2021 Think Tank SEO Rankings

Rolling Stone has updated its top 500 songs of all time, so it’s only fitting that Tallest Tree release its second annual think tank SEO rankings.

In 2021 we debuted our list to great fanfare (from a very, very niche audience), and thanks to that recognition we’ve been able to help dozens of think tanks and research centers grow their search traffic through webinars, consulting, and one honest-to-goodness in-person event thanks to our friends at the Mercatus Center.

And that’s been the goal from the start—helping think tanks share their public policy ideas with a wider audience through search. The ranking isn’t about jockeying for position or outdoing your rivals (at least it’s not only about that) it’s really about benchmarking your think tank’s performance against your peers so you can see if you’re falling behind and how you might improve.

How it Works

Our rankings seek to answer a simple question: Which think tanks have the most domains linking to them or the most search traffic coming to them every month after controlling for budget (based b990 expenditure reporting) and scope (state or national).

We have to control for budget and scope otherwise the rankings would heavily favor large-scale, national think tanks and leave smaller and state think tanks at the bottom of the list.

But thanks to the magic of regression analysis courtesy of our dear friend and Director of the St. Anselm College Center for Ethics, Jason Sorens, we’re able to create a ranking that shows which think tanks are performing well on a dollar-for-dollar basis and list national and state-based think tanks side-by-side.

New Additions for 2021

This year we’ve added more technical information to the rankings. You can now see:

• The CMS (content management system) a site uses
• If a site uses the Yoast SEO plugin
• If a site uses Google Analytics (GA)
• If a site uses Google Tag Manager (GTM)
• And if a site uses a CDN (content delivery network)

This has allowed us to see if there’s any correlation between the technologies being used and more search engine traffic.

Now that we’re on the second round of this study, we can also measure changes from 2020 to 2021. Unsurprisingly, most of the high-ranked sites from last year continue to hold high positions in the rankings.

However, some organizations have skyrocketed out of mediocrity thanks to a variety of factors we’ll unpack in the sections below.

Other groups have sunk like stones, indicating a major problem has occurred since our last ranking.

Search Efficiency Rankings

Search Efficiency measures how much more search traffic your think tank gets than would be expected given your expenditures and whether it is state or national in scope.

Monthly search traffic figures are estimated based on keyword ranking and average click-through rates per position.

Here are the top-ranking think tanks in Search Efficiency:

