What FrameWorks Institute does

FrameWorks Institute is a US nonprofit research organization founded in 1999 and headquartered in Washington, DC, with a sister organization (FrameWorks UK) established in London in 2021. The organization applies social and behavioral science methods to measure how the public understands complex socio-political issues and to test communications strategies that reframe them. Its proprietary Strategic Frame Analysis methodology combines qualitative methods (interviews, focus groups, cognitive task analysis, media content analysis) with quantitative methods (survey experiments) to develop evidence-based framing strategies that shift public mindsets from individual-blame to systemic-understanding narratives. Core products include the FrameWorks Resource Library (a freely accessible repository of research reports, framing guides, toolkits, and strategic briefs covering 20+ issue areas), the Culture Change Project (a multi-year investigation into American cultural mindsets), FrameWorks Academy (training platform), the FrameWorks Newsletter (interest-segmented subscription publication), and Annual Impact Reports. The organization operates primarily through philanthropic grants from major US and UK foundations (Robert Wood Johnson, Annie E. Casey, John A. Hartford, Oak, Conrad N. Hilton, Health Foundation) and distributes all research outputs open-access as a public service. Programmatic work spans child development, health, economic justice, government and democracy, racial justice, aging, adolescent development, climate, immigration, disability justice, science communication, and additional issue areas, with active engagements in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, Kenya, South Africa, and Bangladesh.

Name

FrameWorks Institute

Legal name

FrameWorks Institute

Website

https://frameworksinstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

FrameWorks Institute is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit research organization (founded 1999) that uses social science methods, including its proprietary Strategic Frame Analysis, to measure public mindsets on social issues and develop evidence-based framing strategies for nonprofits, foundations, researchers, policymakers, and journalists across more than 20 issue areas worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Science Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Policy, Regulatory & Public Affairs Research (BPAHALAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Industry & Sector Research (Syndicated/Custom) (BPAHALAE), Global Health Research, Evidence & Technical Assistance Organizations (HLAJAKAN)

Keywords

• Social science research
• Strategic frame analysis
• Framing strategy research
• Narrative change consulting
• Public mindset research

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Grants and Donations: As a nonprofit organization, FrameWorks Institute is funded through philanthropic grants and donations from foundations and individual donors. The organization makes its research freely available.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

FrameWorks Institute conducts social science research using its proprietary Strategic Frame Analysis methodology to study how the public understands complex socio-political issues and tests evidence-based reframing strategies. It produces research reports, framing guides, toolkits, and strategic briefs distributed freely to nonprofit organizations, advocates, researchers, policymakers, journalists, and philanthropic funders working on social issues including child development, health, economic justice, racial justice, aging, and climate change.

Product overview

FrameWorks Institute is a nonprofit research organization that produces leading research and resources on social issues through its Strategic Frame Analysis methodology—a proprietary mixed-methods research approach combining qualitative research (interviews, focus groups, cognitive task analysis, media content analysis) with quantitative methods (survey experiments). Its core products include the FrameWorks Resource Library (a freely accessible repository of research reports, framing guides, toolkits, and strategic briefs), the Culture Change Project (a multi-year investigation into American cultural mindsets), the FrameWorks Academy (a training platform), the FrameWorks Newsletter (a subscription publication), and Annual Impact Reports. The organization also produces extensive research publications organized by issue areas including Child Development, Health, Economic Justice, Government and Democracy, Racial Justice, Aging, Adolescent Development, Climate Change and Environment, Substance Use and Addiction, Disability Justice, Science Communication, Immigration, Housing, Justice Reform, International Affairs, Education, Evidence-Based Policymaking, Families, and Human Services. FrameWorks' research is distributed freely as a public service to researchers, policymakers, practitioners, journalists, and general audiences. Its sister organization, FrameWorks UK, extends this work to the United Kingdom.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Strategic Frame Analysis®: A proprietary research methodology used by FrameWorks Institute to measure public understanding and test reframing strategies.
• FrameCheck®

Products and services

• FrameWorks Resource Library A comprehensive online repository of research reports, framing guides, toolkits, and strategic briefs on social issues, freely available to researchers, policymakers, practitioners, journalists, and general audiences.
• Culture Change Project A multi-year investigation into American culture examining whether patterns in thinking are shifting amid social and political upheaval, and how cultural shifts can inform progressive communications.
• Strategic Frame Analysis A proprietary mixed-methods research approach combining qualitative research (interviews, focus groups, cognitive task analysis, media content analysis) with quantitative methods (survey experiments) to measure public mindsets and test reframing strategies.
• FrameWorks Academy A training platform offering courses and educational resources on framing fundamentals and strategic communications, with registered user accounts for learners.
• FrameWorks Newsletter A subscription-based newsletter delivering leading-edge framing tips, research updates, news, and framing resources to subscribers, with interest-based segmentation across 20+ issue areas.
• Annual Impact Report Annual publication recapping FrameWorks' research activities, innovations, resource library highlights, and stories of impact from partnership work, covering 2023, 2024, and 2025 editions.
• FrameWorks UK Sister organization established in 2021 to meet growing demand for framing research and mobilization in the UK, working closely with FrameWorks Institute to combine research and practice with UK expertise.

