How do I find funders for a grassroots international nonprofit?

Start with the funders most focused on grassroots international organizations, currently Ascension Health Global Mission, Council of American Overseas Research Centers, Global Ties US. 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 international organizations?

$913M reached 5,162 grassroots international organizations from 6,380 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 · International · grassroots

Who funds grassroots international organizations

The funders that back grassroots international organizations are specialists, not generalists: Ascension Health Global Mission gives them 174× the national rate, with 93% 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 international nonprofit's time.

$913M

granted

5,162

organizations

6,380

funders

The short version

6,380 funders gave $913M to 5,162 grassroots international organizations (grassroots (under $1M)) across recent IRS filings.
The most focused funder is Ascension Health Global Mission, giving 174× the national rate to grassroots international organizations.
The largest non-DAF funder is Global Ties US, at $12M.
The grassroots international organization drawing the most is Goal USA Inc, at $6M.

Funders most focused on grassroots international 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.

Ascension Health Global Mission174×$4M · 93% of its giving Council of American Overseas Research Centers155.9×$7M · 59% of its giving Global Ties US147.1×$12M · 49% of its giving Haiti Benefit Auction140.9×$5M · 55% of its giving Ravi B Reddy Foundation Inc123×$2M · 98% of its giving Philip E and Carole R Ratcliffe109.1×$2M · 58% of its giving Legacy of Yogi Bhajan Foundation103×$1M · 100% of its giving Saturn Foundation Global97×$1M · 100% of its giving

Largest funders by dollars

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

1Global Ties US$12M 2Council of American Overseas Research Centers$7M 3Globalgiving Foundation Inc$6M 4National Endowment for Democracy$6M 5Haiti Benefit Auction$5M 6Pure Inc$5M 7Gates Foundation$5M 8Interchurch Medical Assistance Inc$4M

Grassroots international organizations that draw the most

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

5,152 other grassroots international organizations$877M

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a grassroots international nonprofit?: Start with the funders most focused on grassroots international organizations, currently Ascension Health Global Mission, Council of American Overseas Research Centers, Global Ties US. 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 international organizations?: $913M reached 5,162 grassroots international organizations from 6,380 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.