How do I find funders for a grassroots community development nonprofit?

Start with the funders most focused on grassroots community development organizations, currently Merck Patient Assistance Program Inc, The Zoom Foundation, Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Philadelphia Region. Donor-advised funds and mega-funds are excluded, so these are funders that genuinely back organizations your size, not pass-through accounts.

What counts as a grassroots organization here?

Size is the organization's median total revenue across its filings: grassroots (under $1M). Cause is where each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear.

How much grant money goes to grassroots community development organizations?

$6.4B reached 18,638 grassroots community development organizations from 15,514 funders. Money parked in the regranting layer is netted out.

How recent is this data?

It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings across recent fiscal years. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

Causes · Community development · grassroots

Who funds grassroots community development organizations

The funders that back grassroots community development organizations are specialists, not generalists: Merck Patient Assistance Program Inc gives them 146× the national rate, with 100% of its grants going here. These are the small organizations the big-institution funders usually miss, so the funders that show up here are the ones worth a small community development nonprofit's time.

$6.4B

granted

18,638

organizations

15,514

funders

The short version

15,514 funders gave $6.4B to 18,638 grassroots community development organizations (grassroots (under $1M)) across recent IRS filings.
The most focused funder is Merck Patient Assistance Program Inc, giving 146× the national rate to grassroots community development organizations.
The largest non-DAF funder is Merck Patient Assistance Program Inc, at $1.9B.
The grassroots community development organization drawing the most is Institute of Real Estate Management Greater New York Chapter, at $1.9B.

Funders most focused on grassroots community development organizations

Not the biggest checks, the most committed: each gives this size and cause an outsized share of its budget against the national rate, shrunk toward that rate so a small specialist needs real volume to rank.

Merck Patient Assistance Program Inc146×$1.9B · 100% of its giving The Zoom Foundation118.4×$16M · 96% of its giving Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Philadelphia Region114×$20M · 88% of its giving Community Health of South Florida Inc110.7×$9M · 100% of its giving Mahoning Valley Manufacturers Foundation Inc106.1×$8M · 100% of its giving Delmar Divine Charitable Foundation103.6×$7M · 100% of its giving Washington Area Community Investment Fund Inc94.9×$6M · 97% of its giving Otr Resources93.9×$6M · 96% of its giving

Largest funders by dollars

Real grantmakers giving the most to grassroots community development organizations (donor-advised and mega-funds excluded).

1Merck Patient Assistance Program Inc$1.9B 2Lilly Endowment Inc$427M 3The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International$40M 4Elks National Foundation Inc$33M 5Enterprise Community Partners Inc$26M 6Dogwood Health Trust$25M 7United Way of Greater Atlanta Inc$24M 8Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Philadelphia Region$20M

Grassroots community development organizations that draw the most

Sized by grant dollars received. Pick one to see exactly who funds it.

18,628 other grassroots community development organizations$3.9B

Institute of Real Estate Management Greater New York Chapter$1.9B Indiana Community Development Projects Inc$400M

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a grassroots community development nonprofit?: Start with the funders most focused on grassroots community development organizations, currently Merck Patient Assistance Program Inc, The Zoom Foundation, Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Philadelphia Region. Donor-advised funds and mega-funds are excluded, so these are funders that genuinely back organizations your size, not pass-through accounts.
What counts as a grassroots organization here?: Size is the organization's median total revenue across its filings: grassroots (under $1M). Cause is where each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear.
How much grant money goes to grassroots community development organizations?: $6.4B reached 18,638 grassroots community development organizations from 15,514 funders. Money parked in the regranting layer is netted out.
How recent is this data?: It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings across recent fiscal years. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

More from the funding graph

The unnamed billions

grants reported with no recipient in the public record

The regranting layer

51% of grant dollars land in the regranting layer

The DAF merry-go-round

$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds

The camps

funders cluster by geography, not ideology

By state

where grant money is based, and what stays home

State money flows

the interactive map of money crossing state lines

Size is median total revenue; each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear. Read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML across recent fiscal years, among (c)(3) funders and recipients resolved by EIN, with the regranting layer netted out. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.