About Engine Legal

How we’re legally structured

The Engine Research Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3). Our research, the advice we provide startups, and our public awareness campaigns are all part of the 501(c)(3). When you donate on the website, you’re donating to our Foundation —  the 501(c)(3) — and as a 501(c)(3), our donors, whether individuals or foundations, know they are contributing to shared research, tools, and information. We’ll continue to make our annual reports available, and by doing so we hope to encourage discussion, maybe even a little debate, and a whole lot of insight into what we are up to.

While our lawyers assure us that we can educate policymakers via the 501(c)(3), we want to be diligent and transparent about our advocacy work. To that end we created a501(c)(4) organization, named Engine Advocacy. This designation allows us to directly lobby elected officials and policymakers; it also makes our direct actions on particular pieces of legislation a little simpler. When we meet with members of Congress — at Startup Day on the Hill, or when they visit startups in their districts — we fund that activity through the 501(c)(4). Contributions to Engine Advocacy are vital to the health of the organization; email development@engine.is to find out more about how to contribute.