What Search Institute does

Search Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit applied research organization founded in 1958 and headquartered in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota. It operates at the intersection of developmental psychology, family science, social psychology, and educational psychology, conducting research on what young people need to succeed and translating that research into frameworks, tools, and professional learning. Its core intellectual property centers on two interconnected frameworks: the 40 Developmental Assets Framework (registered trademark, 1997) and the Developmental Relationships Framework (registered, 2017), operationalized through surveys such as the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP)—taken by nearly 1 million young people since 2005—and supplemental products including the REACH system, Youth Opportunity Toolkit, Student Voice Toolkit, and Relational Culture Checkup.

The organization serves schools and school districts, out-of-school time programs, community coalitions, mentoring organizations, faith-based programs, foster care, juvenile justice centers, and civic organizations, with primary operations in the United States and Canada and occasional international projects. Its go-to-market is built on direct enterprise engagement (workshops, consulting partnerships, survey administration) supplemented by a free online Resources Hub and a training-of-trainers certification program (Thriving Through Developmental Relationships) that enables partner organizations to scale delivery.

Search Institute funds its work through a diversified mix of grants and contracts from major foundations (Gates, Lilly Endowment, Ford Family Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, John Templeton Foundation, Spencer Foundation, Thrive Foundation for Youth), federal agencies (NSF, U.S. Department of Education, IES), corporate funders (Altria, Capital One, Walmart Foundation, Disney, Jostens), and individual donations. It employs 11-50 staff and reports cumulative reach of 6.3 million youth surveyed, 11,150 organizations served, and 118,000 professionals trained across its 60+ year history.

Name

Search Institute

Legal name

Search Institute

Website

https://searchinstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1958

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Search Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit applied research organization, founded in 1958, that develops research-based frameworks such as the 40 Developmental Assets and the Developmental Relationships Framework, delivering professional learning workshops, surveys, and consulting partnerships to schools, youth-serving nonprofits, and community coalitions across the U.S. and Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Grants and Contracts: Primary revenue stream from private philanthropists, government agencies, and foundations that fund research and practice in positive youth development. Includes funding from organizations such as Gates Foundation, Lilly Endowment, Ford Family Foundation, and various government agencies.
2. Professional Learning Workshops: High-quality learning experiences including workshops to build and strengthen relationships with young people, tailored learning experiences for organizations, and practical tools and resources. Both open enrollment and custom organizational workshops offered.
3. Surveys and Measurements: Survey tools including the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP) that help organizations understand young people's developmental strengths, supports, and needs. Provides actionable data and insights on developmental relationships, social and emotional competencies, and equitable practices.
4. Consulting Engagements: Partner-centered improvement partnerships bringing together research knowledge and practical resources through deep collaboration with organizations to improve youth outcomes.
5. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible charitable contributions from individual donors supporting the organization's mission. Search Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Search Institute is an applied research nonprofit that develops and disseminates research-based frameworks, surveys, and professional learning experiences to help youth-serving organizations build developmental relationships with young people. Its core deliverables include the Developmental Assets Framework (40 assets), the Developmental Relationships Framework (five strategies), the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP) survey, the REACH system for student motivation, and accompanying toolkits. Revenue is generated through grants and contracts, paid workshops and certifications, survey administration, and consulting engagements delivered to schools, mentoring programs, community coalitions, foundations, and government agencies.

Product overview

Search Institute offers a suite of research-based products and services focused on positive youth development through developmental relationships. The core portfolio centers on two interconnected frameworks: the Developmental Assets Framework® (identifying 40 external and internal assets youth need to thrive) and the Developmental Relationships Framework (with five strategies: Express Care, Challenge Growth, Provide Support, Share Power, Expand Possibilities). These are operationalized through multiple delivery mechanisms including the Developmental Assets Profile (DAP) survey for measuring youth strengths, the REACH Framework for student motivation, and professional learning workshops. Additional tools include the Youth Opportunity Toolkit (for social capital), Student Voice Toolkit, Relational Culture Checkup, and DR+Math Toolkit. The organization also offers a training-of-trainers certification program (Thriving Through Developmental Relationships). The portfolio follows a platform-plus-resources architecture where research frameworks inform assessment tools, professional learning experiences, and practical toolkits that work together to help youth-serving organizations build developmental relationships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Developmental Assets Framework®: Research-based framework identifying 40 external and internal assets that help young people succeed.
• Developmental Relationships Framework
• REACH
• Developmental Assets Profile (DAP)
• Healthy Communities • Healthy Youth®
• ParentFurther®

