How do I find funders for a grassroots science nonprofit?

Start with the funders most focused on grassroots science organizations, currently Rethink Priorities, American Society of Civil Engineers Inc, Tom Slick Mem Tr-Mind Scien F0229100. 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 science organizations?

$517M reached 2,037 grassroots science organizations from 2,790 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 · Science · grassroots

Who funds grassroots science organizations

The funders that back grassroots science organizations are specialists, not generalists: Rethink Priorities gives them 714.8× the national rate, with 95% 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 science nonprofit's time.

$517M

granted

2,037

organizations

2,790

funders

The short version

2,790 funders gave $517M to 2,037 grassroots science organizations (grassroots (under $1M)) across recent IRS filings.
The most focused funder is Rethink Priorities, giving 714.8× the national rate to grassroots science organizations.
The largest non-DAF funder is Donors Trust Inc, at $13M.
The grassroots science organization drawing the most is The Tricontinental Ltd, at $16M.

Funders most focused on grassroots science 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.

Rethink Priorities714.8×$3M · 95% of its giving American Society of Civil Engineers Inc676.2×$3M · 83% of its giving Tom Slick Mem Tr-Mind Scien F0229100665.3×$3M · 100% of its giving Laogai Human Rights Organization Inc659.5×$3M · 100% of its giving Promethean Genesis556×$2M · 100% of its giving Lotus Land Foundation399.4×$1M · 96% of its giving American Concrete Institute385.7×$1M · 100% of its giving Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics357.5×$5M · 30% of its giving

Largest funders by dollars

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

1Donors Trust Inc$13M 2John Templeton Foundation$7M 3Gates Foundation$7M 4Washington University$7M 5For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST)$6M 6University of Chicago$5M 7Good Ventures Foundation$5M 8Breakthrough T1d$5M

Grassroots science organizations that draw the most

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

2,027 other grassroots science organizations$440M

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a grassroots science nonprofit?: Start with the funders most focused on grassroots science organizations, currently Rethink Priorities, American Society of Civil Engineers Inc, Tom Slick Mem Tr-Mind Scien F0229100. 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 science organizations?: $517M reached 2,037 grassroots science organizations from 2,790 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 endowment market

who holds foundation money, and what just moved

The camps

funders cluster by geography, not ideology

By state

where grant money is based, and what stays home

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.