2021 SE Rank	Change from 2020	Name	Scope	Budget	Total Traffic	Top-100 Ranked Keywords	2020 Search Efficiency Rank	Domain Rating	Unique Referring Domains	Referring .gov Domains	Referring .edu Domains	Total Backlinks	Pages Indexed By Google	Pagespeed Desktop	Pagespeed Mobile	CMS	Yoast SEO	Google Tag Manager (GTM)	Google Analytics (GA)	Content Delivery Network (CDN)	Domain Efficiency	Search Efficiency
1	0	Ballotpedia	National	●●●	6,567,206	3,371,166	1	83	51,206	70	607	4,354,595	452,000	59%	18%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	18.731	6.994
2	0	Federation of American Scientists	National	●●	866,323	1,485,024	2	85	76,238	219	1,431	17,274,688	97,200	84%	27%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	27.383	5.990
3	+5	Center for Responsive Politics	National	●●	368,743	748,165	8	81	58,535	23	609	7,965,536	448,000	78%	38%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	22.005	4.925
4	+3	Tax Foundation	National	●●●●	808,128	347,698	7	82	35,700	61	279	1,874,846	16,500	83%	26%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	16.433	4.700
5	+24	Institute for Family Studies	National	●	66,615	107,073	29	73	6,587	10	79	137,279	2,520	95%	59%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	21.996	4.441
6	+22	Prison Policy Initiative	National	●	62,153	122,360	28	78	14,027	34	278	443,325	7,460	96%	83%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	26.665	4.321
7	-4	Pew Research Center	National	●●●●●●	2,499,285	1,979,924	3	91	209,609	264	2,621	103,111,023	49,900	37%	10%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	12.713	3.876
8	+4	Bill of Rights Institute	National	●●●●	214,176	263,008	12	72	6,288	37	166	425,742	6,510	78%	38%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	7.032	3.464
9	+28	Sentencing Project	National	●●	54,604	69,872	37	77	12,203	32	360	698,071	1,280	63%	36%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	19.710	3.277
10	+26	Center for Voting and Democracy	National	●●●	83,948	99,594	36	74	8,589	11	190	301,330	13,600	65%	21%	unknown	no	no	yes	yes	13.056	3.145
11	+45	International Institute for Strategic Studies	National	●	19,397	62,874	56	73	9,896	38	358	609,868	4,620	71%	38%	Sitecore	no	yes	yes	yes	21.454	3.124
12	+68	Institute for Local Self-Reliance	National	●●	46,859	1,504,531	80	75	9,306	39	126	491,207	27,700	68%	23%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	17.549	3.099
13	+100	Institute for Energy and Environment Research	National	●	5,606	17,450	113	55	1,980	3	68	282,524	1,940	95%	67%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	11.262	3.081
14	+61	Jamestown Foundation	National	●●	33,848	126,981	75	74	15,536	20	276	2,128,515	105,000	88%	47%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	18.390	3.056
15	-10	Southern Poverty Law Center	National	●●●●●●	2,154,002	223,209	5	83	40,741	49	776	4,286,925	28,400	80%	60%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	0.335	3.055
16	+6	Economic Policy Institute	National	●●●●	211,568	390,900	22	83	36,528	60	745	2,631,202	15,200	56%	21%	WordPress	no	no	yes	yes	15.422	3.051
17	+27	Illinois Policy Institute	State	●●●●	123,153	102,949	44	71	6,551	10	39	315,430	17,200	81%	30%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	16.115	2.973
18	+174	MacIver Institute for Public Policy	State	●	10,035	22,204	192	50	2,205	3	12	592,057	16,400	80%	33%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	11.402	2.967
19	+30	Environmental and Energy Study Institute	National	●●	34,436	84,119	49	74	5,038	25	162	62,329	8,340	52%	52%	ExpressionEngine	no	no	yes	no	17.031	2.865
20	+38	Student Free Press Association	National	●	13,846	22,499	58	71	9,840	2	112	3,000,445	25,400	75%	34%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	18.982	2.714
21	-12	Brookings Institution	National	●●●●●●	1,597,991	2,425,421	9	90	130,057	314	2,243	8,440,036	155,000	54%	26%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	6.890	2.688
22	-16	Human Rights Watch	National	●●●●●●	1,361,230	1,608,102	6	87	128,050	161	1,707	11,504,232	259,000	80%	45%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.592	2.635
23	-4	Electronic Privacy Information Center	National	●●	38,247	105,567	19	82	19,600	50	592	3,286,242	15,400	95%	90%	unknown	no	no	no	no	22.638	2.602
24	+2	Migration Policy Institute	National	●●●●	104,714	226,795	26	79	20,538	64	774	966,416	17,100	93%	68%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	12.892	2.573
25	+23	Foreign Policy Research Institute	National	●●	32,166	120,653	48	71	8,357	12	281	574,558	15,900	74%	50%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	11.080	2.343
26	+186	Show-Me Institute	State	●●	15,009	11,476	212	43	1,264	1	17	65,769	6,020	81%	37%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-2.362	2.330
27	+3	Brennan Center for Justice	National	●●●●●	229,793	262,211	30	80	22,579	48	367	1,224,768	21,400	80%	26%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	6.030	2.152
28	+86	Oakland Institute	National	●	5,841	5,919	114	59	3,212	2	47	94,989	3,430	53%	27%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	8.776	2.126
29	-19	Council on Foreign Relations	National	●●●●●●	688,647	1,028,719	10	83	73,696	95	1,200	7,539,424	68,800	35%	17%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	1.212	2.049
30	+27	American Conservative Union Foundation	National	●●●	41,400	5,691	57	70	6,875	6	68	415,405	1,780	70%	25%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	6.508	2.047
31	+31	Middle East Institute	National	●●●●	49,819	185,978	62	73	11,851	17	382	5,071,231	8,280	44%	21%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	7.744	1.961
32	+2	Population Reference Bureau	National	●●●●●	101,359	217,369	34	79	26,219	40	860	760,513	9,490	85%	46%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	9.113	1.960
33	+51	Empire Center for Public Policy	State	●	6,132	19,912	84	62	3,072	4	12	55,405	4,250	54%	27%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	20.027	1.956
34	-20	Foundation for Economic Education	National	●●●●	57,791	211,647	14	78	26,485	10	278	4,028,000	44,500	91%	47%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	11.440	1.910
35	-8	Peterson Institute For International Economics	National	●●●●●	104,163	153,379	27	79	15,540	45	420	563,840	14,700	80%	29%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	8.510	1.895
36	-19	Center for American Progress	National	●●●●●●	370,644	942,882	17	85	58,865	99	825	4,662,188	63,700	36%	18%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	5.987	1.856
37	-24	Cato Institute	National	●●●●●●	232,327	547,326	13	82	51,229	87	946	8,140,782	57,300	72%	50%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	5.889	1.834
38	+7	Center for Climate and Energy Solutions	National	●●●	37,752	85,262	45	78	10,694	47	386	696,844	3,060	73%	53%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	13.591	1.814
39	+147	Buckeye Institute, The	State	●●	12,810	7,785	186	47	1,139	2	14	112,266	965	56%	22%	unknown	no	yes	no	no	-0.782	1.800
40	-22	Guttmacher Institute	National	●●●●●	204,350	205,807	18	80	21,641	55	470	597,492	13,000	91%	36%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.468	1.795
41	+59	Association of American Educators Foundation	National	●	5,915	9,707	100	61	1,129	3	102	56,014	3,190	31%	16%	Joomla	no	no	yes	no	8.464	1.784
42	-27	Center on Budget and Policy Priorities	National	●●●●●●	277,820	380,513	15	82	31,831	71	484	2,449,858	32,100	96%	54%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.087	1.736
43	-	Fordham Institute	National	●●●	27,012	68,488	-	72	5,399	18	157	300,378	16,000	60%	27%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	9.201	1.727
44	+38	Competitive Enterprise Institute	National	●●●●	42,007	45,587	82	74	13,034	14	155	2,300,598	30,000	85%	30%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	8.012	1.678
45	+80	James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, The	National	●	4,484	19,422	125	60	2,933	2	76	1,076,908	5,640	58%	18%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	8.549	1.674
46	0	Independent Institute	National	●●●	26,578	85,987	46	72	12,666	5	252	2,882,910	25,500	70%	34%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	8.931	1.669
47	-36	Heritage Foundation	National	●●●●●●	403,125	536,091	11	83	59,834	115	976	7,298,739	54,000	57%	17%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	1.125	1.500
48	+87	East-West Center	National	●	5,558	37,139	135	71	5,097	31	439	1,821,506	11,100	86%	18%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	16.903	1.482
49	+82	Christian Coalition of America	National	●	1,245	903	131	56	2,363	2	64	116,654	348	66%	27%	WordPress	no	no	no	yes	11.464	1.454
50	-29	Center for Strategic and International Studies	National	●●●●●●	227,141	485,580	21	82	33,536	113	993	2,821,255	75,200	25%	8%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	3.515	1.447
51	+20	Century Foundation	National	●●●	25,113	109,742	71	76	10,762	26	299	651,420	7,140	87%	63%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	11.673	1.419
52	+31	American Action Forum	National	●●●	20,295	66,020	83	73	6,828	12	80	150,780	23,000	84%	61%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	9.869	1.390
53	+126	Energy and Environmental Research Center	National	●	776	3,476	179	54	867	11	53	281,954	642	59%	22%	unknown	no	yes	no	no	11.468	1.289
54	+64	Nautilus Institute for Security & Sustainable Development	National	●	3,348	17,835	118	62	2,608	7	125	81,732	6,890	92%	51%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	9.702	1.251
55	+11	Public Citizen	National	●●●●	25,124	82,994	66	78	20,617	33	335	1,396,637	22,200	89%	46%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	12.476	1.236
56	-33	National Bureau of Economic Research	National	●●●●●●	149,763	644,819	23	87	63,592	173	2,074	5,791,435	145,000	79%	65%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	9.661	1.206
57	+34	Institute for Science & International Security	National	●	3,336	8,081	91	64	4,225	5	90	195,357	2,820	81%	74%	ExpressionEngine	no	no	yes	no	11.417	1.204
58	-18	Center for Public Integrity	National	●●●●	26,896	150,666	40	78	24,239	27	342	2,861,881	20,500	87%	28%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	11.809	1.202
59	+77	Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy	National	●●	7,467	50,937	136	72	6,024	12	173	628,503	26,000	75%	38%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	14.134	1.198
60	+84	Center for Law and Social Policy	National	●●●●	39,867	47,115	144	73	4,629	41	187	88,894	7,980	86%	33%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.189	1.193
61	+192	Georgia Public Policy Foundation	State	●	1,724	7,207	253	41	582	1	8	18,094	2,340	92%	73%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	2.321	1.193
62	+148	Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, The	National	●	3,637	7,086	210	56	1,679	4	23	365,781	795	75%	41%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	2.633	1.170
63	+118	Concord Coalition	National	●●	4,910	10,705	181	56	1,814	5	56	90,957	4,020	63%	21%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	0.528	1.147
64	-12	Public Policy Institute of California	National	●●●●●	71,213	119,825	52	75	11,248	22	266	396,441	18,100	53%	9%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	2.099	1.145
65	+93	National Right to Work Legal Defense & Education Foundation Inc.	National	●●●●	27,543	11,578	158	63	2,604	6	27	1,019,834	5,100	53%	14%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	-3.815	1.129
66	-35	Atlantic Council	National	●●●●●●	128,590	394,670	31	80	32,662	74	450	2,220,582	2,530,000	85%	42%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	3.079	1.118
67	-63	World Economic Forum	National	●●●●●●	1,048,668	1,487,689	4	91	199,632	492	2,841	13,122,825	337,000	62%	16%	unknown	no	yes	no	yes	0.326	1.105
68	-29	Commonwealth Fund	National	●●●●●●	134,536	202,359	39	81	22,946	110	526	989,379	20,300	78%	46%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	3.648	1.097
69	+32	American Press Institute	National	●●●	14,842	32,668	101	75	5,873	9	242	129,811	4,580	87%	73%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	11.866	1.076
70	-7	Project on Government Oversight	National	●●●●	21,730	75,079	63	72	8,031	12	107	553,612	6,870	74%	35%	Craft CMS	no	yes	yes	yes	6.373	1.075
71	+181	Policy Circle, The	National	●●	4,043	23,093	252	23	203	0	3	1,295	864	58%	19%	WordPress	yes	yes	no	no	-31.874	1.044
72	+25	National Taxpayers Union	National	●●●●	20,270	28,853	97	67	4,956	4	42	187,056	4,780	71%	44%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	1.548	1.032
73	+89	Independent Women’s Forum	National	●●●	10,834	22,430	162	65	4,067	3	57	1,888,888	14,600	83%	45%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	3.517	1.015
74	+34	Center of the American Experiment	State	●●●	7,999	20,183	108	63	2,351	2	13	244,185	7,020	90%	47%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	13.095	1.003
75	+89	Students For Liberty	National	●●●	14,972	21,192	164	59	2,333	0	35	194,598	32,000	40%	3%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-4.749	0.991
76	-6	Institute for Policy Studies	National	●●●	15,565	64,321	70	73	10,693	8	221	1,258,697	18,500	86%	37%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	8.469	0.909
77	-42	Carnegie Endowment for International Peace	National	●●●●●●	111,313	365,652	35	79	25,039	44	852	4,280,834	59,200	89%	38%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	1.554	0.893
78	-54	Union of Concerned Scientists	National	●●●●●●	112,850	238,283	24	83	41,891	73	788	1,792,886	5,620	67%	25%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	5.203	0.853
79	+127	Policy Matters Ohio	State	●●	3,082	18,680	206	56	2,207	4	24	25,645	6,300	98%	83%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	11.308	0.850
80	-21	Heartland Institute	National	●●●	14,169	31,366	59	74	14,895	20	223	1,457,145	32,400	58%	24%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	9.378	0.801
81	+94	Center for Progressive Reform	National	●	2,438	14,199	175	57	1,315	4	61	124,525	6,610	73%	11%	Wagtail	no	yes	yes	no	3.750	0.788
82	+153	Beacon Hill Institute	National	●	512	1,796	235	49	971	7	14	11,935	1,100	48%	46%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	5.874	0.782
83	-6	Americans for Tax Reform	National	●●●	8,894	12,279	77	72	8,485	8	44	587,207	53,100	86%	25%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	10.237	0.775
84	-46	New America Foundation	National	●●●●●●	96,366	181,876	38	80	16,064	46	425	885,046	23,800	87%	52%	Wagtail	no	yes	yes	no	2.626	0.760
85	+104	Yankee Institute for Public Policy	State	●●	3,102	13,373	189	45	1,303	2	7	81,916	3,990	67%	41%	WordPress	no	yes	no	no	-0.547	0.725
86	+3	American Legislative Exchange Council	National	●●●●	23,512	35,370	89	71	6,970	24	87	424,837	6,720	69%	43%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	2.521	0.716
87	-34	Common Cause	National	●●●●	21,926	26,669	53	76	10,618	20	224	762,202	15,000	44%	8%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	7.974	0.715
88	+111	Washington Policy Center	State	●●●	6,234	21,783	199	59	1,954	4	22	345,458	7,570	69%	45%	unknown	no	yes	no	no	8.804	0.709
89	+76	John Locke Foundation	State	●●●	6,485	30,572	165	58	3,595	1	43	600,740	23,800	63%	33%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	7.398	0.686
90	+203	Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy	State	●	363	1,892	293	39	274	1	4	14,722	1,040	74%	42%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	yes	6.997	0.660
91	-5	Center for a New American Security	National	●●●●●	27,615	45,244	86	74	8,562	20	191	788,015	11,700	84%	62%	Craft CMS	no	yes	yes	no	4.070	0.654
92	-27	Washington Institute for Near East Policy	National	●●●●●	33,609	137,551	65	73	13,342	13	256	1,347,660	37,300	88%	19%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	1.570	0.620
93	-26	Manhattan Institute for Policy Research	National	●●●●●	45,098	72,968	67	76	14,903	25	202	1,092,874	11,200	65%	9%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	no	2.620	0.614
94	+97	Archbridge Institute	National	●	624	3,645	191	37	348	2	3	1,774	265	81%	21%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-8.517	0.613
95	+130	Idaho Freedom Foundation	State	●	1,273	7,438	225	47	723	0	0	24,002	7,700	72%	44%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	6.511	0.611
96	+142	Ethan Allen Institute	State	●	436	2,433	238	32	388	1	4	66,151	2,120	75%	33%	unknown	no	no	yes	yes	-1.520	0.610
97	-25	Human Rights First	National	●●●●●	23,664	51,992	72	74	10,281	19	228	319,288	22,300	54%	21%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.768	0.606
98	+49	Center for Effective Government	National	●●	3,546	11,023	147	60	1,789	7	42	65,899	8,550	90%	55%	Drupal	no	no	yes	no	2.975	0.583
