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Alliance Defending Freedom at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Alliance Defending Freedom

ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM exists to keep the door open for the gospel by advancing every person's god-given right to live and speak the truth.

$12M
Granted FY2025still arriving
37
Grants FY2025still arriving
23
States reached
$8.7M
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

International$17MCivil Rights$6.0MReligion$2.0MCrime & Legal$1.0MEducation$477kHuman Services$356kHealth$311kPublic Benefit$194kOther$0
02FY2025 · 37 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 37 grants below total $10,491,044, the rows itemized in this filing. The $11,927,970 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $1,436,926 is giving the schedule does not break out (grants under the $5,000 itemization floor, grants to individuals, grants on other schedules). Every figure below describes the itemized rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k5 grants · $36k
  • $10k–50k26 grants · $532k
  • $50k–250k4 grants · $307k
  • $250k+2 grants · $9.6M
$20,000
Median grant
23
States reached
$112M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM INTERNATIONAL$8,715,495
ADF ACTION$900,000
ENVISAGE LAW$96,852
CONSOVOY MCCARTHY PLLC$80,219
LIBERTY COUNSEL$75,000
BOYDEN GRAY PLLC$55,000
ETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTER$47,800
DILLON PLLC$31,833
SIMMS SHOWERS LLP$31,637
FOX ROTHSCHILD LLP$30,351
BODANZA & BODANZA LAW OFFICE$30,000
HOSTETTER LAW GROUP LLP$28,000
WADLEIGH STARR & PETERS PLLC$27,726
BURKE LAW GROUP$25,066
CHILD & PARENTAL RIGHTS CAMPAIGN$25,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY17–24, $138k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 67% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%Pennsylvania Family Institute: $62k → 12%Life on Belay Inc: $40k → 5%Pennsylvania Family Institute: $20k → 12%Boat People SOS: $6k → 6%PENNSYLVANIA FAMILY INSTITUTE: $10k → 12%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
VT
NH
WA
MT
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
MO
KY
WV
VA
AZ
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
HI
LA
GA
TX
FL
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

94%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$26M · 61 repeat orgs$1.6M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +66% since the first grant, against +16% for those funded once.

61 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2025, 43 since wound down; 19 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

61
47

Total granted

$26M
$1.2M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+66%
+16%

Still filing today

39%
36%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 95% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $480k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24’25
Civil RightsEducationReligionHealthHuman ServicesArts & CultureOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • AA
    ADF ACTION
    3× · 2023–2025 · $1.9M · revenue +386% · 100% of their budget
  • AL
    American Liberties Institute Inc
    3× · 2017–2019 · $664k · revenue +354% · 46% of their budget
  • FC
    FIDELIS CENTER FOR LAW & POLICY
    3× · 2017–2019 · $380k · revenue +399%

Funded once

  • CL
    Charis Lex PC
    one grant, 2021 · $160k
  • NW
    NATHAN W KELLUM
    one grant, 2017 · $62k
  • IF
    INSTITUTE FOR PATIENTS' RIGHTS INC
    one grant, 2024 · $60k · revenue 0%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Life International

To partner with leaders globally to boldly proclaim the biblical truth of the father's heart for life, champion the gospel of jesus christ, and establish life-giving ministries.

Health
2
Americans United for Life Inc

AUL is an organization that advances the human right to life in culture, law, and policy.

Civil Rights
3
Frontiers of Freedom Institute

To educate the public on constitutional issues and public policy matters. We are dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, peace through strength, limited government, free enterprise, and the values embodied in the Declaration of…

Public Benefit
4
International Catholic Jurists Forum Inc

The International Catholic Jurists Forum (ICJF) was established to produce, compile, and share resources on fundamental human rights under attack in the regional and international human rights protection systems. It operates as a forum for…

Religion
5
American Center for Law and Justice -District of Columbia Inc

The protection of human and religious rights and liberties and the education of the public on such rights and liberties.

Civil Rights
6
Pro-Life Action League Inc

Dissemination of pro-life information

Civil Rights
7
First Liberty Institute

First liberty institute provides pro bono legal services to advance and defend religious liberty for individuals, churches, and other ministries and organizations.

