Foundation for Economic Education, Inc.
FEE makes the ideas of liberty familiar, credible, and compelling to the rising generation.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
We believe that political and economic change is downstream of cultural change. In other words, we believe that we must change the culture before we can expect to see free-market solutions deployed in the economy, government, and culture. This is why since 2008, FEE has narrowed our focus to specialize on educating young “newcomers," or those previously unaware of the principles of a free society: individual liberty, entrepreneurship, free-market economics, and personal character. To accomplish this mission, FEE uses a variety of leveraged and scalable programs in an effort to mold the lens through which young people view the world.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Student Seminars and Webinars
Each year, FEE conducts seminars and webinars for high school and college students worldwide that educate on the economics, politics, and philosophy of a free society. We combine the economics with the moral and personal character side of a free society. Our students are relative newcomers who show potential to be future leaders and activists behalf of economic freedom and strong personal character.
Outside of the pandemic, FEE hosts one-day seminars across the country every year, primarily reaching high school students in the classroom. These seminars offer students an introduction to the principles of free enterprise, rule of law, private property, and entrepreneurship, finding ways to apply these concepts to the students' everyday lives.
Online Content
FEE.org is the world's home for fresh, daily content that explores the economic, legal, and ethical principles of a free society.
Daily, FEE.org publishes articles exploring economics, current events, philosophy, entrepreneurship, innovation, and more.
AV Media
FEE is a global leader in the production of award-winning media that explores the economic, legal, and ethical principles of a free society.
The bulk of FEE's videos are intended to reach youth audiences around the world that are currently unaware of or indifferent toward the principles of a free society. We seek to educate and inspire them with free-market principles, and guide them along a journey to discovering freedom as a life philosophy.
Where we work
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of students at educational seminars
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Adolescents
Related Program
Student Seminars and Webinars
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
FEE is a leader in educational seminars for youth. Our seminars focus on youth who are unaware of ideas on freedom, inspiring them to view freedom as a life philosophy grounded in ethical character.
Number of educational seminars held
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Adolescents
Related Program
Student Seminars and Webinars
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
FEE hosts dozens of One-Day Seminars in high schools throughout the year as well as hundreds of webinars. These programs are exclusively for high school and college students.
Number of Facebook followers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Adolescents
Related Program
Online Content
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of website sessions
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Adolescents
Related Program
Online Content
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
FEE.org has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years, making it one of the world’s most trafficked sites for the ideas of freedom.
Video minutes viewed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Students, Adolescents, Preteens
Related Program
AV Media
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
By producing and strategically marketing videos and social media that creatively address timely topics, we are successfully engaging millions of individuals on YouTube (these metrics) and elsewhere.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
FEE strives to bring about a world in which the economic, ethical, and legal principles of a free society are familiar and credible to the rising generation. Through life-changing student seminars, free online courses, engaging classroom resources, and enlightening classic and contemporary online content, we teach young people the personal value of free markets, entrepreneurship, and strong character. Ultimately, FEE's messages and programs generate "ah-ha!" moments and intellectual breakthroughs that inspire young people to pursue lives dedicated to individual freedom.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
FEE works with young newcomers on their intellectual journeys through ideas on liberty. We reach out broadly, beyond our immediate circles, through digital marketing of introductory content and our 75-year archive of classic materials. Students move on to our library of books and pamphlets, which we make available by hand-to-hand distribution on campus. For a more intensive experience of the freedom philosophy, we offer a variety of lectures and seminars, and facilitate connections to likeminded organizations for deeper study.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
FEE's 75-year experience educating young people is unmatched in: (A) producing and distributing publications and coursework introducing young "newcomers" to the freedom philosophy, and (B) organizing personal experiences with these ideas through workshops, classroom resources, and in-person seminars. FEE's intellectual resources include a faculty network of over 200 scholars from across the world.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since 1946 FEE has set the tone for economic and political philosophical discourse in the United States through seminars, publications, and FEE.org.
Among FEE's accomplishments are:
• 30,000+ seminar alumni, many of whom have become influential leaders in the non-profit, corporate, and academic industries;
• Revival and mass distribution of many of the classic texts of classical liberalism, including Frédéric Bastiat's The Law and Henry Hazlitt's Economics In One Lesson;
• Publication of dozens of books and monographs on the free society, including the classic essay "I, Pencil" and newer publications such as Excuse Me, Professor: Challenging the Myths of Progressivism and Real Heroes: Inspiring True Stories of Courage, Character, and Conviction, and;
• Millions of readers and viewers of FEE materials worldwide.
We seek to accomplish:
• FEE.org will become the Internet's top destinations for information on economic thinking and a free and civil society;
• FEE will partner with other organizations that also seek to enlighten students' minds and prepare them to create opportunities for themselves and others;
• FEE will be among the leading communicators of the ideas of economics, entrepreneurship, personal character, and liberty, messaging directly to under-served audiences, and;
• FEE will become one of the world's leading distributors of stories, media, classics, and other perspectives on the free society.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Foundation for Economic Education, Inc.
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Mr. Wayne Olson
Foundation for Economic Education
Term: 2018 - 2021
James N Bond
Thomas Graham
Michael Yashko
Roetzel & Andress
Chris Talley
Goodrich Foundation
Sarah Atkins
J.P. Humphreys Foundation
Thomas Armstrong
Armstrong Foundation
Frederic Fransen
Donor Advising, Research & Educational Services
Dan Grossman
Atlas Network
Fred Reams
Reams Foundation
Martin Gallun
MetalCraft of Mayville
Jake Lilley
Roger Ream
The Fund for American Studies
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
No data
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 04/16/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.