99	+117	Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom	National	●	1,043	2,973	216	46	940	0	4	75,524	3,410	83%	58%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-3.064	0.582
100	+161	Rio Grande Foundation	State	●	490	4,580	261	48	460	0	1	129,965	2,000	49%	20%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	13.442	0.567
101	+129	Energy & Environment Legal Institute	National	●	1,242	1,144	230	37	569	0	3	5,368	2,460	54%	13%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-13.299	0.567
102	+142	Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs	State	●●●	4,954	14,421	244	47	1,134	0	6	97,558	4,280	78%	51%	Craft CMS	no	yes	yes	yes	-2.746	0.549
103	+46	Property & Environment Research Center	National	●●●	6,082	16,355	149	62	3,029	6	114	187,274	3,380	79%	32%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	1.229	0.547
104	-31	Bipartisan Policy Center	National	●●●●●	44,703	86,692	73	77	10,086	47	252	269,792	6,500	90%	70%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	3.150	0.533
105	+137	Badger Institute	State	●●	1,596	9,472	242	52	990	3	14	33,707	1,430	72%	50%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	9.411	0.515
106	-14	Mackinac Center	State	●●●●	12,237	59,473	92	68	6,820	4	88	1,986,808	30,000	99%	81%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	12.046	0.499
107	+31	Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management	National	●●	4,136	3,881	138	61	907	5	233	628,170	1,200	49%	36%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	2.335	0.485
108	-39	Discovery Institute	National	●●●●	14,001	27,819	69	71	6,907	1	118	1,388,915	13,600	82%	39%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	4.385	0.483
109	+34	Center for Education Reform	National	●●	4,941	11,276	143	63	2,430	9	74	278,594	5,590	33%	20%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	3.134	0.478
110	+1	Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs	National	●●●	8,370	47,105	111	70	6,187	9	323	330,385	11,600	77%	48%	unknown	no	no	yes	yes	6.664	0.473
111	-21	EdChoice	National	●●●●	17,005	19,511	90	66	2,932	4	56	121,646	3,260	70%	31%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-2.006	0.464
112	-31	Washington Center for Equitable Growth	National	●●●●	15,884	58,773	81	72	6,420	10	155	409,874	9,800	77%	48%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	4.410	0.460
113	-45	Center for Global Development	National	●●●●●	38,336	125,312	68	78	17,224	36	560	694,885	31,300	71%	25%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.569	0.444
114	+23	Center for Democracy and Technology	National	●●●●	13,898	21,810	137	80	11,745	38	406	698,733	7,900	95%	75%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	yes	13.120	0.435
115	+30	Inter-American Dialogue	National	●●●	8,691	48,682	145	70	5,520	10	202	84,465	19,700	93%	48%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	6.114	0.426
116	-84	American Enterprise Institute	National	●●●●●●	101,578	258,912	32	82	36,050	65	745	2,880,492	91,300	93%	38%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	2.067	0.420
117	+145	Public Policy Institute of New York State	State	●	345	1,482	262	31	296	1	3	7,587	329	98%	88%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-2.273	0.414
118	+109	James Madison Institute	State	●●	2,243	14,234	227	49	1,177	3	12	28,714	2,140	34%	7%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	3.421	0.396
119	+42	Eagle Forum	National	●●	2,853	1,921	161	62	4,896	3	58	718,967	3,350	56%	18%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	yes	4.703	0.324
120	-73	Freedom House	National	●●●●●●	79,423	166,710	47	80	34,221	59	738	3,350,903	332	89%	40%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	1.037	0.323
121	-60	Demos	National	●●●●●	18,790	44,129	61	74	8,928	15	141	1,162,333	7,970	80%	59%	Drupal	no	no	no	yes	4.267	0.299
122	-16	Christensen Institute	National	●●●	6,602	15,957	106	73	3,429	10	125	80,086	4,180	90%	54%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	10.022	0.290
123	+116	Mississippi Center for Public Policy	State	●	974	6,898	239	42	664	1	4	5,634	1,550	83%	60%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	1.087	0.279
124	-5	Institute for Transportation & Development Policy	National	●●●●	13,875	29,216	119	71	3,772	16	102	219,463	7,330	32%	14%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	2.676	0.212
125	+94	Steamboat Institute	National	●	1,174	1,261	219	32	404	0	7	3,355	743	78%	39%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	-20.281	0.206
126	+61	Lugar Center	National	●	1,122	3,069	187	54	1,117	3	27	11,962	1,350	88%	80%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	1.990	0.202
127	+86	Ignatian Solidarity Network	National	●	1,057	3,716	213	48	792	1	61	39,141	3,270	87%	38%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-3.693	0.191
128	+115	Alabama Policy Institute	State	●	1,045	2,875	243	41	624	2	8	41,853	1,210	62%	14%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-0.971	0.187
129	+119	Grassroot Institute of Hawaii	State	●	715	4,650	248	42	894	1	7	58,161	3,220	59%	23%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	2.413	0.173
130	-21	California Policy Center	National	●●	3,443	12,651	109	49	1,465	1	3	131,249	5,110	80%	41%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-10.504	0.173
131	-52	Institute for Women's Policy Research	National	●●●	6,301	17,649	79	77	9,054	43	427	380,308	5,330	48%	2%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	13.559	0.172
132	+72	Civitas Institute	State	●●	1,750	8,407	204	51	1,473	0	11	79,930	5,230	78%	28%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	5.544	0.167
133	+44	World Policy Institute	National	●	1,332	11,618	177	70	6,173	11	231	336,622	8,550	80%	41%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	16.528	0.149
134	-118	CFA Institute	National	●●●●●●	449,865	227,869	16	82	15,043	30	827	1,669,006	12,000	57%	12%	Microsoft SharePoint	no	yes	yes	no	-9.578	0.120
135	+31	Information Technology & Innovation Foundation	National	●●●	6,545	41,358	166	76	7,848	44	199	214,956	716	98%	64%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	11.926	0.113
136	+90	Beacon Center of Tennessee	State	●●	1,582	3,831	226	38	508	1	4	31,500	1,470	64%	23%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	-7.172	0.110
137	-30	Philanthropy Roundtable	National	●●●●	11,468	30,038	107	70	3,442	7	84	64,202	2,510	84%	56%	Sitefinity	no	yes	yes	yes	2.223	0.105
138	-26	Third Way Institute	National	●●●●●	15,841	57,659	112	73	5,830	12	121	204,172	5,600	71%	22%	unknown	no	no	yes	yes	3.091	0.101
139	-119	Kaiser Family Foundation	National	●●●●●●	330,621	502,747	20	87	60,819	158	1,077	2,675,060	50,200	79%	24%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-2.738	0.094
140	+131	Platte Institute for Economic Research	State	●	1,036	5,038	271	33	363	4	4	35,247	1,210	90%	54%	unknown	no	no	no	yes	-9.539	0.091
141	+93	Kansas Policy Institute	State	●●	1,253	4,967	234	38	465	0	7	14,732	1,720	91%	46%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-5.797	0.088
142	+99	National Foundation for American Policy	National	●	517	2,480	241	67	2,737	9	40	12,174	889	58%	50%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	19.104	0.059
143	-47	Economic Innovation Group	National	●●●	4,857	11,431	96	75	3,953	65	55	26,081	3,740	82%	40%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	12.390	0.040
144	+59	Institute for Religion And Democracy	National	●●	2,337	589	203	42	930	1	8	112,891	306	91%	46%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	-16.012	0.014
145	-24	SPUR	National	●●●●	10,327	30,001	121	71	3,636	18	61	194,210	7,800	81%	62%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	no	3.256	0.006
146	-103	Urban Institute	National	●●●●●●	113,651	389,991	43	85	36,204	169	956	1,896,315	72,900	72%	25%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	1.607	0.001
147	-114	Middle East Media Research Institute	National	●●●●	7,848	12,740	33	72	13,716	6	160	2,309,090	32,900	57%	20%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	5.977	-0.004
148	+21	Eno Center for Transportation	National	●●	3,154	14,533	169	67	1,885	24	62	17,324	4,280	76%	47%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	6.898	-0.007
149	+110	Nevada Policy Research Institute	State	●	849	3,134	259	43	906	0	6	39,249	2,520	88%	59%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	1.026	-0.022
150	+44	Lexington Institute	National	●●	2,301	13,321	194	59	1,760	3	29	100,081	3,970	93%	60%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	0.846	-0.023
151	+47	Women's Environment & Development Organization	National	●●	1,630	5,118	198	64	1,547	6	127	52,627	2,260	69%	20%	WordPress	yes	no	no	no	7.960	-0.043
152	-110	Judicial Watch Inc.	National	●●●●●●	54,997	6,537	42	73	16,847	7	63	3,040,306	15,000	42%	23%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-5.976	-0.047
153	+79	American Council for Capital Formation	National	●	638	1,468	232	49	1,107	4	20	4,386	829	90%	69%	WordPress	no	no	yes	yes	-0.980	-0.050
154	-28	Food Research & Action Center	National	●●●●	11,055	27,657	126	76	6,240	53	191	276,276	4,060	83%	46%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	7.333	-0.068
155	+23	America’s Future Foundation	National	●●	1,368	4,351	178	41	1,030	0	20	52,176	3,750	61%	26%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	yes	-14.190	-0.088
156	+45	Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington	National	●●●	3,982	20,396	201	53	1,384	1	61	12,562	4,060	89%	58%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	-9.160	-0.090
157	-63	R Street Institute	National	●●●●●	11,335	40,200	94	71	4,418	8	57	62,979	12,200	80%	44%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	1.954	-0.101
158	-2	Committee for Economic Development	National	●●●	4,953	19,896	156	67	2,464	9	97	84,934	5,190	65%	40%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	3.035	-0.149
159	+11	Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy	National	●●●	2,838	6,694	170	67	1,817	6	75	176,844	4,370	87%	59%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	yes	6.658	-0.149
160	-67	Santa Fe Institute	National	●●●●●	13,159	26,580	93	76	9,727	10	804	287,493	18,600	84%	41%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	5.616	-0.157
161	+79	Bluegrass Institute	National	●	288	3,370	240	38	769	1	9	54,985	125	73%	28%	Squarespace	no	no	no	no	-7.984	-0.232
162	-8	Center for an Urban Future	National	●●	1,321	13,327	154	71	2,773	6	47	177,659	2,140	89%	38%	ExpressionEngine	no	no	yes	no	15.078	-0.235
163	0	Citizens Against Government Waste	National	●●●	3,722	10,621	163	61	4,496	3	39	304,102	6,090	59%	43%	Drupal	no	no	yes	no	-1.689	-0.239
164	+124	1851 Center for Constitutional Law	State	●	151	921	288	32	336	0	1	7,728	223	60%	17%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	-0.236	-0.253
165	+109	Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity	State	●	201	1,377	274	30	306	0	1	72,545	1,130	84%	36%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	-4.133	-0.258
166	-88	Young America’s Foundation	National	●●●●●	23,503	28,844	78	64	4,640	1	70	193,822	4,470	51%	18%	WordPress	yes	yes	no	yes	-11.038	-0.292
167	-19	Data & Society Institute	National	●●●●	5,385	18,908	148	76	5,836	17	253	90,348	4,190	90%	57%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	10.556	-0.292
168	-29	Lincoln Institute of Land Policy	National	●●●●●	18,639	78,032	139	73	4,266	58	272	160,390	19,800	54%	25%	Drupal	no	yes	no	no	-0.590	-0.302
169	+38	Independence Institute	State	●●●	2,348	7,854	207	55	2,396	2	33	243,808	4,250	67%	23%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	4.506	-0.313
170	-29	Resources for the Future	National	●●●●●	12,836	47,508	141	74	6,638	29	459	197,309	10,300	96%	70%	Wagtail	no	yes	yes	yes	2.585	-0.341
171	+124	Virginia Institute for Public Policy	State	●	104	351	295	25	349	0	3	16,692	379	66%	29%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-5.437	-0.350
172	-147	RAND	National	●●●●●●	286,185	881,370	25	86	59,232	248	1,772	5,267,433	121,000	89%	50%	Adobe Experience Manager	no	no	no	no	-5.745	-0.358
173	-88	Acton Institute	National	●●●●●	9,064	48,932	85	71	8,620	3	182	3,885,292	4,350	56%	16%	Drupal	no	no	no	no	1.645	-0.372
174	-22	Environmental Law Institute	National	●●●●	5,370	27,028	152	71	2,967	39	218	265,579	14,500	72%	24%	Drupal	no	no	yes	no	4.897	-0.396
175	+49	Young Voices	National	●	373	650	224	33	355	0	2	95,935	1,360	67%	32%	WordPress	yes	yes	no	no	-15.784	-0.403
176	-88	Social Science Research Council	National	●●●●●	18,215	80,928	88	75	10,806	18	925	843,852	28,100	96%	72%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	0.821	-0.415
177	-67	Henry L. Stimson Center	National	●●●●	7,712	47,028	110	72	4,815	19	251	218,060	11,400	61%	8%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	3.404	-0.417
178	-76	FreedomWorks	National	●●●●	7,015	10,828	102	69	7,043	4	44	1,247,955	12,000	26%	15%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	0.931	-0.431
179	-	Institute for New Economic Thinking	National	●●●●●	12,549	37,079	-	73	6,972	4	290	739,079	7,750	28%	17%	Craft CMS	no	no	yes	yes	1.044	-0.446
180	-47	Reason Foundation	National	●●●●●	10,478	51,593	133	72	8,016	27	121	2,165,659	15,100	95%	41%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	1.153	-0.456
181	+88	Maine Heritage Policy Center	State	●	410	2,964	269	40	501	0	6	86,606	2,180	32%	12%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-0.106	-0.463
182	-53	Breakthrough Institute	National	●●●	2,121	12,975	129	70	4,806	5	140	183,569	2,170	58%	9%	Craft CMS	no	no	yes	no	9.508	-0.464
183	-16	Pacific Research Institute	National	●●●	3,523	11,864	167	61	2,917	8	52	304,873	4,740	63%	18%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-2.902	-0.480
184	0	Texas Public Policy Foundation	State	●●●●●	8,744	23,423	184	64	3,648	12	35	132,516	16,200	55%	18%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	3.857	-0.480
185	-30	Smart Growth America	National	●●●●	4,986	17,996	155	74	7,983	112	191	370,031	7,810	99%	75%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	yes	7.486	-0.534
186	-91	Institute for Justice	National	●●●●●	16,831	55,251	95	73	10,002	20	88	1,287,843	25,000	58%	18%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-1.439	-0.534
187	-111	Mercatus Center	National	●●●●●●	21,155	83,482	76	76	12,700	31	247	1,146,722	19,700	72%	35%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	0.040	-0.539
188	-17	Foreign Policy Association	National	●●●	3,364	5,658	171	59	1,922	8	233	311,492	2,280	95%	56%	unknown	no	no	yes	yes	-5.095	-0.556
189	-57	Arab American Institute	National	●	548	1,078	132	65	2,852	6	104	66,878	279	52%	19%	Squarespace	no	yes	no	no	12.629	-0.570
190	+97	Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy	State	●	119	784	287	30	324	0	4	4,774	667	92%	96%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-2.879	-0.590
191	+65	American Consumer Institute, The	National	●	390	3,343	256	50	990	0	9	50,035	3,890	97%	67%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-0.369	-0.602
192	+1	Free the People	National	●●	947	1,578	193	35	583	0	5	10,826	1,200	79%	41%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-21.195	-0.610
193	+40	Galen Institute	National	●	526	966	233	51	1,365	2	11	109,464	992	73%	57%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	-1.637	-0.652
194	-78	Pacific Legal Foundation	National	●●●●●	10,467	30,883	116	66	3,882	4	43	235,345	8,660	72%	21%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-6.113	-0.652
195	-71	Truman National security Project	National	●	412	1,230	124	53	1,047	1	34	130,482	210	78%	41%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	1.837	-0.669
196	-141	Center for Reproductive Rights	National	●●●●●●	20,571	37,765	55	75	8,354	14	206	242,012	11,900	81%	22%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-1.751	-0.688
197	+25	Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives	State	●●●	1,911	7,281	222	53	1,344	2	15	97,183	3,720	61%	38%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	1.256	-0.711
198	-111	Roosevelt Institute	National	●●●●	4,117	11,372	87	72	5,833	9	126	306,052	1,850	92%	38%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	5.488	-0.725
199	-79	Chicago Council on Global Affairs	National	●●●●●	9,905	21,991	120	72	4,739	21	187	94,446	4,100	66%	14%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	no	-0.434	-0.756
200	+2	Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center	State	●●	569	2,965	202	54	1,341	4	25	287,213	2,320	64%	17%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	9.848	-0.756
201	+48	Institute for the Analysis of Global Security	National	●	469	3,886	249	51	1,379	2	29	48,492	388	57%	43%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-1.594	-0.760