Civil Rights
8
Indiana Right to Life Incorporated

To educate the public about abortion

—
9
Equal Rights Institute

Equal rights institute trains pro-life advocates to think clearly, reason honestly, and argue persuasively.

Human Services
10
Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. Pew Research Center generates a foundation of facts that enriches the public dialogue and…

Social Science
11
Independent Women's Forum

Engage more individuals in the civic process, educate them about the impact of public policies on their lives and our economy, and build support for policies that empower individuals.

Civil Rights
12
Advocates for Faith and Freedom

Organized for religious purposes to promote the gospel of jesus christ by protecting, defending and advocating religious civil liberties

Crime & Legal
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Fidelis Center for Law & Policy; the most unlike its peers is National Museum of American Religion Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
04the grantee network

45 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 45 of the 127 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

3
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
20
Early backer (in before they grew)
43/45
Grantees still filing
33/45
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM INTERNATIONAL: $17,326,580 · ReligionALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM INTERNATIONAL+3 more: $87,518 · ReligionKellum Law Firm: $535,992 · OtherKellum Law FirmFREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE DEFENSE FUND INC: $529,025 · OtherFREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE D…MAUCK & BAKER LLC: $408,106 · OtherMAUCK & BAKER LLCWADLEIGH STARR & PETERS PLLC: $237,114 · OtherLIBERTY COUNSEL INC: $225,000 · Other+94 more: $3,819,865 · Other+94 moreADF ACTION: $1,907,186 · Civil RightsADF ACTIONAmerican Liberties Institute Inc: $663,807 · Civil RightsAmerican Libe…FIDELIS CENTER FOR LAW & POLICY: $380,000 · Civil RightsFIDELIS CENTE…Susan B Anthony List Education Fund: $125,000 · Civil Rights+6 more: $230,015 · Civil Rights+6 moreThe Family Foundation of Virginia: $251,600 · EducationPATRICK HENRY COLLEGE: $123,926 · EducationRELIGIOUS FREEDOM INSTITUTE INC: $100,000 · EducationThe Abigail Adams Institute Inc: $54,500 · EducationAmerican College of Pediatricians: $40,000 · EducationWitherspoon Institute Inc: $30,000 · EducationCENTER FOR ARIZONA POLICY INC: $22,000 · Education+1 more: $20,928 · EducationCHILD & PARENTAL RIGHTS CAMPAIGN INC: $273,125 · Crime & LegalAMERICAN FREEDOM LAW CENTER INC DBA AFLC % CINDY PAGE: $80,000 · Crime & LegalETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTER INC: $180,000 · Public BenefitPENNSYLVANIA FAMILY INSTITUTE: $92,475 · Human ServicesLIFE ON BELAY INC: $40,000 · Human ServicesBOAT PEOPLE S O S INC: $5,783 · Human Services
Religion$17,414,098Other$5,755,102Civil Rights$3,306,008Education$642,954Crime & Legal$353,125Public Benefit$180,000Human Services$138,258

