Bureau of Governmental Research Inc
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
THE BUREAU OF GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH IS A PRIVATE, NONPROFIT, INDEPENDENT RESEARCH ORGANIZATION DEDICATED TO INFORMED PUBLIC POLICY MAKING AND THE EFFECTIVE USE OF PUBLIC RESOURCES FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF GOVERNMENT IN THE NEW ORLEANS METROPOLITAN AREA.
- Income
- $1.2 million
- Spending
- $1.2 million
- Spent on programs
- 63%
- Reserves
- 11.7 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- donations and private grants, 74%
- Employees
- 16
- Volunteers
- 0
- Highest pay
- $226,660, president/ceo
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Good: 81 out of 100.
Reserves
28 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 11.7 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 0% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 4% of income.
Income trend
10 of 15Income fell 7% on the year before.
Spending floor
8 of 1563% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 18 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100.
Independent board
25 of 2529 of 29 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (2)
- $720,309 spent. MONITORING AND REPORTING ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT ISSUES: IN 2024 BGR REPORTED ON MANY COMPLEX ISSUES IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE IN 10 REPORTS. AMONG THE HIGHLIGHTS: IN 2024, BGR PUBLISHED 2 "ON THE BALLOT" REPORTS TO INFORM VOTERS ABOUT IMPORTANT LOCAL PROPOSITIONS. THESE REPORTS ANALYZED A PROPOSED TAX INCREASE FOR THE JEFFERSON PARISH SCHOOL BOARD, AND A PROPOSED CITY CHARTER AMENDMENT FOR NEW ORLEANS. VOTERS DISAGREED WITH BGR'S POSITION FOR THE CITY CHARTER AMENDMENT AND NARROWLY DISAGREED WITH BGR'S POSITION FOR THE PROPOSED TAX INCREASE FOR THE JPSB. IN SEPTEMBER, BGR PUBLISHED A MAJOR REPORT ON THE "FAIR SHARE" DEAL. WE FOUND THAT THE DEAL IS PROVIDING SIGNIFICANT RECURRING REVENUE FOR ESSENTIAL CITY OF NEW ORLEANS AND SEWERAGE & WATER (CONT'D ON SCH O) BOARD INFRASTRUCTURE ALL AT LITTLE OR NO COST TO LOCAL TAXPAYERS. BGR ALSO MADE NEW RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE PUBLIC TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE USE OF THE FUNDS.IN FEBRUARY, WE PUBLISHED OUR PROPERTY TAX DASHBOARDS, A NEW ONLINE RESOURCE ON BGR'S WEBSITE. HERE, YOU CAN LEARN ABOUT THE PROPERTY TAXES YOU PAY IN ORLEANS, JEFFERSON, AND ST. TAMMANY PARISHES. THE TAX DASHBOARDS' INTERACTIVE CHARTS AND TABLES BREAK DOWN PROPERTY TAX BILLS, WHERE THE MONEY GOES, AND HOW TAX RATES AND PURPOSES HAVE CHANGED OVER TIME. BGR ACCOMPANIED THE DASHBOARDS WITH AN EDUCATIONAL PRIMER ON PROPERTY TAXES IN LOUISIANA. IN DECEMBER, WE UPDATED THE DASHBOARDS WITH TAX RATES LEVIED FOR 2024 (JEFFERSON AND ST. TAMMANY) AND 2025 (ORLEANS).IN 2024, BGR RESEARCH STAFF MONITORED MORE THAN 70 STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES THROUGHOUT THE NEW ORLEANS AREA, INCLUDING THE NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL AND ITS COMMITTEES. BGR ALSO TRACKED THE LOUISIANA LEGISLATURE AND ANY BILLS THAT WERE OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. AFTER RESEARCH IS COMPLETED, BGR PURSUES PROPER IMPLEMENTATION OF THEIR RECOMMENDATIONS, SOMETIMES OVER THE COURSE OF MANY YEARS. THIS IS DONE THROUGH A SERIES OF FOLLOW-UP PUBLICATIONS AND OUTREACH TO CITIZENS GROUPS, THE MEDIA, DECISION-MAKERS, AND OTHER KEY STAKEHOLDERS IN RELEVANT POLICY AREAS. IN TERMS OF EFFECTIVENESS, BGR HAS HAD SUCCESSFUL POSITIONS ON BALLOT RESULTS 79% OF THE TIME SINCE 2014ANOTHER MEASURE OF BGR'S IMPACT IS ITS PRESENCE IN THE MEDIA AND LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT WITH THEIR CONTENT. IN 2024, THE NEWS MEDIA CITED BGR REPORTS MORE THAN 100 TIMES. FOR ITS WORK, BGR HAS RECEIVED MANY AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS FROM THE GOVERNMENTAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION. IN 2024 BGR WON THE MOST DISTINGUISHED RESEARCH AWARD FOR OUR 2023 REPORT ON NEW ORLEANS SEWERAGE AND WATER BOARD GOVERNANCE, THE CERTIFICATE OF MERIT FOR BEST DIGITAL COMMUNICATION FOR OUR ONLINE PROPERTY TAX DASHBOARDS, AND THE CERTIFICATE OF MERIT FOR BEST SHORT-FORM WRITING FOR OUR LETTER TO THE MAYOR OF NEW ORLEANS ON USE OF ITS GENERAL FUND BALANCE.BGR'S WORK SERVES CITIZENS ACROSS MANY LOCALITIES INCLUDING JEFFERSON, ORLEANS, AND ST. TAMMANY PARISHES. BASED ON 2020 U.S. CENSUS DATA, THE POTENTIAL REACH OF BGR'S MONITORING AND REPORTING IS APPROXIMATELY 1 MILLION PEOPLE.