202	-103	International Food Policy Research Institute	National	●●●●●●	73,801	113,957	99	77	11,354	50	643	1,587,700	51,400	50%	11%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	no	-8.592	-0.769
203	-162	World Resources Institute	National	●●●●●●	63,536	236,132	41	84	32,442	154	1,190	2,535,759	12,300	80%	23%	Drupal	no	yes	no	yes	-0.624	-0.770
204	-28	First Liberty Institute	National	●●●●	5,725	8,096	176	59	2,220	2	12	105,866	4,650	70%	24%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-9.954	-0.770
205	+16	Liberty Justice Center	National	●●	1,369	2,301	221	36	411	1	4	4,040	1,650	44%	28%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-23.641	-0.771
206	+72	Maryland Public Policy Institute, The	State	●	214	2,575	278	39	509	2	9	45,548	1,250	67%	38%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	1.066	-0.779
207	-10	Institute for Policy Innovation	National	●	480	2,572	197	56	1,273	5	33	57,456	2,180	91%	83%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	3.017	-0.796
208	-66	Ethics and Public Policy Center	National	●●●	1,952	15,547	142	64	4,355	1	103	347,134	7,320	93%	65%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	1.769	-0.814
209	-69	Americans for Prosperity Foundation	National	●●●●●	8,580	6,795	140	71	6,232	15	43	919,856	4,510	77%	40%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-0.956	-0.826
210	-87	Institute for Humane Studies	National	●●●●●	9,352	10,300	123	64	2,644	1	309	228,235	1,300	54%	31%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-8.712	-0.856
211	-26	Goldwater Institute	National	●●●	2,515	7,935	185	61	2,611	8	40	60,749	3,610	46%	16%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-3.291	-0.876
212	+8	Campaign Finance Institute	National	●	363	3,394	220	54	1,123	3	70	146,987	1,990	85%	61%	Sitefinity	no	no	yes	no	2.280	-0.882
213	-54	Becket	National	●●●●	3,176	13,517	159	65	3,106	1	51	275,403	4,270	69%	38%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-0.978	-0.902
214	-97	German Marshall Fund	National	●●●●●●	15,390	47,508	117	75	9,373	43	324	967,483	14,700	93%	46%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	-1.316	-0.912
215	-161	Aspen Institute	National	●●●●●●	64,993	176,289	54	82	21,164	98	884	924,416	42,100	82%	29%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-3.810	-0.929
216	+2	American Foreign Policy Council	National	●●	1,193	2,908	218	50	1,937	2	111	255,480	2,080	61%	43%	ExpressionEngine	no	no	no	no	-9.791	-0.931
217	+56	Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence	State	●	333	1,314	273	34	193	1	8	4,676	588	98%	90%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-7.806	-0.932
218	-168	National Center for State Courts	National	●●●●●●	33,797	73,304	50	76	5,063	128	264	9,332,462	13,600	77%	41%	Squiz Matrix	no	no	yes	no	-5.617	-0.939
219	+26	Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies	National	●●	564	3,329	245	68	2,039	7	121	7,432,618	1,330	86%	57%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	12.974	-0.949
220	+62	Palmetto Promise Institute	State	●	202	2,162	282	28	289	0	1	5,075	1,120	73%	46%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	-10.694	-0.954
221	+36	Georgia Center for Opportunity	State	●●	851	4,712	257	41	227	1	5	2,351	1,030	20%	12%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	-7.117	-0.963
222	+25	Commonwealth Institute	National	●	510	3,856	247	54	2,302	0	119	53,681	1,770	100%	100%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	-0.503	-0.969
223	+32	Cascade Policy Institute	State	●	268	767	255	42	899	1	23	33,775	612	77%	33%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	1.333	-0.974
224	+61	Garden State Initiative	State	●	123	676	285	15	103	0	1	3,837	390	63%	21%	Squarespace	no	yes	yes	no	-20.637	-0.980
225	-51	Freedom Foundation	National	●●●●	3,037	4,614	174	48	1,674	1	7	21,111	3,830	81%	35%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	-18.251	-0.989
226	-36	Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge	National	●●●	1,552	3,181	190	46	400	2	13	50,437	962	47%	11%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-15.972	-1.003
227	+59	George C. Marshall Institute	National	●	246	1,024	286	50	1,188	0	34	4,212,972	137	85%	53%	WordPress	no	no	yes	yes	-0.029	-1.011
228	-45	Institute for Free Speech	National	●●	1,086	6,683	183	54	1,475	1	21	155,742	4,210	83%	16%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-5.754	-1.019
229	-56	Employment Policies Institute	National	●●	736	7,204	173	58	2,246	4	42	172,717	1,310	95%	64%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	0.661	-1.038
230	-84	Leadership Institute	National	●●●●●	7,800	4,610	146	57	1,602	1	25	251,600	4,610	94%	39%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	-15.931	-1.072
231	-3	Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty	State	●●●	786	3,652	228	49	1,346	9	11	74,289	2,100	73%	19%	WordPress	yes	yes	no	no	0.617	-1.083
232	-52	International Peace Institute	National	●●●●●	4,235	22,248	180	65	2,285	13	163	32,037	6,530	84%	34%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	-4.032	-1.083
233	+44	Maine Center for Economic Policy	State	●●	379	3,921	277	49	614	2	12	18,455	1,980	93%	43%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	5.172	-1.113
234	-74	Foundation for Government Accountability	National	●●●●	3,233	5,101	160	50	1,216	4	12	10,884	2,410	81%	37%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-17.489	-1.116
235	-53	Natural Resource Governance Institute	National	●●●●●	5,257	20,115	182	66	1,947	12	73	249,046	8,260	86%	60%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	-4.727	-1.128
236	+15	Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth	State	●●	740	4,540	251	52	1,019	4	34	114,505	2,120	70%	22%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	3.708	-1.129
237	-65	Institute for War & Peace Reporting	National	●●●●	3,752	33,335	172	70	6,248	9	178	1,118,163	45,400	37%	17%	Drupal	no	no	no	no	1.457	-1.129
238	-88	Center for the National Interest	National	●●●	1,616	827	150	42	688	2	29	35,494	597	93%	58%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	-21.200	-1.151
239	+67	Louisiana Family Forum	State	●	127	276	306	38	267	1	3	10,168	283	62%	20%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	1.020	-1.155
240	-89	Atlas Network	National	●●●●●	5,347	17,242	151	61	3,670	0	58	240,570	5,540	56%	20%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	-10.068	-1.163
241	-	American Council of Trustees and Alumni	National	●●●	1,301	7,051	-	57	1,481	2	80	87,502	2,420	60%	20%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	-5.048	-1.191
242	+37	Forge Leadership Network	National	●	117	457	279	10	61	0	1	348	487	50%	29%	WordPress	yes	no	no	yes	-36.484	-1.210
243	+33	Northeast-Midwest Institute	National	●	216	1,064	276	55	758	17	53	72,404	632	58%	11%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	4.348	-1.237
244	+58	Arkansas Policy Foundation	State	●	34	506	302	8	58	0	2	35,685	226	56%	32%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-20.948	-1.239
245	-194	Pew Charitable Trusts	National	●●●●●●	107,947	440,459	51	85	45,684	193	904	12,910,022	49,700	52%	31%	Sitecore	no	yes	yes	yes	-6.190	-1.248
246	-172	Hudson Institute	National	●●●●●	6,352	41,003	74	74	10,550	32	259	1,106,770	45,300	88%	55%	unknown	no	no	yes	yes	1.236	-1.251
247	-183	Carter Center	National	●●●●●●	36,840	85,951	64	77	11,494	40	397	1,452,728	14,200	69%	43%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	-7.468	-1.291
248	-60	EastWest Institute	National	●●●●	2,567	7,034	188	58	1,371	3	78	23,072	4,830	68%	28%	Drupal	no	no	yes	no	-9.281	-1.315
249	-81	Berggruen Institute	National	●●●●●	4,351	11,590	168	58	1,704	2	54	23,807	1,750	47%	29%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-12.778	-1.325
250	-35	Employee Benefit Research Institute	National	●●●	1,252	6,911	215	77	7,091	26	144	123,235	3,960	78%	62%	Sitefinity	no	yes	yes	no	14.224	-1.341
251	-94	Center for Security Policy	National	●●●	1,370	3,010	157	65	6,214	4	70	1,780,814	10,300	61%	23%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	1.520	-1.359
252	-99	International Center for Research on Women	National	●●●●●	3,517	15,876	153	72	3,715	14	226	89,078	4,330	81%	52%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	2.219	-1.384
253	-30	Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress	National	●●	536	1,629	223	47	629	2	75	803,259	435	68%	16%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-10.565	-1.389
254	-17	Free To Choose Network	National	●●●	1,123	1,588	237	41	792	0	17	28,058	1,630	75%	31%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-21.457	-1.401
255	-5	Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-International	National	●	276	1,389	250	47	253	6	21	30,839	520	83%	24%	Wix	no	no	no	no	-6.373	-1.409
256	-152	Vera Institute of Justice	National	●●●●●●	35,915	66,684	104	76	7,549	74	256	325,098	7,440	86%	35%	Craft CMS	no	yes	yes	yes	-9.098	-1.413
257	-130	National Review Institute	National	●●●●	1,690	1,651	127	36	651	0	8	1,336,917	924	88%	25%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-29.307	-1.430
258	-155	Capital Research Center	National	●●●●	1,661	5,909	103	57	5,047	4	32	193,662	6,570	74%	32%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	-8.307	-1.447
259	+31	Empower Mississippi Foundation	State	●	149	1,051	290	30	252	1	0	2,402	552	78%	36%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-9.956	-1.452
260	+4	Freedom Forum	National	●●●●●●	11,121	13,525	264	67	3,410	14	182	222,819	2,180	56%	23%	WordPress	no	no	yes	yes	-11.032	-1.500
261	+22	Wyoming Liberty Group	State	●●	307	725	283	28	190	0	3	1,161	1,330	66%	26%	Joomla	no	no	no	no	-17.028	-1.508
262	-134	Charles Koch Institute	National	●●●●●	3,979	10,558	128	62	2,130	1	77	48,814	806	58%	31%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-9.468	-1.520
263	-	Center for Growth and Opportunity	National	●●●●	1,220	5,553	-	39	474	0	14	3,222	969	93%	70%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-25.889	-1.692
264	+17	School Choice Wisconsin	State	●●	197	211	281	28	191	1	2	1,204	102	62%	13%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-15.469	-1.712
265	-34	Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation	National	●●●	724	2,028	231	46	509	6	57	6,777	722	58%	21%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-15.627	-1.713
266	-55	Fund for American Studies, The	National	●●●●●	3,197	5,919	211	51	1,039	2	78	46,333	6,630	89%	33%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-20.307	-1.714
267	-71	Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments	National	●●●●	1,636	11,500	196	65	3,017	12	81	144,346	3,170	77%	44%	ExpressionEngine	no	no	yes	no	-2.203	-1.754
268	0	Nonproliferation Policy Education Center	National	●	184	3,183	268	58	1,017	1	30	22,482	8,730	76%	31%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	4.555	-1.826
269	-4	Benjamin Rush Institute	National	●	48	675	265	26	144	0	6	14,908	971	86%	57%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-19.451	-1.942
270	-172	MDRC	National	●●●●●●	11,921	34,424	98	72	3,275	40	209	54,227	9,740	82%	38%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	-9.469	-1.958
271	-141	Milken Institute	National	●●●●●●	9,686	32,722	130	78	9,552	40	229	264,555	354	25%	11%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	-2.136	-1.961
272	-77	Institute for Higher Education Policy	National	●●●●	894	4,522	195	66	2,709	9	208	237,565	4,370	77%	58%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	1.201	-1.989
273	-27	Public Agenda	National	●●●	473	2,163	246	71	5,451	13	353	313,378	825	76%	43%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	9.320	-2.146
274	-65	Center for Financial Inclusion	National	●●●●●●	3,855	15,328	209	66	1,461	2	42	131,429	4,160	50%	18%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	-9.898	-2.232
275	-170	Coaltion for Environmentally Responsible Economies	National	●●●●●	2,342	17,817	105	77	7,193	32	204	340,500	2,930	41%	12%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.160	-2.261
276	-71	Global Integrity	National	●●●●	909	4,282	205	61	1,515	16	61	94,800	3,000	46%	6%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	-5.740	-2.270
277	-63	Center for International Private Enterprise	National	●●●●●	3,272	9,012	214	65	2,375	11	111	123,864	7,870	81%	50%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-10.108	-2.275
278	-78	W.E. Upjohn Institute	National	●●●●●	2,570	20,313	200	72	3,312	20	181	94,551	2,450	70%	30%	Drupal	no	no	no	yes	-1.781	-2.312
279	-145	Center for Public Policy Priorities	National	●●●	376	1,927	134	57	1,207	7	40	48,472	752	85%	23%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-4.416	-2.335
280	+17	Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies	National	●	126	627	297	48	600	3	14	4,990	879	91%	80%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	-6.386	-2.349
281	-45	Potomac Institute for Policy Studies	National	●●●●●	1,302	4,109	236	57	907	4	51	11,972	466	31%	14%	Joomla	no	yes	yes	no	-12.615	-2.353
282	-19	Pinchot Institute for Conservation	National	●	110	210	263	46	397	6	34	4,944	20	90%	45%	GoDaddy Website Builder	no	no	yes	no	-8.316	-2.474
283	-11	Leadership Program of the Rockies	National	●●	136	197	272	23	104	0	0	1,751	98	75%	42%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-32.933	-2.510
284	-17	Jesse Helms Center	National	●	103	625	267	36	285	1	5	3,349	178	80%	40%	Squarespace	no	no	no	no	-18.463	-2.562
285	-15	Political Research Associates	National	●●	118	168	270	56	3,730	1	74	140,767	1	100%	95%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	-1.734	-2.929
286	-32	Pelican Institute for Public Policy	State	●●	85	424	254	33	403	0	1	13,297	670	85%	42%	unknown	no	no	no	yes	-12.994	-2.940
287	-29	Mountain States Legal Foundation	National	●●●	191	1,365	258	39	542	2	7	27,209	662	80%	25%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-22.323	-2.998
288	+6	Think Freely Media	National	●	33	60	294	20	78	0	1	481	13	87%	55%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	-32.392	-3.383
289	0	Free State Foundation	National	●	42	587	289	38	361	1	7	17,942	581	77%	59%	WordPress	yes	no	no	no	-16.223	-3.423
290	+9	Franklin News Foundation	National	●●	87	90	299	34	580	1	4	194,719	20	78%	69%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-24.977	-3.425
291	-31	National Institute for Public Policy	National	●●	87	220	260	38	486	2	14	19,502	282	84%	62%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	-22.196	-3.612
292	+8	National Tax Limitation Committee	National	●●	43	112	300	15	113	0	2	64,061	186	45%	17%	WordPress	yes	no	no	no	-41.276	-3.714
293	-9	Families and Work Institute	National	●	28	199	284	70	1,694	17	88	20,182	88	41%	41%	Sanity	no	yes	yes	no	16.503	-3.717
294	-77	Institute for Defense Analysis	National	●●●●●●	2,617	10,916	217	66	1,723	19	136	25,468	3,380	96%	61%	Sitecore	no	yes	yes	no	-23.297	-4.677
295	-3	Center for International Policy	National	●●●	32	154	292	55	2,310	4	105	119,193	163	99%	99%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	-9.326	-5.246
296	+5	Center for Independent Thought	National	●	2	89	301	14	60	0	2	50,075	17	60%	21%	Squarespace	no	no	no	no	-36.874	-5.953
297	+6	Institute for Global Ethics	National	●	2	5	303	51	810	5	80	29,580	1	100%	100%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-0.515	-6.051
298	+6	Institute for Sustainable Communities, Advocay & Leadership	National	●●●●	13	117	304	52	590	5	35	81,288	745	62%	30%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-15.311	-6.605
299	-177	Center for Economic Policy and Research	National	●●	0	43,432	122	76	17,001	31	317	2,295,098	13,500	53%	20%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	16.005
300	-92	Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research	State	●●	0	20,354	208	62	2,669	6	43	112,980	8,120	46%	18%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	14.062
301	-5	Alliance for Health Policy	National	●●	0	89	296	58	1,099	6	63	8,864	2,570	89%	60%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-0.144
302	-73	Libertas Institute	State	●●	0	797	229	40	620	1	4	16,407	863	80%	31%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-6.469
303	-28	Sutherland Institute	State	●●	0	1,671	275	38	604	5	14	6,989	691	52%	22%	WordPress	yes	yes	no	yes	-7.458
304	+3	Federalist Society	National	●●●●●	0	0	307	62	3,153	3	117	218,799	7,800	38%	28%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	-12.252
305	-14	Caesar Rodney Institute	State	●	0	398	291	18	164	0	1	15,616	720	53%	21%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	-15.737
306	+2	Center for Independent Employees	National	●	0	5	308	2	8	0	0	42	6	84%	39%	Squarespace	no	no	no	no	-47.284

