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

Start with the funders most focused on grassroots social science organizations, currently The Perls Foundation, Johnson O'Connor Research Support, Pro English. 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 social science organizations?

$68M reached 231 grassroots social science organizations from 532 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: The Perls Foundation gives them 1220.3× the national rate, with 58% 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.

$68M

granted

231

organizations

532

funders

The short version

532 funders gave $68M to 231 grassroots social science organizations (grassroots (under $1M)) across recent IRS filings.
The most focused funder is The Perls Foundation, giving 1220.3× the national rate to grassroots social science organizations.
The largest non-DAF funder is Gates Foundation, at $5M.
The grassroots social science organization drawing the most is US Good Business Lab Foundation, 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.

The Perls Foundation1220.3×$2M · 58% of its giving Johnson O'Connor Research Support952.2×$2M · 37% of its giving Pro English349.1×$320k · 29% of its giving Pema Foundation Inc325.1×$304k · 26% of its giving The Working World Inc288.8×$367k · 14% of its giving OK Foundation287.8×$459k · 11% of its giving Council of American Overseas Research Centers284.7×$930k · 8% of its giving The Gordon and Marilyn Macklin248.6×$244k · 18% 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$5M 2John D and Catherine T Macarthur$2M 3The Clear Fund$2M 4The Perls Foundation$2M 5Johnson O'Connor Research Support$2M 6Novo Foundation$1M 7Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation$1M 8The Henry Luce Foundation Inc$979k

Grassroots social science organizations that draw the most

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

221 other grassroots social science organizations$46M

US Good Business Lab Foundation$5M Schumacher Ctr for a New Economics$2M

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 The Perls Foundation, Johnson O'Connor Research Support, Pro English. 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 social science organizations?: $68M reached 231 grassroots social science organizations from 532 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.