Products and services

• Developmental Assets Framework A research-based framework identifying 40 external and internal assets (relationships, opportunities, social-emotional strengths, values, and commitments) that young people need to succeed. Used by schools, youth programs, and communities to guide positive youth development practice.
• Developmental Assets Profile (DAP) A research-based survey instrument administered through partnerships with youth-serving organizations to measure young people's developmental strengths, supports, and social-emotional factors; nearly one million youth have taken the DAP since 2005.
• Developmental Relationships Framework A research-based framework identifying five strategies (Express Care, Challenge Growth, Provide Support, Share Power, Expand Possibilities) that strengthen the relationships young people need to grow and thrive.
• Rooted in Relationships Model A model outlining conditions that help organizations and programs focus on the developmental relationships young people need to succeed, supporting organizational change toward relationship-rich environments.
• REACH Framework A system of professional learning and practical resources focused on five social-emotional factors (Relationships, Effort, Aspirations, Cognition, Heart) that helps schools strengthen student motivation through social-emotional strengths. Includes surveys, workshops, and school-wide implementation tools.
• Professional Learning Workshops High-quality, in-person and virtual workshops for educators, youth workers, and organizations to build and strengthen developmental relationships with young people; includes overview, individual, and organizational-level modules plus boosters.
• Surveys and Measurements Survey-based measurement services providing valid and reliable indicators of young people's experiences, gathering actionable data and insights on developmental relationships, social and emotional competencies, and equitable practices over time.
• Youth Opportunity Toolkit Tools and resources supporting organizations on the pathway toward becoming a social capital promoting organization, based on Search Institute's Social Capital Framework.
• Student Voice Toolkit A toolkit providing information about student voice, what it looks like in practice, how to support it, and how to measure it, helping educators shift from passive listening to active engagement.
• Relational Culture Checkup A self-reflection tool designed for leaders and staff to learn about the relational culture of their organization.
• Thriving Through Developmental Relationships (Training-of-Trainers Certification) A certification program that bundles workshops so partners at national organizations can become certified trainers, blending self-directed learning, in-person training, and ongoing support through a virtual community of practice.
• DR+Math Toolkit A toolkit focused on math engagement for Black and Latino high school students, developed through participatory research involving youth and educators co-creating research tools and analyzing data.
• Consulting and Improvement Partnerships Partner-centered improvement partnerships that bring together Search Institute's research knowledge and practical resources through deep collaboration with organizations to improve youth outcomes, including research-to-practice engagements and organizational change processes.

