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American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Public charity

American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

The AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA (aclu nc union) defends and advances the principles of freedom, equality and justice contained in the united states constitution.

$2.6M
Granted FY2025still arriving
4
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$2.3M
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.

Civil Rights$17MCrime & Legal$657kPublic Benefit$618kPublic Safety & Disaster$100kHuman Services$52kCommunity Improvement$10kEducation$6k
02FY2025 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2025

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $10k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $235k
  • $250k+1 grant · $2.3M
$135,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$18M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ACLU CA ACTION$2,348,286
YES FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY$135,000
COMM PROTECT PUBLIC SAFETY$100,000
YES ON PROP 6$10,000
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 (FY18–21, $147k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 86% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%AFFECT REAL CHANGE INC: $25k → 24%COMMINITIES UNITED FOR RESTOR: $21k → 10%AFFECT REAL CHANGE INC: $6k → 24%CALIFORNIA CALLS ACTION FUND: $95k → 14%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.
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.

87%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$16M · 8 repeat orgs$2.5M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +43% since the first grant, against 0% for those funded once.

8 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2025, 6 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

8
21

Total granted

$16M
$2.3M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+43%
0%

Still filing today

88%
67%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 96% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $110k 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 RightsHuman ServicesCommunity ImprovementPublic BenefitYouth DevelopmentOther
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

  • AC
    ACLU California Action
    5× · 2021–2025 · $10M · revenue +339% · 77% of their budget
  • AC
    AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION INC
    2× · 2017–2023 · $5.0M · revenue +43%
  • TA
    TIDES ADVOCACY
    3× · 2018–2020 · $120k · revenue +130%

Funded once

  • OF
    OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL COALITION
    one grant, 2021 · $750k
  • YO
    YES ON PROP 1
    one grant, 2023 · $250k
  • FI
    FAITH IN ACTION FUND
    one grant, 2018 · $215k · revenue -99%
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
Alliance for a Better California Sponsored By Working Families and Labor

To support or oppose state and local ballot measures that affect the security of working californians.

Civil Rights
2
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

The american civil liberties union of northern california (aclu nc union) defends and advances the principles of freedom, equality and justice contained in the united states constitution. aclu nc union, a california mutual benefit…

—
3
Californians for Fair Pay and Employer Accountability

To support policies and ballot measures to support employment reform.

—
4
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
5
Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action

The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) Action is a grassroots, member-led, statewide community organization working with more than 16,000 members in six counties across California, dedicated to raising the voices of…

Human Services
6
Protect Our Right to Hold Politicians Acctble No on C

This issue committee was formed to oppose Measure C in San Francisco. The purpose is to create a committee educate the community and defeat Prop C.

—
7
Repeal Reunite Reinvest California

Repeal Reunite Reinvest CA Re:CA Coalition aims to repeal California's Three Strikes Law through a citizen's initiative placed on the 2024 presidential ballot. The goal in doing this is to reunite currently incarcerated individuals with…

—
8
California Center for Movement Legal Services

The California Center for Movement Legal Services (Movement Legal) provides legal services in the pursuit of improving the lives of California's traditionally underserved residents, carrying out legal work that fosters community led policy…

Crime & Legal
9
American Civil Liberties Union of Washington

To protect and extend civil liberties and civil rights, and to take action to further those liberties and rights within the state of washington.

—
10
California Rcv Coalition Inc

We advocate for legislation and influence the decisions of our elected leaders in California to pass Ranked Choice Voting in the states various cities counties and state elections. Our volunteers and leadership provide domain expertise…

Civil Rights
11
American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware Inc

The organization monitors legislation that could impact civil liberties and takes the necessary action to support or oppose such legislation.

—
12
Supporters of Recall Pamela Price

Supporters of Recall Pamela Price wants to bring safety back to Alameda County by recalling soft-on-crime District Attorney Pamela Price in the November 5, 2024 election.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Aclu Foundation of Southern California; the most unlike its peers is Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights. 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

26 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. 26 of the 32 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.

4
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
22/26
Grantees still filing
14/26
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ACLU California Action: $10,152,757 · Civil RightsACLU California Action+5 more: $178,249 · Civil RightsAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION INC: $5,000,000 · OtherAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION INCOPPORTUNITY FOR ALL COALITION: $750,000 · OtherOPPORTUNITY FOR ALL COALITIONAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $442,262 · OtherAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTHERN CALIF…+15 more: $1,736,956 · Other+15 moreCALIFORNIA CALLS ACTION FUND: $95,000 · Human ServicesAffect Real Change Inc: $31,400 · Human ServicesCOMMUNITIES UNITED FOR RESTORATIVE YOUTH JUSTICE DBA CURYJ: $21,000 · Human ServicesFAITH IN ACTION NETWORK: $60,000 · Community ImprovementMOVEMENT STRATEGY CENTER: $10,000 · Community ImprovementYOUTH JUSTICE COALITION INC: $54,800 · Youth DevelopmentMapLight: $10,000 · Public BenefitSOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $6,400 · Education
Civil Rights$10,331,006Other$7,929,218Human Services$147,400Community Improvement$70,000Youth Development$54,800Public Benefit$10,000Education$6,400

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetACLU California Action: $10,152,757 over 5y, 77% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION INC: $5,000,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $442,262 over 3y, 6.8% of budgetEquality California Issues PAC: $235,000 over 2y, 3.9% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SAN DIEGO & IMPERIAL COUNTIES INC: $150,000 over 1y, 9.4% of budgetTIDES ADVOCACY: $119,900 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetMOVEMENT STRATEGY CENTER ACTION FUND: $105,000 over 1y, 46% of budgetOakland Fair Elections: $100,000 over 1y, 27% of budgetCALIFORNIA CALLS ACTION FUND: $95,000 over 1y, 5.6% of budgetYOUTH JUSTICE COALITION INC: $54,800 over 2y, 1.7% of budgetAffect Real Change Inc: $31,400 over 2y, 0.8% of budgetSCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES FIRST: $25,000 over 1y, 35% of budgetCOMMUNITIES UNITED FOR RESTORATIVE YOUTH JUSTICE DBA CURYJ: $21,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetLOVE NOT BLOOD CAMPAIGN: $21,000 over 1y, 2.4% of budgetACLU FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $17,249 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMapLight: $10,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetUNITED WE DREAM NETWORK INC: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMOVEMENT STRATEGY CENTER: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOCIAL GOOD FUND INC: $6,400 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

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.

The San Francisco Fou…Open Society Action F…East Bay Community Fo…Silicon Valley Commun…Tides FoundationLiberty Hill Foundati…Sixteen Thirty FundNEO Philanthropy IncCalifornia Community …National Philanthropi…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …
The San Francisco FoundationCA19.5× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The San Francisco Foundation · Open Society Action Fund Inc · East Bay Community Foundation · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Tides Foundation · Liberty Hill Foundation · Sixteen Thirty Fund · NEO Philanthropy Inc · California Community Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund

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 American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
    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 32 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 American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California’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