Domain Efficiency Rankings

Domain Efficiency measures how much higher a think tank’s domain rating is than would be expected given its expenditures and whether it is state or national in scope.

Domain rating is an industry-standard score ranging from 0 to 100 based on the quantity and quality of incoming links from other web domains.

Here are the top ranking think tanks in Domain Efficiency:

2021 DE Rank	Change	Name	Scope	Budget	Domain Rating	Unique Referring Domains	2020 Domain Efficiency Rank	Total Traffic	Top-100 Ranked Keywords	Referring .gov Domains	Referring .edu Domains	Total Backlinks	Pages Indexed By Google	Pagespeed Desktop	Pagespeed Mobile	CMS	Yoast SEO	Google Tag Manager (GTM)	Google Analytics (GA)	Content Delivery Network (CDN)	Domain Efficiency	Search Efficiency
1	0	Federation of American Scientists	National	●●	85	76,238	1	866,323	1,485,024	219	1,431	17,274,688	97,200	84%	27%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	27.383	5.990
2	0	Prison Policy Initiative	National	●	78	14,027	2	62,153	122,360	34	278	443,325	7,460	96%	83%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	26.665	4.321
3	0	Electronic Privacy Information Center	National	●●	82	19,600	3	38,247	105,567	50	592	3,286,242	15,400	95%	90%	unknown	no	no	no	no	22.638	2.602
4	+2	Center for Responsive Politics	National	●●	81	58,535	6	368,743	748,165	23	609	7,965,536	448,000	78%	38%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	22.005	4.925
5	0	Institute for Family Studies	National	●	73	6,587	5	66,615	107,073	10	79	137,279	2,520	95%	59%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	21.996	4.441
6	+5	International Institute for Strategic Studies	National	●	73	9,896	11	19,397	62,874	38	358	609,868	4,620	71%	38%	Sitecore	no	yes	yes	yes	21.454	3.124
7	+3	Empire Center for Public Policy	State	●	62	3,072	10	6,132	19,912	4	12	55,405	4,250	54%	27%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	20.027	1.956
8	+5	Sentencing Project	National	●●	77	12,203	13	54,604	69,872	32	360	698,071	1,280	63%	36%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	19.710	3.277
9	-1	National Foundation for American Policy	National	●	67	2,737	8	517	2,480	9	40	12,174	889	58%	50%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	19.104	0.059
10	-6	Student Free Press Association	National	●	71	9,840	4	13,846	22,499	2	112	3,000,445	25,400	75%	34%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	18.982	2.714
11	+4	Ballotpedia	National	●●●	83	51,206	15	6,567,206	3,371,166	70	607	4,354,595	452,000	59%	18%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	18.731	6.994
12	+11	Jamestown Foundation	National	●●	74	15,536	23	33,848	126,981	20	276	2,128,515	105,000	88%	47%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	18.390	3.056
13	+1	Institute for Local Self-Reliance	National	●●	75	9,306	14	46,859	1,504,531	39	126	491,207	27,700	68%	23%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	17.549	3.099
14	+10	Environmental and Energy Study Institute	National	●●	74	5,038	24	34,436	84,119	25	162	62,329	8,340	52%	52%	ExpressionEngine	no	no	yes	no	17.031	2.865
15	-6	East-West Center	National	●	71	5,097	9	5,558	37,139	31	439	1,821,506	11,100	86%	18%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	16.903	1.482
16	0	World Policy Institute	National	●	70	6,173	16	1,332	11,618	11	231	336,622	8,550	80%	41%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	16.528	0.149
17	0	Families and Work Institute	National	●	70	1,694	17	28	199	17	88	20,182	88	41%	41%	Sanity	no	yes	yes	no	16.503	-3.717
18	0	Tax Foundation	National	●●●●	82	35,700	18	808,128	347,698	61	279	1,874,846	16,500	83%	26%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	16.433	4.700
19	+6	Illinois Policy Institute	State	●●●●	71	6,551	25	123,153	102,949	10	39	315,430	17,200	81%	30%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	16.115	2.973
20	-8	Center for Economic Policy and Research	National	●●	76	17,001	12	0	43,432	31	317	2,295,098	13,500	53%	20%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	16.005
21	+6	Economic Policy Institute	National	●●●●	83	36,528	27	211,568	390,900	60	745	2,631,202	15,200	56%	21%	WordPress	no	no	yes	yes	15.422	3.051
22	+10	Center for an Urban Future	National	●●	71	2,773	32	1,321	13,327	6	47	177,659	2,140	89%	38%	ExpressionEngine	no	no	yes	no	15.078	-0.235
23	+7	Employee Benefit Research Institute	National	●●●	77	7,091	30	1,252	6,911	26	144	123,235	3,960	78%	62%	Sitefinity	no	yes	yes	no	14.224	-1.341
24	+14	Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy	National	●●	72	6,024	38	7,467	50,937	12	173	628,503	26,000	75%	38%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	14.134	1.198
25	+4	Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research	State	●●	62	2,669	29	0	20,354	6	43	112,980	8,120	46%	18%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	14.062
26	+16	Center for Climate and Energy Solutions	National	●●●	78	10,694	42	37,752	85,262	47	386	696,844	3,060	73%	53%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	13.591	1.814
27	-1	Institute for Women's Policy Research	National	●●●	77	9,054	26	6,301	17,649	43	427	380,308	5,330	48%	2%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	13.559	0.172
28	+93	Rio Grande Foundation	State	●	48	460	121	490	4,580	0	1	129,965	2,000	49%	20%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	13.442	0.567
29	-8	Center for Democracy and Technology	National	●●●●	80	11,745	21	13,898	21,810	38	406	698,733	7,900	95%	75%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	yes	13.120	0.435
30	+141	Center of the American Experiment	State	●●●	63	2,351	171	7,999	20,183	2	13	244,185	7,020	90%	47%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	13.095	1.003
31	+2	Center for Voting and Democracy	National	●●●	74	8,589	33	83,948	99,594	11	190	301,330	13,600	65%	21%	unknown	no	no	yes	yes	13.056	3.145
32	+22	Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies	National	●●	68	2,039	54	564	3,329	7	121	7,432,618	1,330	86%	57%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	12.974	-0.949
33	+11	Migration Policy Institute	National	●●●●	79	20,538	44	104,714	226,795	64	774	966,416	17,100	93%	68%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	12.892	2.573
34	+2	Pew Research Center	National	●●●●●●	91	209,609	36	2,499,285	1,979,924	264	2,621	103,111,023	49,900	37%	10%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	12.713	3.876
35	+42	Arab American Institute	National	●	65	2,852	77	548	1,078	6	104	66,878	279	52%	19%	Squarespace	no	yes	no	no	12.629	-0.570
36	+10	Public Citizen	National	●●●●	78	20,617	46	25,124	82,994	33	335	1,396,637	22,200	89%	46%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	12.476	1.236
37	+12	Economic Innovation Group	National	●●●	75	3,953	49	4,857	11,431	65	55	26,081	3,740	82%	40%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	12.390	0.040
38	-18	Mackinac Center	State	●●●●	68	6,820	20	12,237	59,473	4	88	1,986,808	30,000	99%	81%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	12.046	0.499
39	-2	Information Technology & Innovation Foundation	National	●●●	76	7,848	37	6,545	41,358	44	199	214,956	716	98%	64%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	11.926	0.113
40	-1	American Press Institute	National	●●●	75	5,873	39	14,842	32,668	9	242	129,811	4,580	87%	73%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	11.866	1.076
41	-7	Center for Public Integrity	National	●●●●	78	24,239	34	26,896	150,666	27	342	2,861,881	20,500	87%	28%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	11.809	1.202
42	+15	Century Foundation	National	●●●	76	10,762	57	25,113	109,742	26	299	651,420	7,140	87%	63%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	11.673	1.419
43	+158	Energy and Environmental Research Center	National	●	54	867	201	776	3,476	11	53	281,954	642	59%	22%	unknown	no	yes	no	no	11.468	1.289
44	-22	Christian Coalition of America	National	●	56	2,363	22	1,245	903	2	64	116,654	348	66%	27%	WordPress	no	no	no	yes	11.464	1.454
45	0	Foundation for Economic Education	National	●●●●	78	26,485	45	57,791	211,647	10	278	4,028,000	44,500	91%	47%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	11.440	1.910
46	-11	Institute for Science & International Security	National	●	64	4,225	35	3,336	8,081	5	90	195,357	2,820	81%	74%	ExpressionEngine	no	no	yes	no	11.417	1.204
47	-6	MacIver Institute for Public Policy	State	●	50	2,205	41	10,035	22,204	3	12	592,057	16,400	80%	33%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	11.402	2.967
48	+3	Policy Matters Ohio	State	●●	56	2,207	51	3,082	18,680	4	24	25,645	6,300	98%	83%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	11.308	0.850
49	+22	Institute for Energy and Environment Research	National	●	55	1,980	71	5,606	17,450	3	68	282,524	1,940	95%	67%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	11.262	3.081
50	+18	Foreign Policy Research Institute	National	●●	71	8,357	68	32,166	120,653	12	281	574,558	15,900	74%	50%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	11.080	2.343
51	-3	Data & Society Institute	National	●●●●	76	5,836	48	5,385	18,908	17	253	90,348	4,190	90%	57%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	10.556	-0.292
52	+7	Americans for Tax Reform	National	●●●	72	8,485	59	8,894	12,279	8	44	587,207	53,100	86%	25%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	10.237	0.775
53	-6	Christensen Institute	National	●●●	73	3,429	47	6,602	15,957	10	125	80,086	4,180	90%	54%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	10.022	0.290
54	+18	American Action Forum	National	●●●	73	6,828	72	20,295	66,020	12	80	150,780	23,000	84%	61%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	9.869	1.390
55	-15	Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center	State	●●	54	1,341	40	569	2,965	4	25	287,213	2,320	64%	17%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	9.848	-0.756
56	-37	Nautilus Institute for Security & Sustainable Development	National	●	62	2,608	19	3,348	17,835	7	125	81,732	6,890	92%	51%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	9.702	1.251
57	+3	National Bureau of Economic Research	National	●●●●●●	87	63,592	60	149,763	644,819	173	2,074	5,791,435	145,000	79%	65%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	9.661	1.206
58	-27	Breakthrough Institute	National	●●●	70	4,806	31	2,121	12,975	5	140	183,569	2,170	58%	9%	Craft CMS	no	no	yes	no	9.508	-0.464
59	+79	Badger Institute	State	●●	52	990	138	1,596	9,472	3	14	33,707	1,430	72%	50%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	9.411	0.515
60	-4	Heartland Institute	National	●●●	74	14,895	56	14,169	31,366	20	223	1,457,145	32,400	58%	24%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	9.378	0.801
61	+31	Public Agenda	National	●●●	71	5,451	92	473	2,163	13	353	313,378	825	76%	43%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	9.320	-2.146
62	-	Fordham Institute	National	●●●	72	5,399	-	27,012	68,488	18	157	300,378	16,000	60%	27%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	9.201	1.727
63	-13	Population Reference Bureau	National	●●●●●	79	26,219	50	101,359	217,369	40	860	760,513	9,490	85%	46%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	9.113	1.960
64	-11	Independent Institute	National	●●●	72	12,666	53	26,578	85,987	5	252	2,882,910	25,500	70%	34%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	8.931	1.669
65	-2	Washington Policy Center	State	●●●	59	1,954	63	6,234	21,783	4	22	345,458	7,570	69%	45%	unknown	no	yes	no	no	8.804	0.709
66	-8	Oakland Institute	National	●	59	3,212	58	5,841	5,919	2	47	94,989	3,430	53%	27%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	8.776	2.126
67	+15	James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal, The	National	●	60	2,933	82	4,484	19,422	2	76	1,076,908	5,640	58%	18%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	8.549	1.674
68	+11	Peterson Institute For International Economics	National	●●●●●	79	15,540	79	104,163	153,379	45	420	563,840	14,700	80%	29%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	8.510	1.895
69	-14	Institute for Policy Studies	National	●●●	73	10,693	55	15,565	64,321	8	221	1,258,697	18,500	86%	37%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	8.469	0.909
70	-9	Association of American Educators Foundation	National	●	61	1,129	61	5,915	9,707	3	102	56,014	3,190	31%	16%	Joomla	no	no	yes	no	8.464	1.784
71	+32	Competitive Enterprise Institute	National	●●●●	74	13,034	103	42,007	45,587	14	155	2,300,598	30,000	85%	30%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	8.012	1.678
72	-2	Common Cause	National	●●●●	76	10,618	70	21,926	26,669	20	224	762,202	15,000	44%	8%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	7.974	0.715
73	-9	Women's Environment & Development Organization	National	●●	64	1,547	64	1,630	5,118	6	127	52,627	2,260	69%	20%	WordPress	yes	no	no	no	7.960	-0.043
74	+10	Middle East Institute	National	●●●●	73	11,851	84	49,819	185,978	17	382	5,071,231	8,280	44%	21%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	7.744	1.961
75	-1	Smart Growth America	National	●●●●	74	7,983	74	4,986	17,996	112	191	370,031	7,810	99%	75%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	yes	7.486	-0.534
76	-9	John Locke Foundation	State	●●●	58	3,595	67	6,485	30,572	1	43	600,740	23,800	63%	33%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	7.398	0.686
77	+17	Food Research & Action Center	National	●●●●	76	6,240	94	11,055	27,657	53	191	276,276	4,060	83%	46%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	7.333	-0.068
78	0	Bill of Rights Institute	National	●●●●	72	6,288	78	214,176	263,008	37	166	425,742	6,510	78%	38%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	7.032	3.464
79	+137	Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy	State	●	39	274	216	363	1,892	1	4	14,722	1,040	74%	42%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	yes	6.997	0.660
80	+39	Eno Center for Transportation	National	●●	67	1,885	119	3,154	14,533	24	62	17,324	4,280	76%	47%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	6.898	-0.007
81	+34	Brookings Institution	National	●●●●●●	90	130,057	115	1,597,991	2,425,421	314	2,243	8,440,036	155,000	54%	26%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	6.890	2.688
82	-20	Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs	National	●●●	70	6,187	62	8,370	47,105	9	323	330,385	11,600	77%	48%	unknown	no	no	yes	yes	6.664	0.473
83	+41	Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy	National	●●●	67	1,817	124	2,838	6,694	6	75	176,844	4,370	87%	59%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	yes	6.658	-0.149
84	+105	Idaho Freedom Foundation	State	●	47	723	189	1,273	7,438	0	0	24,002	7,700	72%	44%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	6.511	0.611
85	-9	American Conservative Union Foundation	National	●●●	70	6,875	76	41,400	5,691	6	68	415,405	1,780	70%	25%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	6.508	2.047
86	-21	Project on Government Oversight	National	●●●●	72	8,031	65	21,730	75,079	12	107	553,612	6,870	74%	35%	Craft CMS	no	yes	yes	yes	6.373	1.075
87	-2	Inter-American Dialogue	National	●●●	70	5,520	85	8,691	48,682	10	202	84,465	19,700	93%	48%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	6.114	0.426
88	+14	Brennan Center for Justice	National	●●●●●	80	22,579	102	229,793	262,211	48	367	1,224,768	21,400	80%	26%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	6.030	2.152
89	+16	Center for American Progress	National	●●●●●●	85	58,865	105	370,644	942,882	99	825	4,662,188	63,700	36%	18%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	5.987	1.856
90	-17	Middle East Media Research Institute	National	●●●●	72	13,716	73	7,848	12,740	6	160	2,309,090	32,900	57%	20%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	5.977	-0.004
91	+4	Cato Institute	National	●●●●●●	82	51,229	95	232,327	547,326	87	946	8,140,782	57,300	72%	50%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	5.889	1.834
92	+5	Beacon Hill Institute	National	●	49	971	97	512	1,796	7	14	11,935	1,100	48%	46%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	5.874	0.782
93	-12	Santa Fe Institute	National	●●●●●	76	9,727	81	13,159	26,580	10	804	287,493	18,600	84%	41%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	5.616	-0.157
94	-66	Civitas Institute	State	●●	51	1,473	28	1,750	8,407	0	11	79,930	5,230	78%	28%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	5.544	0.167
95	+17	Roosevelt Institute	National	●●●●	72	5,833	112	4,117	11,372	9	126	306,052	1,850	92%	38%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	5.488	-0.725
96	-7	Union of Concerned Scientists	National	●●●●●●	83	41,891	89	112,850	238,283	73	788	1,792,886	5,620	67%	25%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	5.203	0.853
