Report · Funder clusters
The camps of US philanthropy
US funders cluster by geography, not by size or ideology. Community detection on the co-funder graph finds one national bloc of donor-advised funds, and regional rings of foundations that co-fund the organizations in their own backyard. Funders are far more likely to back something alongside a same-state funder than a same-size one.
The short version
- Community detection on the co-funder graph splits 55,831 US funders into 75 blocs, or camps.
- Funders cluster by geography, not by size or ideology: state assortativity is +0.44 against -0.14 for size, so funders co-fund alongside a same-state funder far more than a same-size one.
- The largest bloc holds 18,075 funders, a national pass-through camp anchored by Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund and Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc.
- Outside that national bloc the camps are regional: the CA bloc gathers 3,315 funders around Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Tides Foundation.
The biggest is not a place
The largest cluster is a national bloc of donor-advised funds and corporate giving programs that grant to the same broad set of charities. Everything after it is regional: rings of funders built around a community foundation, co-funding the organizations in their own state.
Donor-advised funds and national pass-throughs
18,075 fundersDonor-advised funds and national pass-throughs
12,244 fundersDonor-advised funds and national pass-throughs
4,758 fundersCA · NY · DC
3,315 fundersMI · TN · IN
3,215 fundersWI · MN · IA
2,018 fundersTX · LA · IN
1,889 fundersMO · KS · OK
1,689 fundersDonor-advised funds and national pass-throughs
1,528 fundersWA · OR · MT
1,421 fundersOH · VA · PA
1,194 fundersPA · DE · NV
794 fundersCO · DE · IL
705 fundersIL · DE · FL
567 fundersGA · FL · DE
545 fundersMD · DC · VA
528 fundersAZ · CA · TX
458 fundersNE · UT · WI
433 fundersQuestions and answers
- What is a funder bloc or camp?
- A group of US funders that repeatedly co-fund the same organizations. Blocs are found by Leiden community detection on the co-funder graph, where two funders are linked when they share at least five grantees.
- How many funder camps are there in US philanthropy?
- Community detection finds 75 blocs across 55,831 funders in the FY2022 and FY2023 IRS filings, the two years with complete filing coverage.
- Do funders group by cause or by geography?
- By geography. State assortativity on the co-funder graph is +0.44, against -0.14 for funder size and 0.18 for cause. Funders co-fund alongside same-state funders far more than same-size or same-cause ones.
- Which funders anchor the biggest camp?
- The largest bloc holds 18,075 funders and is a national pass-through camp, anchored by Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund, Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc, Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program.
More from the funding graph
Clusters are found by Leiden community detection on the co-funder graph (funders linked when they share at least five grantees), read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML for fiscal years 2022 and 2023. Donor-advised funds are excluded from the size and geography mixing measures because they fund everything. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.