los Angeles, CA · 2020

    To support the operations of the california policy lab, which seeks to improve california state and local government programs and policy.

  • $1.1M

    Regents of the University of California at Berkeley · Berkeley, CA · 2020

    To support the operations of the california policy lab, which seeks to improve california state and local government programs and policy.

  • $1.1M

    Arizona State University Foundation for a New American University · Tempe, AZ · 2023

    To develop domestic violence pretrial assessments.

View all 2,588 grants →

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Source: IRS Form 990-PF, Part XV, as filed by the foundation. These are grants already paid — a record of what this funder backs, not an open call.