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

Start with the funders most focused on grassroots community development organizations, currently Downtown Riverfront Trust, Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma Inc, Washington Area Community Investment. 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 its NTEE classification in the IRS Business Master File.

How much grant money goes to grassroots community development organizations?

$1.2B reached 6,836 grassroots community development organizations from 8,313 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: Downtown Riverfront Trust gives them 157.7× 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.

$1.2B

granted

6,836

organizations

8,313

funders

The short version

8,313 funders gave $1.2B to 6,836 grassroots community development organizations (grassroots (under $1M)) across recent IRS filings.
The most focused funder is Downtown Riverfront Trust, giving 157.7× the national rate to grassroots community development organizations.
The largest non-DAF funder is Walter Scott Family Foundation, at $46M.
The grassroots community development organization drawing the most is Downtown Riverfront Trust, at $124M.

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.

Downtown Riverfront Trust157.7×$5M · 100% of its giving Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma Inc147.3×$4M · 100% of its giving Washington Area Community Investment123.3×$4M · 79% of its giving Robert B Daugherty Foundation96.8×$30M · 40% of its giving Talmudical Institute of Upstate New York93.6×$2M · 100% of its giving The Junior League of Jackson Ms Inc93×$2M · 100% of its giving Avalon Foundation90.5×$2M · 99% of its giving International Union of Operating87×$2M · 100% of its giving

Largest funders by dollars

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

1Walter Scott Family Foundation$46M 2Robert B Daugherty Foundation$30M 3Peter Kiewit Foundation$26M 4WK Kellogg Foundation$9M 5Enterprise Community Partners Inc$8M 6The Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc$8M 7Local Initiatives Support Corporation$8M 8The McKnight Foundation$8M

Grassroots community development organizations that draw the most

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

6,826 other grassroots community development organizations$1.0B

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 Downtown Riverfront Trust, Rural Enterprises of Oklahoma Inc, Washington Area Community Investment. 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 its NTEE classification in the IRS Business Master File.
How much grant money goes to grassroots community development organizations?: $1.2B reached 6,836 grassroots community development organizations from 8,313 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 regranting layer

51% of grant dollars pass through an intermediary

The DAF merry-go-round

$9.7B circulates between donor-advised funds

Strange bedfellows

the named clusters of US funding

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; cause is the recipient's NTEE classification in the IRS Business Master File. 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.