How do I find funders for a grassroots science nonprofit?

Start with the funders most focused on grassroots science organizations, currently Elbaz Family Foundation, Filecoin Foundation for The, Sustainable Markets Foundation. 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 science organizations?

$122M reached 584 grassroots science organizations from 970 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: Elbaz Family Foundation gives them 567.6× the national rate, with 43% 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.

$122M

granted

584

organizations

970

funders

The short version

970 funders gave $122M to 584 grassroots science organizations (grassroots (under $1M)) across recent IRS filings.
The most focused funder is Elbaz Family Foundation, giving 567.6× the national rate to grassroots science organizations.
The largest non-DAF funder is Donors Trust Inc, at $10M.
The grassroots science organization drawing the most is Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine, at $8M.

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.

Elbaz Family Foundation567.6×$1M · 43% of its giving Filecoin Foundation for The449.9×$1M · 33% of its giving Sustainable Markets Foundation356.4×$3M · 16% of its giving Del Mar Global Trust Dtd 121007281.5×$460k · 42% of its giving California Institute for Biodiversity249.8×$617k · 19% of its giving For Inspiration and Recognition of247×$1M · 13% of its giving Gary E Milgard Family Foundation - Mark202.4×$880k · 11% of its giving Brahmananda Saraswati Foundation200.1×$1M · 11% 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$10M 2Sustainable Markets Foundation$3M 3Greater Houston Community Foundation$2M 4National Fish and Wildlife Foundation$2M 5Founders Pledge Inc$2M 6Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation$2M 7The San Diego Foundation$2M 8Gates Family Foundation$2M

Grassroots science organizations that draw the most

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

574 other grassroots science organizations$95M

Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine$8M

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a grassroots science nonprofit?: Start with the funders most focused on grassroots science organizations, currently Elbaz Family Foundation, Filecoin Foundation for The, Sustainable Markets Foundation. 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 science organizations?: $122M reached 584 grassroots science organizations from 970 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.