97	+53	Maine Center for Economic Policy	State	●●	49	614	150	379	3,921	2	12	18,455	1,980	93%	43%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	5.172	-1.113
98	-2	Environmental Law Institute	National	●●●●	71	2,967	96	5,370	27,028	39	218	265,579	14,500	72%	24%	Drupal	no	no	yes	no	4.897	-0.396
99	+34	Human Rights First	National	●●●●●	74	10,281	133	23,664	51,992	19	228	319,288	22,300	54%	21%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.768	0.606
100	-31	Eagle Forum	National	●●	62	4,896	69	2,853	1,921	3	58	718,967	3,350	56%	18%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	yes	4.703	0.324
101	-15	Human Rights Watch	National	●●●●●●	87	128,050	86	1,361,230	1,608,102	161	1,707	11,504,232	259,000	80%	45%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.592	2.635
102	-12	Center for Global Development	National	●●●●●	78	17,224	90	38,336	125,312	36	560	694,885	31,300	71%	25%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.569	0.444
103	+169	Nonproliferation Policy Education Center	National	●	58	1,017	272	184	3,183	1	30	22,482	8,730	76%	31%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	4.555	-1.826
104	-61	Independence Institute	State	●●●	55	2,396	43	2,348	7,854	2	33	243,808	4,250	67%	23%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	4.506	-0.313
105	+9	Guttmacher Institute	National	●●●●●	80	21,641	114	204,350	205,807	55	470	597,492	13,000	91%	36%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.468	1.795
106	-18	Washington Center for Equitable Growth	National	●●●●	72	6,420	88	15,884	58,773	10	155	409,874	9,800	77%	48%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	4.410	0.460
107	-20	Discovery Institute	National	●●●●	71	6,907	87	14,001	27,819	1	118	1,388,915	13,600	82%	39%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	4.385	0.483
108	+103	Northeast-Midwest Institute	National	●	55	758	211	216	1,064	17	53	72,404	632	58%	11%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	4.348	-1.237
109	+11	Demos	National	●●●●●	74	8,928	120	18,790	44,129	15	141	1,162,333	7,970	80%	59%	Drupal	no	no	no	yes	4.267	0.299
110	-9	Center for Law and Social Policy	National	●●●●	73	4,629	101	39,867	47,115	41	187	88,894	7,980	86%	33%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.189	1.193
111	-13	Coaltion for Environmentally Responsible Economies	National	●●●●●	77	7,193	98	2,342	17,817	32	204	340,500	2,930	41%	12%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.160	-2.261
112	+1	Center on Budget and Policy Priorities	National	●●●●●●	82	31,831	113	277,820	380,513	71	484	2,449,858	32,100	96%	54%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	4.087	1.736
113	+5	Center for a New American Security	National	●●●●●	74	8,562	118	27,615	45,244	20	191	788,015	11,700	84%	62%	Craft CMS	no	yes	yes	no	4.070	0.654
114	-23	Texas Public Policy Foundation	State	●●●●●	64	3,648	91	8,744	23,423	12	35	132,516	16,200	55%	18%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	3.857	-0.480
115	+38	Center for Progressive Reform	National	●	57	1,315	153	2,438	14,199	4	61	124,525	6,610	73%	11%	Wagtail	no	yes	yes	no	3.750	0.788
116	-17	Massachusetts Institute for a New Commonwealth	State	●●	52	1,019	99	740	4,540	4	34	114,505	2,120	70%	22%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	3.708	-1.129
117	+28	Commonwealth Fund	National	●●●●●●	81	22,946	145	134,536	202,359	110	526	989,379	20,300	78%	46%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	3.648	1.097
118	+4	Independent Women’s Forum	National	●●●	65	4,067	122	10,834	22,430	3	57	1,888,888	14,600	83%	45%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	3.517	1.015
119	+12	Center for Strategic and International Studies	National	●●●●●●	82	33,536	131	227,141	485,580	113	993	2,821,255	75,200	25%	8%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	3.515	1.447
120	+35	James Madison Institute	State	●●	49	1,177	155	2,243	14,234	3	12	28,714	2,140	34%	7%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	3.421	0.396
121	-10	Henry L. Stimson Center	National	●●●●	72	4,815	111	7,712	47,028	19	251	218,060	11,400	61%	8%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	3.404	-0.417
122	-5	SPUR	National	●●●●	71	3,636	117	10,327	30,001	18	61	194,210	7,800	81%	62%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	no	3.256	0.006
123	+3	Bipartisan Policy Center	National	●●●●●	77	10,086	126	44,703	86,692	47	252	269,792	6,500	90%	70%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	3.150	0.533
124	+23	Center for Education Reform	National	●●	63	2,430	147	4,941	11,276	9	74	278,594	5,590	33%	20%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	3.134	0.478
125	-21	Third Way Institute	National	●●●●●	73	5,830	104	15,841	57,659	12	121	204,172	5,600	71%	22%	unknown	no	no	yes	yes	3.091	0.101
126	+18	Atlantic Council	National	●●●●●●	80	32,662	144	128,590	394,670	74	450	2,220,582	2,530,000	85%	42%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	3.079	1.118
127	+38	Committee for Economic Development	National	●●●	67	2,464	165	4,953	19,896	9	97	84,934	5,190	65%	40%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	3.035	-0.149
128	-18	Institute for Policy Innovation	National	●	56	1,273	110	480	2,572	5	33	57,456	2,180	91%	83%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	3.017	-0.796
129	+1	Center for Effective Government	National	●●	60	1,789	130	3,546	11,023	7	42	65,899	8,550	90%	55%	Drupal	no	no	yes	no	2.975	0.583
130	-2	Institute for Transportation & Development Policy	National	●●●●	71	3,772	128	13,875	29,216	16	102	219,463	7,330	32%	14%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	2.676	0.212
131	+122	Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, The	National	●	56	1,679	253	3,637	7,086	4	23	365,781	795	75%	41%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	2.633	1.170
132	+19	New America Foundation	National	●●●●●●	80	16,064	151	96,366	181,876	46	425	885,046	23,800	87%	52%	Wagtail	no	yes	yes	no	2.626	0.760
133	+15	Manhattan Institute for Policy Research	National	●●●●●	76	14,903	148	45,098	72,968	25	202	1,092,874	11,200	65%	9%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	no	2.620	0.614
134	0	Resources for the Future	National	●●●●●	74	6,638	134	12,836	47,508	29	459	197,309	10,300	96%	70%	Wagtail	no	yes	yes	yes	2.585	-0.341
135	+2	American Legislative Exchange Council	National	●●●●	71	6,970	137	23,512	35,370	24	87	424,837	6,720	69%	43%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	2.521	0.716
136	+27	Grassroot Institute of Hawaii	State	●	42	894	163	715	4,650	1	7	58,161	3,220	59%	23%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	2.413	0.173
137	-57	Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management	National	●●	61	907	80	4,136	3,881	5	233	628,170	1,200	49%	36%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	2.335	0.485
138	+26	Georgia Public Policy Foundation	State	●	41	582	164	1,724	7,207	1	8	18,094	2,340	92%	73%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	2.321	1.193
139	-16	Campaign Finance Institute	National	●	54	1,123	123	363	3,394	3	70	146,987	1,990	85%	61%	Sitefinity	no	no	yes	no	2.280	-0.882
140	+30	Philanthropy Roundtable	National	●●●●	70	3,442	170	11,468	30,038	7	84	64,202	2,510	84%	56%	Sitefinity	no	yes	yes	yes	2.223	0.105
141	+32	International Center for Research on Women	National	●●●●●	72	3,715	173	3,517	15,876	14	226	89,078	4,330	81%	52%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	2.219	-1.384
142	-2	Public Policy Institute of California	National	●●●●●	75	11,248	140	71,213	119,825	22	266	396,441	18,100	53%	9%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	2.099	1.145
143	0	American Enterprise Institute	National	●●●●●●	82	36,050	143	101,578	258,912	65	745	2,880,492	91,300	93%	38%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	2.067	0.420
144	-12	Lugar Center	National	●	54	1,117	132	1,122	3,069	3	27	11,962	1,350	88%	80%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	1.990	0.202
145	+1	R Street Institute	National	●●●●●	71	4,418	146	11,335	40,200	8	57	62,979	12,200	80%	44%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	1.954	-0.101
146	-46	Truman National security Project	National	●	53	1,047	100	412	1,230	1	34	130,482	210	78%	41%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	1.837	-0.669
147	+59	Ethics and Public Policy Center	National	●●●	64	4,355	206	1,952	15,547	1	103	347,134	7,320	93%	65%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	1.769	-0.814
148	+9	Acton Institute	National	●●●●●	71	8,620	157	9,064	48,932	3	182	3,885,292	4,350	56%	16%	Drupal	no	no	no	no	1.645	-0.372
149	+23	Urban Institute	National	●●●●●●	85	36,204	172	113,651	389,991	169	956	1,896,315	72,900	72%	25%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	1.607	0.001
150	+18	Washington Institute for Near East Policy	National	●●●●●	73	13,342	168	33,609	137,551	13	256	1,347,660	37,300	88%	19%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	1.570	0.620
151	+27	Carnegie Endowment for International Peace	National	●●●●●●	79	25,039	178	111,313	365,652	44	852	4,280,834	59,200	89%	38%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	1.554	0.893
152	-11	National Taxpayers Union	National	●●●●	67	4,956	141	20,270	28,853	4	42	187,056	4,780	71%	44%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	1.548	1.032
153	+47	Center for Security Policy	National	●●●	65	6,214	200	1,370	3,010	4	70	1,780,814	10,300	61%	23%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	1.520	-1.359
154	-18	Institute for War & Peace Reporting	National	●●●●	70	6,248	136	3,752	33,335	9	178	1,118,163	45,400	37%	17%	Drupal	no	no	no	no	1.457	-1.129
155	-46	Cascade Policy Institute	State	●	42	899	109	268	767	1	23	33,775	612	77%	33%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	1.333	-0.974
156	+11	Commonwealth Foundation for Public Policy Alternatives	State	●●●	53	1,344	167	1,911	7,281	2	15	97,183	3,720	61%	38%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	1.256	-0.711
157	-1	Hudson Institute	National	●●●●●	74	10,550	156	6,352	41,003	32	259	1,106,770	45,300	88%	55%	unknown	no	no	yes	yes	1.236	-1.251
158	-75	Property & Environment Research Center	National	●●●	62	3,029	83	6,082	16,355	6	114	187,274	3,380	79%	32%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	1.229	0.547
159	+3	Council on Foreign Relations	National	●●●●●●	83	73,696	162	688,647	1,028,719	95	1,200	7,539,424	68,800	35%	17%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	1.212	2.049
160	-94	Institute for Higher Education Policy	National	●●●●	66	2,709	66	894	4,522	9	208	237,565	4,370	77%	58%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	1.201	-1.989
161	-7	Reason Foundation	National	●●●●●	72	8,016	154	10,478	51,593	27	121	2,165,659	15,100	95%	41%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	1.153	-0.456
162	+18	Heritage Foundation	National	●●●●●●	83	59,834	180	403,125	536,091	115	976	7,298,739	54,000	57%	17%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	1.125	1.500
163	+19	Mississippi Center for Public Policy	State	●	42	664	182	974	6,898	1	4	5,634	1,550	83%	60%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	1.087	0.279
164	-56	Maryland Public Policy Institute, The	State	●	39	509	108	214	2,575	2	9	45,548	1,250	67%	38%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	1.066	-0.779
165	-	Institute for New Economic Thinking	National	●●●●●	73	6,972	-	12,549	37,079	4	290	739,079	7,750	28%	17%	Craft CMS	no	no	yes	yes	1.044	-0.446
166	-37	Freedom House	National	●●●●●●	80	34,221	129	79,423	166,710	59	738	3,350,903	332	89%	40%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	1.037	0.323
167	-51	Nevada Policy Research Institute	State	●	43	906	116	849	3,134	0	6	39,249	2,520	88%	59%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	1.026	-0.022
168	+16	Louisiana Family Forum	State	●	38	267	184	127	276	1	3	10,168	283	62%	20%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	1.020	-1.155
169	-94	FreedomWorks	National	●●●●	69	7,043	75	7,015	10,828	4	44	1,247,955	12,000	26%	15%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	0.931	-0.431
170	+33	Lexington Institute	National	●●	59	1,760	203	2,301	13,321	3	29	100,081	3,970	93%	60%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	0.846	-0.023
171	-19	Social Science Research Council	National	●●●●●	75	10,806	152	18,215	80,928	18	925	843,852	28,100	96%	72%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	0.821	-0.415
172	+41	Employment Policies Institute	National	●●	58	2,246	213	736	7,204	4	42	172,717	1,310	95%	64%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	0.661	-1.038
173	+21	Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty	State	●●●	49	1,346	194	786	3,652	9	11	74,289	2,100	73%	19%	WordPress	yes	yes	no	no	0.617	-1.083
174	+1	Concord Coalition	National	●●	56	1,814	175	4,910	10,705	5	56	90,957	4,020	63%	21%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	0.528	1.147
175	+4	Southern Poverty Law Center	National	●●●●●●	83	40,741	179	2,154,002	223,209	49	776	4,286,925	28,400	80%	60%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	0.335	3.055
176	-2	World Economic Forum	National	●●●●●●	91	199,632	174	1,048,668	1,487,689	492	2,841	13,122,825	337,000	62%	16%	unknown	no	yes	no	yes	0.326	1.105
177	+9	Mercatus Center	National	●●●●●●	76	12,700	186	21,155	83,482	31	247	1,146,722	19,700	72%	35%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	0.040	-0.539
178	+32	George C. Marshall Institute	National	●	50	1,188	210	246	1,024	0	34	4,212,972	137	85%	53%	WordPress	no	no	yes	yes	-0.029	-1.011
179	+33	Maine Heritage Policy Center	State	●	40	501	212	410	2,964	0	6	86,606	2,180	32%	12%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-0.106	-0.463
180	-74	Alliance for Health Policy	National	●●	58	1,099	106	0	89	6	63	8,864	2,570	89%	60%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-0.144
181	+4	1851 Center for Constitutional Law	State	●	32	336	185	151	921	0	1	7,728	223	60%	17%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	-0.236	-0.253
182	-75	American Consumer Institute, The	National	●	50	990	107	390	3,343	0	9	50,035	3,890	97%	67%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-0.369	-0.602
183	0	Chicago Council on Global Affairs	National	●●●●●	72	4,739	183	9,905	21,991	21	187	94,446	4,100	66%	14%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	no	-0.434	-0.756
184	-35	Commonwealth Institute	National	●	54	2,302	149	510	3,856	0	119	53,681	1,770	100%	100%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	-0.503	-0.969
185	+7	Institute for Global Ethics	National	●	51	810	192	2	5	5	80	29,580	1	100%	100%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-0.515	-6.051
186	-59	Yankee Institute for Public Policy	State	●●	45	1,303	127	3,102	13,373	2	7	81,916	3,990	67%	41%	WordPress	no	yes	no	no	-0.547	0.725
187	+1	Lincoln Institute of Land Policy	National	●●●●●	73	4,266	188	18,639	78,032	58	272	160,390	19,800	54%	25%	Drupal	no	yes	no	no	-0.590	-0.302
188	-12	World Resources Institute	National	●●●●●●	84	32,442	176	63,536	236,132	154	1,190	2,535,759	12,300	80%	23%	Drupal	no	yes	no	yes	-0.624	-0.770
189	-28	Buckeye Institute, The	State	●●	47	1,139	161	12,810	7,785	2	14	112,266	965	56%	22%	unknown	no	yes	no	no	-0.782	1.800
190	+28	Americans for Prosperity Foundation	National	●●●●●	71	6,232	218	8,580	6,795	15	43	919,856	4,510	77%	40%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-0.956	-0.826
191	-22	Alabama Policy Institute	State	●	41	624	169	1,045	2,875	2	8	41,853	1,210	62%	14%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-0.971	0.187
192	+13	Becket	National	●●●●	65	3,106	205	3,176	13,517	1	51	275,403	4,270	69%	38%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-0.978	-0.902
193	+16	American Council for Capital Formation	National	●	49	1,107	209	638	1,468	4	20	4,386	829	90%	69%	WordPress	no	no	yes	yes	-0.980	-0.050
194	+2	German Marshall Fund	National	●●●●●●	75	9,373	196	15,390	47,508	43	324	967,483	14,700	93%	46%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	-1.316	-0.912
195	-2	Institute for Justice	National	●●●●●	73	10,002	193	16,831	55,251	20	88	1,287,843	25,000	58%	18%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-1.439	-0.534
196	+1	Ethan Allen Institute	State	●	32	388	197	436	2,433	1	4	66,151	2,120	75%	33%	unknown	no	no	yes	yes	-1.520	0.610
197	+46	Institute for the Analysis of Global Security	National	●	51	1,379	243	469	3,886	2	29	48,492	388	57%	43%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-1.594	-0.760
198	+1	Galen Institute	National	●	51	1,365	199	526	966	2	11	109,464	992	73%	57%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	-1.637	-0.652
