How do I find funders for a grassroots social science nonprofit?

Start with the funders most focused on grassroots social science organizations, currently Liberty Fund Inc, The Perls Foundation Katherine Perls Et Al Trustees, The Bright 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 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 social science organizations?

$161M reached 459 grassroots social science organizations from 987 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 · Social science · grassroots

Who funds grassroots social science organizations

The funders that back grassroots social science organizations are specialists, not generalists: Liberty Fund Inc gives them 2302.6× the national rate, with 97% 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 social science nonprofit's time.

$161M

granted

459

organizations

987

funders

The short version

987 funders gave $161M to 459 grassroots social science organizations (grassroots (under $1M)) across recent IRS filings.
The most focused funder is Liberty Fund Inc, giving 2302.6× the national rate to grassroots social science organizations.
The largest non-DAF funder is Gates Foundation, at $7M.
The grassroots social science organization drawing the most is The Sycamore Institute Inc, at $5M.

Funders most focused on grassroots social 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.

Liberty Fund Inc2302.6×$2M · 97% of its giving The Perls Foundation Katherine Perls Et Al Trustees1993.6×$3M · 51% of its giving The Bright Foundation999×$776k · 51% of its giving Johnson O'Connor Research Support Corporation792.1×$2M · 18% of its giving Lb Foundation762.5×$1M · 18% of its giving The Pennell Family Foundation686.9×$505k · 40% of its giving High Meadows Foundation528.3×$4M · 10% of its giving The Krieble Foundation528.2×$420k · 26% of its giving

Largest funders by dollars

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

1Gates Foundation$7M 2High Meadows Foundation$4M 3The Perls Foundation Katherine Perls Et Al Trustees$3M 4The Clear Fund$2M 5The Schmidt Family Foundation$2M 6Sarah Scaife Foundation Incorporated$2M 7The Healing Trust Formerly Baptist Healing Hospital Trust$2M 8Gianforte Family Charitable Trust$2M

Grassroots social science organizations that draw the most

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

449 other grassroots social science organizations$120M

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a grassroots social science nonprofit?: Start with the funders most focused on grassroots social science organizations, currently Liberty Fund Inc, The Perls Foundation Katherine Perls Et Al Trustees, The Bright 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 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 social science organizations?: $161M reached 459 grassroots social science organizations from 987 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.