At Acton, our mission is simple. We want everyone to understand the foundational ideas that lead to a free and virtuous society. We do this through promoting our unique synthesis of faith and economics. And we focus our efforts on reaching influential leaders in academia, business, and faith communities.
Dear Friends,
The Acton Institute’s 30th anniversary has been a time of both reflecting on the past and looking forward to the future. Since its founding in 1990, the Acton Institute has been centered on the human person in their individual and intrinsic dignity. It is out of our respect for human persons and their God-given nature that we make a principled and moral case for liberty.
While the COVID-19 pandemic changed many things, we are proud that Acton was able to swiftly and strategically adapt to reach new and larger audiences to continue to spread our message, and even create a new virtual international event.
We are able to accomplish so much, even in these unprecedented times, because of prudent stewardship of resources, a talented and dedicated staff, and a community of generous donors deeply invested in our mission. If you have supported us in our pursuit of a free and virtuous society we thank you. If you have just recently learned about our work, we ask you to join us in this endeavor to build an institution dedicated to the ideas necessary for a flourishing and free society.
PRESIDENT
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
According to the 2020 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report by the Think Tanks and Civil Societies Program at the University of Pennsylvania
In 2020, Acton focused on creating timely and topical content that engaged current and new audiences across all of Acton’s platforms. From crony capitalism to Coronavirus to the threat of economic nationalism, Acton’s experts provided an insight and moral clarity on the path to a free and virtuous society.
Over the year, Acton’s website had 1.9 million users (+8.31%) and more than 2.1 million sessions (+8.74%). Additionally, our Youtube channel had more than 600,000 video views (+26%).
Rev. Ben Johnson’s “What does Black Lives Matter believe?” article on Acton’s PowerBlog received 236,147 total page views since its posting, making it the most trafficked piece in Acton web history.
Acton has also prioritized building engaged communities for our digital platforms.
Over 1.15 million people engaged in some way with our content and our ideas on Facebook in 2020, a 744% increase over 2019. Throughout the year more than 12.5 million people on Facebook saw our content (+256%), our posts were shared more than 115,000 times (+1,287) and received more than 75,000 comments (+956%).
At our 30th Anniversary Celebration, Acton’s co-founders discuss Acton’s beginnings, highlights through the years and the future of the organizations. Watch the full one-hour program here.