Quantifiable outcome

• Youth with more Developmental Assets are more likely to thrive and less likely to engage in high-risk behaviors
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Good TroublecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth-founded, youth-led, intergenerational movement in the Twin Cities focused on addressing chronic absence and elevating youth voice in education. Search Institute collaborates with Good Trouble to center young people in school improvement processes. The organization is part of Search Institute's Field Partner Spotlight Series showcasing organizations using their frameworks. Youth leaders from Good Trouble participate in co-creating research tools and facilitating interviews.
• United Way of DelawarecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUses Search Institute's Developmental Assets Framework and Developmental Assets Profile (DAP) to identify young people's strengths and needs. Created focus groups and implemented equity-focused initiatives. Hosted Black Student Summit and partnered with Center for Structural Equity to further understand support needs. Partnership demonstrates how DAP data can inform community-wide youth development strategies.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters Twin CitiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Search Institute to strengthen mentoring relationships and clarify program's theory of action. Created unified strategy aligning activities, measurement, and outcomes for youth, volunteers, and funders. Partnership aimed at creating more intentional developmental relationships in mentoring.
• Project CornerstonecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerApplies Search Institute's research-based frameworks to strengthen youth thriving. Serves over 185 schools and 65,000 students annually with support of nearly 4,000 volunteers. Demonstrates scalable community-wide implementation of Developmental Assets approach.
• Student Support Network (SSN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew York City transfer high school that used research-based strategies and continuous improvement tools to embed developmental relationships in school culture. Featured as story of impact demonstrating power of prioritizing relationships in education settings.
• Minnetonka Public SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUsed data-driven insights and student-centered approach from Search Institute to narrow gaps and foster connected, supportive environment. Demonstrates how districts can leverage DAP data for equity-focused improvement.
• State of MissouricoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSearch Institute worked closely with State of Missouri and Missouri Institute of Mental Health to create long-term professional development opportunity shaped by research and experiences facing young people. Multi-year partnership for youth-serving professionals.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters (Agency Partner Sites)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMultiple BBBS agency sites including BBBS South Texas and BBBS LA participate in Positioning Mentors as Social Capital Builders research project. Study examines role of adult mentors in supporting youth social capital development. High percentage of youth (77%-86%) report experiencing five elements of developmental relationships with mentors.
• TrevorSpacecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDigital community for LGBTQ+ youth. Search Institute worked alongside youth leadership team to reframe narrative from risk to resilience. Youth shaped research questions, adapted Developmental Assets framework for online community, and guided interpretation of findings.
• Bloomington Public SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in ongoing Adapted Measure of Math Engagement project examining how Developmental Relationships foster Black and Latino students' math engagement. Students, teachers, and researchers co-created tools and participated in data analysis.
• Child TrendscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in Adapted Measure of Math Engagement project focused on math engagement for Black and Latino high school students. Collaborative research initiative combining expertise in youth development and math education.
• McREL InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in Adapted Measure of Math Engagement project bringing expertise in education research and implementation science to collaboration on developmental relationships and student engagement.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Greater ChesapeakeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-time proponents of Developmental Assets who attended Search Institute workshop and incorporated framework into community action groups. Staff attended Essentials of Asset Building for Trainers and Facilitators workshop in Georgetown, Texas.
• Missouri Institute of Mental HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Search Institute and State of Missouri to create long-term professional development opportunity for youth-serving professionals.
• Center for Structural EquityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with United Way of Delaware to understand types of support young people need in communities they serve. Collaborated on focus groups and life mapping exercises.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• National 4-H Council: National 4-H Council is a large youth development organization that uses developmental frameworks and partners with schools and communities in ways directly comparable to Search Institute's deployments.
• Aspen Institute's Education & Society Program: The Aspen Institute's education work covers youth development, SEL, and equity with similar funder backing (Lilly, Gates) and a comparable research-to-practice dissemination model.
• America's Promise Alliance: America's Promise Alliance is a broader national youth development convener with overlapping funder relationships (Gates, etc.) and a comparable mission around youth thriving and relationships with adults.
• RAND Corporation: RAND is a larger applied research organization conducting youth, education, and social policy research for federal agencies and foundations, comparable to Search Institute on research methods and funder relationships.
• Wallace Foundation: Wallace Foundation funds and disseminates research on out-of-school time learning, SEL, and youth development—overlapping with Search Institute's research agenda and customer base.

Others

• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: BGCA is a major youth-serving nonprofit that both partners with and serves as part of the deployed ecosystem for Search Institute's frameworks; comparable as a customer/ecosystem participant rather than a direct competitor.

Direct peers

• Child Trends: Child Trends is a nonprofit research organization focused on child and youth outcomes; it has co-researched with Search Institute on DR+Math and shares the same applied youth development research niche and federal/funder customer base.
• CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning): CASEL is the most prominent SEL framework provider in K-12 and competes directly with Search Institute's Developmental Relationships and REACH frameworks for district adoption, professional learning contracts, and thought leadership.
• National Institute on Out-of-School Time (NIOST): NIOST conducts research and provides training for out-of-school time programs, a core customer segment for Search Institute's Developmental Assets and Developmental Relationships frameworks.
• Forum for Youth Investment: Forum for Youth Investment works at the intersection of youth policy, systems change, and out-of-school time programming—directly comparable to Search Institute's work with youth-serving organizations and community coalitions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Search Institute