How do I find funders for a grassroots youth development nonprofit?

Start with the funders most focused on grassroots youth development organizations, currently New Alternatives Inc, Herbert J Lavigne Family Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin. 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 youth development organizations?

$4.1B reached 16,468 grassroots youth development organizations from 21,243 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 · Youth development · grassroots

Who funds grassroots youth development organizations

The funders that back grassroots youth development organizations are specialists, not generalists: New Alternatives Inc gives them 194.4× the national rate, with 100% 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 youth development nonprofit's time.

$4.1B

granted

16,468

organizations

21,243

funders

The short version

21,243 funders gave $4.1B to 16,468 grassroots youth development organizations (grassroots (under $1M)) across recent IRS filings.
The most focused funder is New Alternatives Inc, giving 194.4× the national rate to grassroots youth development organizations.
The largest non-DAF funder is Boys & Girls Clubs of America, at $86M.
The grassroots youth development organization drawing the most is Mac Foundation, at $17M.

Funders most focused on grassroots youth development 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.

New Alternatives Inc194.4×$17M · 100% of its giving Herbert J Lavigne Family Foundation193.5×$17M · 100% of its giving Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin180.3×$11M · 100% of its giving Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington and Affiliate168.5×$8M · 100% of its giving Girls on the Run International Inc126.9×$5M · 80% of its giving New Life Properties Inc126.1×$6M · 77% of its giving Cuero Livestock Show Inc122.7×$3M · 100% of its giving Devil Pups Foundation121.8×$3M · 100% of its giving

Largest funders by dollars

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

1Boys & Girls Clubs of America$86M 2Big Brothers Big Sisters Of America$46M 3Friends of the Children$25M 4The Sherwood Foundation$22M 5Lilly Endowment Inc$19M 6New Alternatives Inc$17M 7Herbert J Lavigne Family Foundation$17M 8The Colorado Health Foundation$13M

Grassroots youth development organizations that draw the most

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

16,458 other grassroots youth development organizations$4.0B

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a grassroots youth development nonprofit?: Start with the funders most focused on grassroots youth development organizations, currently New Alternatives Inc, Herbert J Lavigne Family Foundation, Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin. 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 youth development organizations?: $4.1B reached 16,468 grassroots youth development organizations from 21,243 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.