199	-39	Citizens Against Government Waste	National	●●●	61	4,496	160	3,722	10,621	3	39	304,102	6,090	59%	43%	Drupal	no	no	yes	no	-1.689	-0.239
200	-61	Political Research Associates	National	●●	56	3,730	139	118	168	1	74	140,767	1	100%	95%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	-1.734	-2.929
201	+6	Center for Reproductive Rights	National	●●●●●●	75	8,354	207	20,571	37,765	14	206	242,012	11,900	81%	22%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-1.751	-0.688
202	+12	W.E. Upjohn Institute	National	●●●●●	72	3,312	214	2,570	20,313	20	181	94,551	2,450	70%	30%	Drupal	no	no	no	yes	-1.781	-2.312
203	-8	EdChoice	National	●●●●	66	2,932	195	17,005	19,511	4	56	121,646	3,260	70%	31%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-2.006	0.464
204	0	Milken Institute	National	●●●●●●	78	9,552	204	9,686	32,722	40	229	264,555	354	25%	11%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	-2.136	-1.961
205	+15	Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments	National	●●●●	65	3,017	220	1,636	11,500	12	81	144,346	3,170	77%	44%	ExpressionEngine	no	no	yes	no	-2.203	-1.754
206	-25	Public Policy Institute of New York State	State	●	31	296	181	345	1,482	1	3	7,587	329	98%	88%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-2.273	0.414
207	-65	Show-Me Institute	State	●●	43	1,264	142	15,009	11,476	1	17	65,769	6,020	81%	37%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-2.362	2.330
208	-50	Kaiser Family Foundation	National	●●●●●●	87	60,819	158	330,621	502,747	158	1,077	2,675,060	50,200	79%	24%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-2.738	0.094
209	+48	Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs	State	●●●	47	1,134	257	4,954	14,421	0	6	97,558	4,280	78%	51%	Craft CMS	no	yes	yes	yes	-2.746	0.549
210	-75	Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy	State	●	30	324	135	119	784	0	4	4,774	667	92%	96%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-2.879	-0.590
211	+17	Pacific Research Institute	National	●●●	61	2,917	228	3,523	11,864	8	52	304,873	4,740	63%	18%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-2.902	-0.480
212	-14	Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom	National	●	46	940	198	1,043	2,973	0	4	75,524	3,410	83%	58%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-3.064	0.582
213	+13	Goldwater Institute	National	●●●	61	2,611	226	2,515	7,935	8	40	60,749	3,610	46%	16%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-3.291	-0.876
214	-48	Ignatian Solidarity Network	National	●	48	792	166	1,057	3,716	1	61	39,141	3,270	87%	38%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-3.693	0.191
215	+10	Aspen Institute	National	●●●●●●	82	21,164	225	64,993	176,289	98	884	924,416	42,100	82%	29%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-3.810	-0.929
216	+18	National Right to Work Legal Defense & Education Foundation Inc.	National	●●●●	63	2,604	234	27,543	11,578	6	27	1,019,834	5,100	53%	14%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	-3.815	1.129
217	+7	International Peace Institute	National	●●●●●	65	2,285	224	4,235	22,248	13	163	32,037	6,530	84%	34%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	-4.032	-1.083
218	+1	Rhode Island Center for Freedom and Prosperity	State	●	30	306	219	201	1,377	0	1	72,545	1,130	84%	36%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	-4.133	-0.258
219	-167	Center for Public Policy Priorities	National	●●●	57	1,207	52	376	1,927	7	40	48,472	752	85%	23%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-4.416	-2.335
220	+26	Natural Resource Governance Institute	National	●●●●●	66	1,947	246	5,257	20,115	12	73	249,046	8,260	86%	60%	Drupal	no	no	yes	yes	-4.727	-1.128
221	-19	Students For Liberty	National	●●●	59	2,333	202	14,972	21,192	0	35	194,598	32,000	40%	3%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-4.749	0.991
222	-	American Council of Trustees and Alumni	National	●●●	57	1,481	-	1,301	7,051	2	80	87,502	2,420	60%	20%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	-5.048	-1.191
223	-8	Foreign Policy Association	National	●●●	59	1,922	215	3,364	5,658	8	233	311,492	2,280	95%	56%	unknown	no	no	yes	yes	-5.095	-0.556
224	+13	Virginia Institute for Public Policy	State	●	25	349	237	104	351	0	3	16,692	379	66%	29%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-5.437	-0.350
225	+8	National Center for State Courts	National	●●●●●●	76	5,063	233	33,797	73,304	128	264	9,332,462	13,600	77%	41%	Squiz Matrix	no	no	yes	no	-5.617	-0.939
226	-49	Global Integrity	National	●●●●	61	1,515	177	909	4,282	16	61	94,800	3,000	46%	6%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	-5.740	-2.270
227	+5	RAND	National	●●●●●●	86	59,232	232	286,185	881,370	248	1,772	5,267,433	121,000	89%	50%	Adobe Experience Manager	no	no	no	no	-5.745	-0.358
228	+42	Institute for Free Speech	National	●●	54	1,475	270	1,086	6,683	1	21	155,742	4,210	83%	16%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-5.754	-1.019
229	-12	Kansas Policy Institute	State	●●	38	465	217	1,253	4,967	0	7	14,732	1,720	91%	46%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-5.797	0.088
230	-22	Judicial Watch Inc.	National	●●●●●●	73	16,847	208	54,997	6,537	7	63	3,040,306	15,000	42%	23%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-5.976	-0.047
231	+4	Pacific Legal Foundation	National	●●●●●	66	3,882	235	10,467	30,883	4	43	235,345	8,660	72%	21%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-6.113	-0.652
232	+6	Pew Charitable Trusts	National	●●●●●●	85	45,684	238	107,947	440,459	193	904	12,910,022	49,700	52%	31%	Sitecore	no	yes	yes	yes	-6.190	-1.248
233	+33	Institute for Social and Environmental Transition-International	National	●	47	253	266	276	1,389	6	21	30,839	520	83%	24%	Wix	no	no	no	no	-6.373	-1.409
234	-4	Phoenix Center for Advanced Legal & Economic Public Policy Studies	National	●	48	600	230	126	627	3	14	4,990	879	91%	80%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	-6.386	-2.349
235	-142	Libertas Institute	State	●●	40	620	93	0	797	1	4	16,407	863	80%	31%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-6.469
236	-7	Georgia Center for Opportunity	State	●●	41	227	229	851	4,712	1	5	2,351	1,030	20%	12%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	-7.117	-0.963
237	+2	Beacon Center of Tennessee	State	●●	38	508	239	1,582	3,831	1	4	31,500	1,470	64%	23%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	-7.172	0.110
238	-16	Sutherland Institute	State	●●	38	604	222	0	1,671	5	14	6,989	691	52%	22%	WordPress	yes	yes	no	yes	-7.458
239	+3	Carter Center	National	●●●●●●	77	11,494	242	36,840	85,951	40	397	1,452,728	14,200	69%	43%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	-7.468	-1.291
240	-4	Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence	State	●	34	193	236	333	1,314	1	8	4,676	588	98%	90%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-7.806	-0.932
241	+22	Bluegrass Institute	National	●	38	769	263	288	3,370	1	9	54,985	125	73%	28%	Squarespace	no	no	no	no	-7.984	-0.232
242	-55	Capital Research Center	National	●●●●	57	5,047	187	1,661	5,909	4	32	193,662	6,570	74%	32%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	-8.307	-1.447
243	+2	Pinchot Institute for Conservation	National	●	46	397	245	110	210	6	34	4,944	20	90%	45%	GoDaddy Website Builder	no	no	yes	no	-8.316	-2.474
244	+32	Archbridge Institute	National	●	37	348	276	624	3,645	2	3	1,774	265	81%	21%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-8.517	0.613
245	+2	International Food Policy Research Institute	National	●●●●●●	77	11,354	247	73,801	113,957	50	643	1,587,700	51,400	50%	11%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	no	-8.592	-0.769
246	+21	Institute for Humane Studies	National	●●●●●	64	2,644	267	9,352	10,300	1	309	228,235	1,300	54%	31%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-8.712	-0.856
247	+1	Vera Institute of Justice	National	●●●●●●	76	7,549	248	35,915	66,684	74	256	325,098	7,440	86%	35%	Craft CMS	no	yes	yes	yes	-9.098	-1.413
248	+13	Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington	National	●●●	53	1,384	261	3,982	20,396	1	61	12,562	4,060	89%	58%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	-9.160	-0.090
249	-22	EastWest Institute	National	●●●●	58	1,371	227	2,567	7,034	3	78	23,072	4,830	68%	28%	Drupal	no	no	yes	no	-9.281	-1.315
250	-29	Center for International Policy	National	●●●	55	2,310	221	32	154	4	105	119,193	163	99%	99%	unknown	no	no	yes	no	-9.326	-5.246
251	+38	Charles Koch Institute	National	●●●●●	62	2,130	289	3,979	10,558	1	77	48,814	806	58%	31%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-9.468	-1.520
252	+3	MDRC	National	●●●●●●	72	3,275	255	11,921	34,424	40	209	54,227	9,740	82%	38%	Drupal	no	yes	yes	yes	-9.469	-1.958
253	-2	Platte Institute for Economic Research	State	●	33	363	251	1,036	5,038	4	4	35,247	1,210	90%	54%	unknown	no	no	no	yes	-9.539	0.091
254	-2	CFA Institute	National	●●●●●●	82	15,043	252	449,865	227,869	30	827	1,669,006	12,000	57%	12%	Microsoft SharePoint	no	yes	yes	no	-9.578	0.120
255	-6	American Foreign Policy Council	National	●●	50	1,937	249	1,193	2,908	2	111	255,480	2,080	61%	43%	ExpressionEngine	no	no	no	no	-9.791	-0.931
256	+25	Center for Financial Inclusion	National	●●●●●●	66	1,461	281	3,855	15,328	2	42	131,429	4,160	50%	18%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	-9.898	-2.232
257	+3	First Liberty Institute	National	●●●●	59	2,220	260	5,725	8,096	2	12	105,866	4,650	70%	24%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-9.954	-0.770
258	-8	Empower Mississippi Foundation	State	●	30	252	250	149	1,051	1	0	2,402	552	78%	36%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-9.956	-1.452
259	-1	Atlas Network	National	●●●●●	61	3,670	258	5,347	17,242	0	58	240,570	5,540	56%	20%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	-10.068	-1.163
260	-4	Center for International Private Enterprise	National	●●●●●	65	2,375	256	3,272	9,012	11	111	123,864	7,870	81%	50%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-10.108	-2.275
261	-20	California Policy Center	National	●●	49	1,465	241	3,443	12,651	1	3	131,249	5,110	80%	41%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-10.504	0.173
262	-8	Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress	National	●●	47	629	254	536	1,629	2	75	803,259	435	68%	16%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-10.565	-1.389
263	+5	Palmetto Promise Institute	State	●	28	289	268	202	2,162	0	1	5,075	1,120	73%	46%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	-10.694	-0.954
264	-5	Freedom Forum	National	●●●●●●	67	3,410	259	11,121	13,525	14	182	222,819	2,180	56%	23%	WordPress	no	no	yes	yes	-11.032	-1.500
265	-42	Young America’s Foundation	National	●●●●●	64	4,640	223	23,503	28,844	1	70	193,822	4,470	51%	18%	WordPress	yes	yes	no	yes	-11.038	-0.292
266	-22	Federalist Society	National	●●●●●	62	3,153	244	0	0	3	117	218,799	7,800	38%	28%	unknown	no	yes	yes	yes	-12.252
267	+18	Potomac Institute for Policy Studies	National	●●●●●	57	907	285	1,302	4,109	4	51	11,972	466	31%	14%	Joomla	no	yes	yes	no	-12.615	-2.353
268	+5	Berggruen Institute	National	●●●●●	58	1,704	273	4,351	11,590	2	54	23,807	1,750	47%	29%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-12.778	-1.325
269	-38	Pelican Institute for Public Policy	State	●●	33	403	231	85	424	0	1	13,297	670	85%	42%	unknown	no	no	no	yes	-12.994	-2.940
270	+7	Energy & Environment Legal Institute	National	●	37	569	277	1,242	1,144	0	3	5,368	2,460	54%	13%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-13.299	0.567
271	0	America’s Future Foundation	National	●●	41	1,030	271	1,368	4,351	0	20	52,176	3,750	61%	26%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	yes	-14.190	-0.088
272	-10	Institute for Sustainable Communities, Advocay & Leadership	National	●●●●	52	590	262	13	117	5	35	81,288	745	62%	30%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-15.311	-6.605
273	-8	School Choice Wisconsin	State	●●	28	191	265	197	211	1	2	1,204	102	62%	13%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-15.469	-1.712
274	+9	Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation	National	●●●	46	509	283	724	2,028	6	57	6,777	722	58%	21%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-15.627	-1.713
275	+5	Caesar Rodney Institute	State	●	18	164	280	0	398	0	1	15,616	720	53%	21%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	-15.737
276	-1	Young Voices	National	●	33	355	275	373	650	0	2	95,935	1,360	67%	32%	WordPress	yes	yes	no	no	-15.784	-0.403
277	+7	Leadership Institute	National	●●●●●	57	1,602	284	7,800	4,610	1	25	251,600	4,610	94%	39%	unknown	no	yes	yes	no	-15.931	-1.072
278	-9	Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge	National	●●●	46	400	269	1,552	3,181	2	13	50,437	962	47%	11%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	no	-15.972	-1.003
279	-1	Institute for Religion And Democracy	National	●●	42	930	278	2,337	589	1	8	112,891	306	91%	46%	WordPress	yes	no	yes	no	-16.012	0.014
280	+2	Free State Foundation	National	●	38	361	282	42	587	1	7	17,942	581	77%	59%	WordPress	yes	no	no	no	-16.223	-3.423
281	-2	Wyoming Liberty Group	State	●●	28	190	279	307	725	0	3	1,161	1,330	66%	26%	Joomla	no	no	no	no	-17.028	-1.508
282	+4	Foundation for Government Accountability	National	●●●●	50	1,216	286	3,233	5,101	4	12	10,884	2,410	81%	37%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-17.489	-1.116
283	+9	Freedom Foundation	National	●●●●	48	1,674	292	3,037	4,614	1	7	21,111	3,830	81%	35%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	-18.251	-0.989
284	+16	Jesse Helms Center	National	●	36	285	300	103	625	1	5	3,349	178	80%	40%	Squarespace	no	no	no	no	-18.463	-2.562
285	+14	Benjamin Rush Institute	National	●	26	144	299	48	675	0	6	14,908	971	86%	57%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-19.451	-1.942
286	+12	Steamboat Institute	National	●	32	404	298	1,174	1,261	0	7	3,355	743	78%	39%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	-20.281	0.206
287	+3	Fund for American Studies, The	National	●●●●●	51	1,039	290	3,197	5,919	2	78	46,333	6,630	89%	33%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-20.307	-1.714
288	-24	Garden State Initiative	State	●	15	103	264	123	676	0	1	3,837	390	63%	21%	Squarespace	no	yes	yes	no	-20.637	-0.980
289	-15	Arkansas Policy Foundation	State	●	8	58	274	34	506	0	2	35,685	226	56%	32%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-20.948	-1.239
290	-131	Free the People	National	●●	35	583	159	947	1,578	0	5	10,826	1,200	79%	41%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-21.195	-0.610
291	0	Center for the National Interest	National	●●●	42	688	291	1,616	827	2	29	35,494	597	93%	58%	WordPress	no	no	yes	no	-21.200	-1.151
292	-52	Free To Choose Network	National	●●●	41	792	240	1,123	1,588	0	17	28,058	1,630	75%	31%	unknown	no	no	no	no	-21.457	-1.401
293	+4	National Institute for Public Policy	National	●●	38	486	297	87	220	2	14	19,502	282	84%	62%	WordPress	no	no	no	no	-22.196	-3.612
294	0	Mountain States Legal Foundation	National	●●●	39	542	294	191	1,365	2	7	27,209	662	80%	25%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-22.323	-2.998
295	0	Institute for Defense Analysis	National	●●●●●●	66	1,723	295	2,617	10,916	19	136	25,468	3,380	96%	61%	Sitecore	no	yes	yes	no	-23.297	-4.677
296	-9	Liberty Justice Center	National	●●	36	411	287	1,369	2,301	1	4	4,040	1,650	44%	28%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-23.641	-0.771
297	-1	Franklin News Foundation	National	●●	34	580	296	87	90	1	4	194,719	20	78%	69%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	no	-24.977	-3.425
298	-	Center for Growth and Opportunity	National	●●●●	39	474	-	1,220	5,553	0	14	3,222	969	93%	70%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-25.889	-1.692
299	+3	National Review Institute	National	●●●●	36	651	302	1,690	1,651	0	8	1,336,917	924	88%	25%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-29.307	-1.430
300	+3	Policy Circle, The	National	●●	23	203	303	4,043	23,093	0	3	1,295	864	58%	19%	WordPress	yes	yes	no	no	-31.874	1.044
301	+5	Think Freely Media	National	●	20	78	306	33	60	0	1	481	13	87%	55%	WordPress	no	yes	yes	yes	-32.392	-3.383
302	-1	Leadership Program of the Rockies	National	●●	23	104	301	136	197	0	0	1,751	98	75%	42%	WordPress	yes	yes	yes	yes	-32.933	-2.510
303	+1	Forge Leadership Network	National	●	10	61	304	117	457	0	1	348	487	50%	29%	WordPress	yes	no	no	yes	-36.484	-1.210
304	+3	Center for Independent Thought	National	●	14	60	307	2	89	0	2	50,075	17	60%	21%	Squarespace	no	no	no	no	-36.874	-5.953
305	0	National Tax Limitation Committee	National	●●	15	113	305	43	112	0	2	64,061	186	45%	17%	WordPress	yes	no	no	no	-41.276	-3.714
306	+2	Center for Independent Employees	National	●	2	8	308	0	5	0	0	42	6	84%	39%	Squarespace	no	no	no	no	-47.284

