Report · Funding coalitions
Strange bedfellows
US philanthropy splits into clusters of funders who back the same organizations. Some are named movements, progressive advocacy, the conservative movement, Jewish and Israel charities. Others are single organizations that a broad and divided set of funders all converge on, from the Human Rights Campaign to the American Legion.
The short version
- A coalition, or cluster, is a set of organizations funded by the same foundations, read from who appears together across funder portfolios in the IRS filings.
- This report names 5 clusters: progressive advocacy, jewish and israel, animal welfare, conservative movement, lgbtq rights.
- One example is the progressive advocacy cluster, 10 organizations including America Votes, anchored by New Venture Fund at $62M.
- Beyond the named clusters, 20 organizations draw a divided set of funders who fund nothing else in common, led by Reproductive Freedom for All with 87 funders, 93% of whose pairs meet only there.
Shared-funder clusters
Each cluster is a set of organizations that draw on the same base of diversified funders — grouped by who funds them, not by their stated mission. The label names the cluster’s center of gravity; some members work in adjacent or unrelated fields and simply share that funder base. Members link to their funding profile.
Progressive advocacy
The c4 advocacy and electoral groups that move as a bloc. New Venture Fund and the Sixteen Thirty Fund anchor it as fiscal sponsors that house many of the members under one EIN.
Jewish and Israel
Federations, Israel-focused charities and Jewish service organizations drawing on a shared base of family foundations. The Marcus Foundation is the single largest backer.
Animal welfare
National animal-protection groups funded by one set of foundations. Builders Vision and the Rachael Ray Foundation are among the largest backers.
Conservative movement
Legal, educational and movement organizations of the political right, funded by a tight donor set. Heritage, Hillsdale and the Leadership Institute sit at the center.
LGBTQ rights
Civil-rights and advocacy organizations funded alongside the Human Rights Campaign. The Trevor Project and the ACLU recur across the same funders.
Organizations that unite divided funders
Beyond the named clusters, some single organizations draw a broad set of funders who fund nothing else in common. Each dot is one organization. Further right means more funders; higher means a larger share of those funder pairs meet only here.
Funders who align across the map
Pairs of funders in different states whose portfolios overlap far more than their size predicts. They back the same cause from opposite ends of the country.
Questions and answers
- What is a funding coalition?
- A coalition, or cluster, is a set of organizations funded by the same foundations. It is read from the IRS filings by finding organizations that recur together across funder portfolios. The grouping is based on shared funders, not on the organizations' stated missions, so a cluster can include organizations that work in different fields but happen to draw on the same donors.
- What are the main funding clusters in US philanthropy?
- This report names 5 clusters that share a funder base: progressive advocacy, jewish and israel, animal welfare, conservative movement, lgbtq rights. Each is a set of organizations funded by the same foundations.
- Which organizations are funded by the most divided set of funders?
- 20 organizations draw a broad set of funders who fund nothing else in common, including Reproductive Freedom for All, Greenpeace Inc, Human Rights Campaign Inc, The American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Planned Parenthood. These are the strange bedfellows: funders that share nothing else converge on the same organization.
- Where does this data come from?
- It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the two years with complete filing coverage. Affinity between funders is measured against what their size predicts, with empirical-Bayes shrinkage.
More from the funding graph
Read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML for fiscal years 2022 and 2023. Clusters are built from a seed organization and the diversified funders that back it; members are the other organizations those same funders support, ranked by how many funders they share. Membership reflects shared funders, not a shared mission — an organization can appear in a cluster whose theme it does not work on. Affinity between funders is measured against what their size predicts, with empirical-Bayes shrinkage. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.