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM INTERNATIONAL: $17,326,580 over 2y, 100% of budgetADF ACTION: $1,907,186 over 3y, 100% of budgetAmerican Liberties Institute Inc: $663,807 over 3y, 46% of budgetFREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE DEFENSE FUND INC: $529,025 over 4y, 14% of budgetFIDELIS CENTER FOR LAW & POLICY: $380,000 over 3y, 15% of budgetCHILD & PARENTAL RIGHTS CAMPAIGN INC: $273,125 over 5y, 19% of budgetThe Family Foundation of Virginia: $251,600 over 3y, 8.7% of budgetETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTER INC: $180,000 over 5y, 1.2% of budgetSusan B Anthony List Education Fund: $125,000 over 4y, 0.7% of budgetPATRICK HENRY COLLEGE: $123,926 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetRELIGIOUS FREEDOM INSTITUTE INC: $100,000 over 4y, 2.2% of budgetROADS OF SUCCESS: $96,601 over 3y, 5.6% of budgetWOMENS LIBERATION FRONT: $95,015 over 3y, 4.8% of budgetASSOCIATION OF PRO-LIFE OBSTETRICIANS AND GYNECOLOGISTS: $95,000 over 4y, 3.5% of budgetPENNSYLVANIA FAMILY INSTITUTE: $92,475 over 3y, 3.8% of budgetINDIANA FAMILY INSTITUTE INC: $89,145 over 3y, 4.1% of budgetAMERICAN FREEDOM LAW CENTER INC DBA AFLC % CINDY PAGE: $80,000 over 3y, 6.4% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR PATIENTS' RIGHTS INC: $60,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetThe Abigail Adams Institute Inc: $54,500 over 2y, 5.2% of budgetTHE CLAREMONT INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF STATESMANSHIP & POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: $53,490 over 3y, 0.4% of budgetINTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR THE FAMILY: $50,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetCITIZENS DEFENDING FREEDOM FOUNDATION INC: $50,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetLIFE ON BELAY INC: $40,000 over 1y, 2.3% of budgetADF FOUNDATION: $40,000 over 2y, 5.4% of budgetAUSTIN INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF FAMILY AND CULTURE: $40,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetAmerican College of Pediatricians: $40,000 over 1y, 11% of budgetJOHN PAUL II SHRINE AND INSTITUTE INC: $35,634 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCHARITABLE ALLIES INC: $31,525 over 2y, 6.3% of budgetCenter for Client Safety Inc: $30,000 over 2y, 6.1% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH: $30,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetWitherspoon Institute Inc: $30,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetLIVE ACTION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCENTER FOR ARIZONA POLICY INC: $22,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetFRONTLINE POLICY COUNCIL INC: $20,928 over 1y, 5.9% of budgetThe Colson Center for Christian Worldview: $20,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetCANOPY GLOBAL FOUNDATION INC: $20,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetOpen Doors With Brother Andrew Inc: $17,518 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetBIOETHICS DEFENSE FUND: $10,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetDOWNTOWN SOUP KITCHEN INC: $9,204 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetNational Museum of American Religion Inc: $7,850 over 1y, 11% of budgetNATIONAL CENTER ON SEXUAL EXPLOITATION: $6,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetBOAT PEOPLE S O S INC: $5,783 over 1y, 0.2% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM INTERNATIONAL ↗
  • Who funds ADF ACTION ↗
  • Who funds American Liberties Institute Inc ↗
  • Who funds FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE DEFENSE FUND INC ↗
  • Who funds FIDELIS CENTER FOR LAW & POLICY ↗
  • Who funds CHILD & PARENTAL RIGHTS CAMPAIGN INC ↗
  • Who funds The Family Foundation of Virginia ↗
  • Who funds ETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTER INC ↗
  • Who funds Susan B Anthony List Education Fund ↗
  • Who funds PATRICK HENRY COLLEGE ↗
  • Who funds RELIGIOUS FREEDOM INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds ROADS OF SUCCESS ↗
  • Who funds WOMENS LIBERATION FRONT ↗
  • Who funds ASSOCIATION OF PRO-LIFE OBSTETRICIANS AND GYNECOLOGISTS ↗
  • Who funds PENNSYLVANIA FAMILY INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds INDIANA FAMILY INSTITUTE INC ↗
  • Who funds AMERICAN FREEDOM LAW CENTER INC DBA AFLC % CINDY PAGE ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE FOR PATIENTS' RIGHTS INC ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Donors Trust IncBradley Impact Fund I…Knights of Columbus C…Christian Community F…The Catholic Associat…The Lynde and Harry B…Servant FoundationThe Family Leader Fou…USATransformThe 85 FundThe Signatry Charitab…Strake Foundation
Donors Trust IncVA24.2× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Donors Trust Inc · Bradley Impact Fund Inc · Knights of Columbus Charitable Fund Inc · Christian Community Foundation Inc · The Catholic Association Foundation · The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Inc · Servant Foundation · The Family Leader Foundation Inc · USATransform · The 85 Fund · The Signatry Charitable Trust · Strake Foundation

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Alliance Defending Freedom funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Alliance Defending Freedom. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 50%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%10%20%30%40%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    5get no government money at all
    3report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–40%
    typical government reliance, FY20–25
    How this is measured
    Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.

    On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 127 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

    How this is measured
    Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

    Generated from the IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Alliance Defending Freedom’s filings →

    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 endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
    The camps
    funders cluster by geography, not ideology
    By state
    where grant money is based, and what stays home