Budget Levels

The budget levels in the tables above equate to this ranges:

Why These Measures?

Search Efficiency

Search traffic is matters because spreading good public policy ideas is part of the mission of any think tank.

What better way to spread those ideas than to serve them up to people who are actively seeking them out?

That’s why search traffic has a much lower bounce rate and a higher conversion rate than social media traffic—search serves up exactly what users are seeking out, rather than interrupting them while they attempt to do something else, which is how most advertising works.

Search also positions your think tank as an authority on a topic. When you search for “Florida Pension Reform” Google returns two results from the Reason Foundation at the very top of the search.

This transforms the perception of Reason from having an answer to this query to having the answer. Your think tank can similarly position itself as the authority on your issues of focus by ranking for relevant search terms.

Domain Efficiency

Unique domains pointing to your think tank website matter because domains are the strongest ranking factor in search. That is, among the 200+ factors that Google takes into account when ordering search result pages, links pointing to your site still appear to be the most powerful of those factors.

So, it makes sense to measure what’s probably the single biggest contributing factor to search ranking.

And while search efficiency measures how well you turn your site’s content and incoming links into traffic, your domain efficiency is more a measure of how well your PR team is doing in attracting media coverage—specifically media coverage with those all-important links.

How to Use These Measures

So using both measures—search efficiency and domain efficiency—you can see where your organization needs work. If you’ve got a lot of domains pointing to you, but you’re not doing well in search, you need to work on technicals, keyword targeting, and how you organize and structure your content.

If you’re not doing well in search and you don’t have a lot of domains pointing your way, you might need to work on those on-site factors, but you won’t know for sure until you attract more links to your site.

Most-Improved Sites

Now that we’ve got more than one ranking, we can track how sites are improving year over year. Overall, state think tanks were the biggest winners this year. Here are the top movers:

Josiah Bartlett Center

Given that we’re based in the Granite State, we were pleased to see the Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, rocket up the Search Efficiency Ranking 203 spots from #293 to #90.

Looking at the numbers, it appears that new links have been driving much of this gain in search as Josiah Bartlett also rose 137 spots in the Domain Efficiency Ranking from #216 to #79 after nearly doubling the number of links points to their site.

Bartlett also grew their site by 300 pages and has improved their technicals, dramatically improving their Google PageSpeed score and utilizing Yoast SEO, a crucial SEO tool for WordPress websites.

Georgia Public Policy Foundation

Georgia Public Policy Foundation also moved up the Search Efficiency Ranking dramatically, moving 192 spots from #253 to #61.

Here too we see the number of unique referring domains growing, in this case from 423 to 582 domains, which is no small feat in the course of a year, especially for a state-based think tank.

GPPF also added roughly 600 new pages to their site and really improved their PageSpeed score, jumping from a score of 7 to 73 on mobile. In the age of mobile-first indexing, that mobile speed score can make a huge difference.

Show-Me Institute

The Show-Me Institute moved up 186 spots from #212 to #26 in our Search Efficiency Rankings but fell by 65 spots in our Domain Efficiency Ranking.

What explains this?

Search Efficiency improved because, according to organic traffic estimates from Ahrefs, Show-Me quintupled their monthly search traffic. They did this while reducing the number of pages indexed by Google by about 14%, which makes sense as often ridding your site of low-value pages can improve ranking. They also improve their PageSpeed scores dramatically year-over-year, suggesting they’ve been investing in their underlying tech.

Show-Me also grew its number of referring domains from 855 to 1,264. However, that growth actually put them at a lower domain ranking than in 2020, dropping from a Domain Ranking (DR) of 46 to a DR of 43.

Why did growing their unique referring domains by 47% lower their domain ranking? Because other domains grew faster. DR measures your domain’s authority compared to all other sites. While Show-Me grew at an impressive rate, they were outpaced by other domains and lost position overall.

This underscores the nature of competition in search. It’s not enough to do better than you did last year, you have to do better than your competition.

Show-Me has clearly made up for this little slip in Domain Ranking—they grew by 5x compared to 2020 from what looks like an effort to improve technicals and better organize their content—showing that Domain Ranking isn’t everything.

In a world of limited resources, this approach is sensible. Concentrate on aspects of SEO that will generate the largest return. For some, that may be link building, for others, it’s clear that shifting resources to improving site performance makes much more sense.

Sites That Fell in Ranking

While we love highlighting individual success stories, we don’t single-out organizations that rank low or have lost ranking in the last year because we think it’s unkind and unproductive. However, we will point out the trends we’ve seen that have caused some sites to lose ground so you can avoid making the same mistakes.

Lost Unique Referring Domains

Some sites saw significant drops in the number of referring domains. This can be caused by natural link attrition as newspaper and magazine sites often archive their older material behind paywalls, so these links are no longer part of the public web and therefore aren’t crawled by Google.

But link loss can also be caused by poor stewardship of your existing webpages. As sites are upgraded, migrated, and reorganized URLs get changed. So an article that may once have been at /2020/state-sales-tax may now be at /2020/03/state-sales-tax, reflecting a change in the URL structure. Links to that point to the old URL need to be redirected to the new URL, or they will result in a 404 error or otherwise not be counted toward that page.

To avoid this, make use of tools like Yoast SEO or Redirection for WordPress to create 301 Redirects that will preserve your incoming links and pass them along to new page locations. There are similar tools for Drupal or other content management systems.

Incoming links represent countless hours of work from your policy and PR staff creating content and convincing journalists and bloggers to link to your site. That sort of investment needs to be protected through thoughtful strategies for preserving incoming links.

Stagnant Link growth

Many sites slipped in ranking not because they aren’t improving, but simply because they aren’t improving fast enough. Falling behind your peers means losing ranking in Google and therefore losing traffic.

Remember that getting links from the same handful of sites over and over again does nothing for your ranking, that’s why we talk about unique referring domains, rather than total backlinks. This means getting links from a diverse array of websites is in your best interest.

This may mean creating content that addresses new audiences or takes on policy issues from a different perspective. This sort of practice is valuable in itself, as policy organizations shouldn’t be aiming to preach to the converted and should always be seeking to widen their appeal.

One way of doing this is to challenge others to a debate or create a series of point/counterpoint essays like Cato Unbound or Law & Liberty’s Forum. You’ll end up reaching audiences who might be open to your message but have rarely heard it, and you’re sure to generate links to your site from domains that aren’t already on your list.

Budget Growth

Growing your budget is a positive, but because our rankings are based on how well your site does per dollar your organization spends, big growth years can harm rankings. In other words, if your budget expands faster than your incoming links or search traffic, your ranking will suffer.

But this is a nice problem to have because it means you’re growing!

As we continue to produce these rankings year after year, we expect we’ll see more fluctuations like this as organizations expand and their online marketing has to catch up with the rest of their growth.

Large Groups are Volatile, Under-Leveraged

Some of the groups with the largest volatility in rankings are those in the highest two tiers—those with budgets over $10million per year.

This seems counterintuitive. Shouldn’t these groups have the biggest, most diverse portfolio of both incoming links and website content? They should grow with the market like bluechip stocks.

This should be the case, but when we delve into any one of these groups more closely we often see that only a handful of pages are generating 50% or even 80% of their traffic. This leaves these groups vulnerable to huge drops in traffic due to changes in search patterns or new content from competitors displacing their top-performing pages.

Though we can’t say for sure, this doesn’t seem to be because of a failed strategy, but rather a complete lack of strategy.

Large groups pay little attention to SEO and only enjoy the traffic they do because of their incredible link profiles.

These groups consistently fail to:

• Make their content indexable: By solely publishing their best work inside PDF documents, which are often uncrawable and almost always disfavored by Google, think tanks are ignoring that old Sunday School song hiding their good works from the world. While making PDF downloads available is fine, think tanks need to make their research available as fully searchable webpages complete with data tables.
• Create relationships between content: Related content like a publication, the podcast episode about that publication, and the video of the panel discussion about that publication often aren’t connected on websites. This means each piece of content is judged on its own, rather than as part of a bundle. Bundling usually helps to boost rankings as it connects otherwise disparate pieces of content and signals to Google that you may be an authority on that topic.
• Surface their most relevant content: Instead these groups style themselves after newspapers, preferring to privilege recency over all else. This leads to high-value, well-linked studies being buried within internal site navigation, which means they can’t pass along link equity to recent publications. This means recent publications, which are more likely to get searched simply because they’re more topically relevant, don’t enjoy the link boost they might if link-laden studies were made part of high-level issue pages and were used to link to recent content.
• Build on past success: Annual studies are often posted to new URLs, rather than using a consistent URL year after year. This means that every year groups start from scratch in search, rather than building up study pages with links like IISS does with its Military Balance report, which has been published at the same URL for seven years, accumulating 7,166 backlinks from 1,247 domains.
• Engage in basic keyword research: Policy wonks use language that normal folks don’t, and that’s reflected in the titles of studies, white papers, events, and even blog posts. Even the most cursory of keyword research would reveal that while “infrastructure investment and jobs act tax provisions” may be the most accurate description of what you’re writing about, it doesn’t show up in estimated search traffic tools. Meanwhile, the cruder “biden tax plan” has been searched 33,100 times in the last month and therefore will generate more traffic to your site.
• Implement a coherent SEO framwork. Whether its a content silo, the hub-and-spoke model, the skyscraper technique, or some other strategy, large groups would benefit from pursuing some generalized strategy, rather than adopting the post-and-pray approach. Creating an in-house SEO position who works with IT, PR, and policy teams to grow traffic could easily result in a 10x or 20x return on investment for the larger think tanks in our study. This seems like a no-brainer, but it is totally off the radar of these groups.

To borrow a phrase from Lily Tomlin, larger groups don’t care about SEO because they don’t have to.

They enjoy success in other areas of marketing and no doubt have an impact on the policy world, but these groups would doubtlessly expand their impact by taking SEO seriously. They’d reach a larger audience, influence those who care about the issues they cover and inform the wider policy debate.

Over the long term ignoring search ranking may become a deeper problem as Millennials lag behind other generations in both awareness and interest in politics. That may mean that when Millennials do have a question about public policy issues, they’ll turn to Google, if only because they don’t have a deep bench of trusted sources on these topics. What will appear in those search results? It likely won’t be the latest analysis from Washington’s blue-chip think tanks.

Which CMS is most popular?

This year we also sought to answer some of the questions we get about specific software choices. So, we used Wappalyzer’s bulk lookup tool to identify the CMS of each of the websites we ranked.

We found that WordPress is used by 55% of think tanks. This isn’t surprising. According to W3Techs, a global authority on software market share (with a website that looks like it was designed in 1995), WordPress powers 40% of all the websites on the Internet and holds a 64% market share for content management systems on websites with a known CMS as of October 2021.

Curiously, Wappalyzer was unable to detect a CMS for nearly 18% of websites. This doesn’t mean that they aren’t using a CMS or even that they’re using a custom platform, it only means that their website displays no tell-tale signs of what software they’re employing. Many of these sites could be running WordPress or Drupal, they’re just doing so in a way that can be seen from the public web.

Others Web Technologies

We also looked for other technologies that think tanks might be employing, namely Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Content Delivery Networks (CDN), and Yoast SEO, a plugin for WordPress that provides a collection of search engine optimization tools.

Over 84% of think tanks are measuring their traffic using Google Analytics, while 65% are using Google Tag Manager, a tool that gives non-coders the ability to add and update tags for conversion tracking, site analytics, remarketing, and other functions. Tag Manager also allows those tags, which are usually JavaScript, to only run when needed, helping to speed-up site load times.

Unfortunately, only 46% of think tanks are using a content delivery network. CDNs are networks of servers that are spread around geographically, allowing web assets to be delivered faster both because they distribute the load that might otherwise be placed on a single server and they place data close to the user.

CDNs like Cloudflare have free pricing tiers and are pretty simple for a web developer to set up. Not using a CDN puts think tanks at a disadvantage as their competition is likely using them and could be using the consequent speed advantage to outrank think tanks in search results.

Finally, Yoast SEO, a WordPress plugin, is being used by 100 of the 169 organizations using WordPress. This plugin, which creates an XML sitemap, offers SEO advice inside the WordPress editor, and manages internal redirects, is a must-have tool for any think tank that wants to compete in search and should be adopted by more organizations.

How does CMS affect search rankings?

For years we’ve had clients come to us saying:

Our website is terrible, we need to switch from WordPress to Drupal

While other clients say:

Our website is terrible, we need to switch from Drupal to WordPress.

So who’s right? Is Drupal or WordPress or some other CMS actually better than the others?

Here are our Search Efficiency Rankings above broken into six tiers from the highest-ranked to lowest-ranked websites with the CMS detected by the Wappalyzer bulk lookup tool shown by color:

You can see that WordPress sites make up the bulk of websites at all levels of search efficiency rankings. There’s a bunch of sites with an “unknown” CMS—systems that Wappalyzer can’t detect. And then Drupal is the second-largest CMS in the group.

Drupal is used by many more of the higher-ranking sites, but it’s important not to confuse correlation with causation. Those higher-ranking Drupal sites belong to organizations with budgets large enough to afford a Drupal development project, so their rankings likely have more to do with the volume of content they produce and their ability to afford a large, professional PR staff than their choice of CMS.

Overall, this distribution suggested that it’s not your CMS that matters, it’s how you use it.

Right-of-Center Gains

Last year we showed that right-of-center think tanks lag behind left-of-center and non-ideological think tanks when it comes to search performance.

However, over the last year, that gap has tightened. The graph below shows right-of-center groups in blue or green (indicating national or state scope respectively) and unaffiliated groups in grey.

While the unaffiliated groups are still trending above the right-of-center groups, you can see that the trendlines have moved more for right-of-center groups, especially state-based think tanks.

While this trend is positive, it’s not enough. Right-of-center groups still have to make up ground in the search space so that when users search for laws, policies, and concepts they see results from advocates for free markets and constitutionally limited government.

Data Sources

Think Tanks List

To begin our work, we had to arrive at a list of think tanks. Rather than invent one ourselves, we used lists from State Policy Network, Harvard Kennedy School, and Regent University. We then removed:

• Defunct or inactive groups
• Groups without an accessible website
• Non-US Think Tanks
• Groups without an available EIN (this excluded many university centers)
• Groups with less than $100k in annual expenditures
• Groups without a separate domain (no subdomains or subdirectories)
• State or local affiliate groups that used the same root domain

These exclusions allow for fairer comparisons. To control for huge disparities in budgets, we needed expenditure numbers. That’s why non-US groups and many university-based groups were excluded. We used only groups whose financial info we could easily query.

Groups without a distinct top-level domain were also excluded because measuring their performance was difficult if not impossible. So, our benchmarks include university groups like GMU’s Mercatus Center (mercatus.org) but not Michigan’s William Davidson Institute (wdi.umich.edu), despite it having public budget info.

This produced a list of 306 think tanks.

Financial Data

ProPublica Non-Profit Explorer provides financial information via annual 990 forms. We used “Total Functional Expenses” as a measure of money spent. The figure used is the most recent year available, which is not consistent from group to group.

Search Performance Data

Ahrefs quick batch analysis tool provides web performance components and outcomes. We used this tool to gather the following:

• Domain Rating: Shows the strength of the website’s backlink profile compared to the others in the Ahrefs database of 3.1 trillion external backlinks.
• Referring Domains: The total number of unique domains linking to the target. We used “Do Follow” domains, which filters out “no follow” domains. This means we only include domains pointing to your think tank via value-passing links.
• Government & Education domains: The number of unique governmental and educational domains linking to your think tank. WE used .gov and .edu as shorthand, but this figure also includes domains that Ahrefs consider to be governmental or educational. These tend to be high-authority domains, which is why we’ve broken them out.
• Top-100 Ranked Keywords: The total number of keywords for which the target ranks for in the top 100 organic search results across all countries in the Ahrefs database. When the target ranks for a keyword more than once, it’s counted multiple times
• Total Backlinks: The total number of links from other websites pointing to the target.
• Estimated Traffic: The target’s estimated monthly organic traffic from search.

Google PageSpeed Insights measures are included, even though speed didn’t end up being a statistically significant contributor to Domain Efficiency to Search Efficiency.

Google Itself provided the “Pages Indexed By Google” figure. We used a script that leveraged the “site” search operator to get an indexed number of pages for each URL.

All of the data presented in this report was collected during the month of July 2021.