Quantifiable outcome

• Shifted public discourse on early childhood development through metaphors like 'brain architecture' and 'toxic stress' now embedded in scientific and public discourse
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

22 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• National Diaper Bank NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 November 2025Collaborative partnership on research emphasizing diaper need as a systemic issue linked to economic inequality. Organizations aim to shift public perception towards recognizing systemic causes and collective responsibility for diaper insecurity through developed tools and messaging strategies.
• FrameWorks UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister organization established in 2021 to meet growing demand for framing research in the UK. Organizations work closely together combining FrameWorks research and practice with UK knowledge and expertise.
• National Center to Reframe AgingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDedicated to changing public understanding about aging by building infrastructure for disseminating framing concepts and helping others in the field learn and implement reframing strategies on aging and ageism.
• Leaders of Aging OrganizationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition collaboration on aging research including the 2015 report 'Gauging Aging: Mapping the Gaps between Expert and Public Understandings of Aging in America'.
• Prevent Child Abuse AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on framing guidance for communicating about racism in child and family advocacy, including recommendations for adopting more expansive understandings of racism.
• Center on the Developing Child at Harvard UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on early childhood development research and framing. Center released 'Place Matters: The Environment We Create Shapes the Foundations of Healthy Development' reflecting decades of collaboration.
• Indigenous Climate Action NetworkmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition bringing climate justice framing choices together to form narrative template advancing stories about fossil fuel effects on Indigenous communities.
• National Black Environmental Justice NetworkmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition partner in climate justice narrative change efforts connecting environmental justice to Black communities.
• Centers for Disease ControlmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on physical activity research examining field and public thinking about physical activity communication.
• Midwestern Public Health Training CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on framing with data resources for public health communicators.
• National Physical Activity Plan AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on physical activity research examining field and public thinking about physical activity.
• Grantmakers in AgingmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on aging research including 'Finding the Frame: An Empirical Approach to Reframing Aging and Ageism'.
• Alliance for PeacebuildingmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on peacebuilding messaging guide and reframing peace and peacebuilding research.
• Partners GlobalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on peacebuilding messaging guide for peacebuilders.
• Crisis UKmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK partner on homelessness framing research including 'Finding a Better Frame: How to Create More Effective Messages on Homelessness in the United Kingdom'.
• Stanford Social Innovation ReviewminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublication partner for framing articles including 'Reframing America's Opioid Epidemic to Find Solutions'.
• Purpose Built CommunitiesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on resident-centered neighborhood revitalization research and strategic framing brief.
• Health FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK foundation partner examining how people think about health and effective ways to talk about health to build support for policy and change.
• River and Delta Research Centre (RDRC)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBangladesh-based research partner on Khulna urbanization and fair urban transition framing research.
• Center for the Developing AdolescentminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on transgender youth framing guidance research.
• Prevention InstitutemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint development of framing strategies for community safety communication, designing guidance for nonprofits and community-based organizations.
• Red TomatominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on farming communications analysis examining media and field communications about agriculture.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• FrameWorks UK: Sister organization established in 2021 using the same Strategic Frame Analysis methodology in the United Kingdom. Closest possible peer — same model, same research approach, overlapping leadership and methods.
• ideas42: Nonprofit that applies behavioral and social science research to design interventions for social problems. Highly comparable as a social-science-driven change organization serving nonprofits, foundations, and policymakers.
• The Opportunity Agenda: Narrative and communications strategy organization focused on social justice, race, and immigration. Directly comparable as a narrative change research and advocacy shop using social science to influence public discourse.
• Perception Institute: Research and action organization that studies how perception drives bias and applies findings to communications strategy. Comparable as a research-driven framing shop targeting public mindsets on social issues.

Emerging players

• Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University: Academic research center whose work on early childhood development FrameWorks has helped frame for public audiences. Adjacent rather than directly competitive — FrameWorks translates the Center's science into public framing.
• Cultural Strategy Institute at New America: New America's program applying cultural research to progressive narrative change. Overlaps with FrameWorks on narrative and culture-change work but is structured as a think-tank initiative rather than an independent research nonprofit.

Broad incumbents

• Urban Institute: Large nonprofit policy research organization producing evidence-based research on social and economic issues. Broader in scope than FrameWorks but overlaps on applied social science research for policy audiences.
• Mathematica Policy Research: Large research and evaluation firm producing evidence-based studies for government and philanthropy. Compares as a social science research peer though it focuses more on program evaluation than on framing/narrative change.
• Aspen Institute: Large nonpartisan policy and leadership organization convening research and dialogue on social issues. Overlaps with FrameWorks on evidence-based framing and communications research, though at much larger scale and scope.

Others

• Annie E. Casey Foundation: Major child-welfare funder that funds FrameWorks' framing research. Included as an ecosystem participant — represents the foundation customer segment FrameWorks serves — rather than a competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/frameworksinst
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/frameworks-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about FrameWorks Institute