- $25,839 spent. BREAKFAST BRIEFINGS: BGR'S BREAKFAST BRIEFINGS ARE PUBLIC FORUMS WHERE EXPERTS AND DECISION-MAKERS ARE INVITED TO SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS ON MAJOR PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES IN THE AREA. THESE EVENTS KEEP CITIZENS INFORMED AND MOTIVATE CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND AN INFORMED PUBLIC POLICY DIALOGUE, ALL OF WHICH ARE KEY COMPONENTS OF BGR'S MISSION AND ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS FOR EFFECTIVE GOVERNMENT. IN 2024, BGR HOSTED 4 BREAKFAST BRIEFINGS. ON MARCH 21, BGR PRESENTED A BREAKFAST BRIEFING WITH THE DIRECTOR OF THE HEALTH DEPARTMENT FOR THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS DR. JENNIFER L. AVEGNO, THE DIRECTOR OF HOMELESS SERVICES AND STRATEGIES FOR THE MAYOR'S OFFICE NATHANIEL E. FIELDS AND CITY COUNCILMEMBER FOR DISTRICT B LESLI HARRIS WHO DISCUSSED ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS THROUGH HEALTH AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE (CONT'D ON SCH O) PARTNERSHIPS. ON APRIL 16, BGR PRESENTED A BREAKFAST BRIEFING WITH CYNTHIA LEE SHENG, JEFFERSON PARISH PRESIDENT, AND MARK DREWES, DIRECTOR OF THE JEFFERSON PARISH DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS, WHO DISCUSSED UPGRADING AGING INFRASTRUCTURE IN JEFFERSON PARISH. ON JUNE 26, BGR PRESENTED A BREAKFAST BRIEFING ENTITLED "FRENCH QUARTER IN FOCUS: A CONVERSATION ON THE STATE OF THE VIEUX CARRE AS NEW ORLEANS PREPARES TO HOST SUPER BOWL LIX." BGR'S PRESIDENT AND CEO BECKY MOWBRAY MODERATED A CONVERSATION WITH THREE INDIVIDUALS OFFERING DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ON THE FRENCH QUARTER: NATHAN CHAPMAN, PRESIDENT OF VIEUX CARRE PROPERTY OWNERS, RESIDENTS & ASSOCIATES, INC.; DANIEL HAMMER, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE HISTORIC NEW ORLEANS COLLECTION; AND MICHAEL HECHT, PRESIDENT AND CEO OF GREATER NEW ORLEANS, INC. ON SEPTEMBER 10, BGR HOSTED ITS FOURTH AND FINAL BREAKFAST BRIEFING OF THE YEAR. OUR SPEAKER WAS GHASSAN KORBAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE SEWERAGE AND WATER BOARD OF NEW ORLEANS. MR. KORBAN PROVIDED AN UPDATE ON THE UTILITY'S ONGOING EFFORTS TO ADDRESS INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGES, IMPROVE OPERATIONS AND BILLING, AND DEVELOP PLANS FOR STRONGER WATER, SEWER, AND DRAINAGE SYSTEMS FOR NEW ORLEANS. WITH THE UTILITY FACING TROPICAL STORM FRANCINE, HE ALSO PROVIDED A STATUS UPDATE ON THE DRAINAGE PUMPS AND STAFF PREPARATIONS FOR THE STORM. FOLLOWING MR. KORBAN'S PRESENTATION, BGR'S PRESIDENT AND CEO REBECCA MOWBRAY MODERATED THE AUDIENCE Q&A.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2024, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 30, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 10, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2024.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since September 1960.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated September 7, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 7, 2026.
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