The Economist referenced the Sutton Trust’s ‘do-tank’ model in their explainer on think-tanks. 

‘Yet the world may have reached peak tank. The Pennsylvanian researchers found that in 2014 the number of new tanks declined for the first time in 30 years. One reason is that donors nowadays prefer to make project-specific grants, rather than funnelling money into mere thinking. Another is increased competition. Professional consultancies such as McKinsey publish a fair bit of brainwork, and members of opinionated “advocacy organisations” can make for more compelling interviewees than balanced think-tankers. So some tanks are rethinking themselves. The Pew Research Centre describes itself as a “fact tank”, focusing on information rather than policy recommendations. And the Sutton Trust calls itself a “do tank”, putting its own recommendations into practice.’

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