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American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California

See schedule o for detailsthe organization defends the civil liberties enshrined in the us constitution and the bill of rights through policy advocacy, media advocacy, and organizing.

$46k
Granted FY2025still arriving
3
Grants FY2025still arriving
1
States reached
$20k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its 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$1.9MPublic Benefit$75kCommunity Improvement$67kEducation$20kHealth$20kCrime & Legal$17kHuman Services$16kEmployment$9k
02FY2025 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$16,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$9.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
LA VOICE$20,000
CHARITABLE VENTURES OF ORANGE COUNTY$16,000
POST-CONVICTION ADVOCATES$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 (FY20–20, $16k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%TURNING POINT ALCOHOL & DRUG EDUCATION PROGRAM INC: $16k → 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 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
League of Women Voters of Los Angeles

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and…

—
2
American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California

See schedule o for detailsthe organization defends the civil liberties enshrined in the us constitution and the bill of rights through policy advocacy, media advocacy, and organizing. it fights to secure and protect the civil rights of all…

—
3
Cooperation L a

The L.A. Co-op Lab is a collective that builds capacity for worker ownership in Los Angeles as a pathway toward a more equitable and democratic economy.

Arts & Culture
4
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…

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5
Legal Link

Legal Link removes legal barriers that prolong poverty by adding critically needed capacity to the legal ecosystem.

Crime & Legal
6
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
7
Legal Aid Association of California

The Legal Aid Association of California, the statewide membership of legal services nonprofits, serves its members through advocacy and other support in efforts to provide legal assistance to low-income Californians and ensure access to…

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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
The Laborers Pacific Southwest Regional Organizing Coalition

to organize workers in the laborers international union of north America, afl-cio pacific southwest region through a coordinated program to maintain and improve employment opportunities for affiliated local union members and to recruit new…

Employment
10
California State Council of Service Employees

The council coordinated the efforts of affiliated local unions and assisted their organizations work, bettering the working conditions of their members.

—
11
Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area

As one of the most enduring civil rights institutions on the West Coast, we work to dismantle systems of oppression and racism, and build an equitable and just society.

—
12
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
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 Post-Conviction Advocates. 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

14 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. 14 of the 15 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
7
Early backer (in before they grew)
13/14
Grantees still filing
11/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ACLU FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $1,819,158 · Civil RightsACLU FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA+1 more: $20,000 · Civil RightsLA VOICE: $20,000 · Community ImprovementPeople Organized For Westside Renewal POWER: $20,000 · Community ImprovementCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $19,600 · Community ImprovementCHARITABLE VENTURES OF ORANGE COUNTY: $16,000 · Community ImprovementCANGRESS DBA LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK: $11,000 · Community ImprovementHOMEBOY INDUSTRIES: $55,000 · Youth DevelopmentAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SAN DIEGO & IMPERIAL COUNTIES INC: $30,000 · OtherDecrimSex Work CA: $8,757 · OtherNetwork on Women in Prison dba Legal Services for Prisoners w Children: $6,920 · OtherLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: $20,000 · EducationBLACK WOMEN FOR WELLNESS: $20,000 · HealthTURNING POINT ALCOHOL AND DRUG EDUCATION PROGRAM INC: $16,400 · Human ServicesPost-Conviction Advocates: $10,000 · Crime & Legal
Civil Rights$1,839,158Community Improvement$86,600Youth Development$55,000Other$45,677Education$20,000Health$20,000Human Services$16,400Crime & Legal$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetACLU FOUNDATION OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: $1,819,158 over 2y, 12% of budgetHOMEBOY INDUSTRIES: $55,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SAN DIEGO & IMPERIAL COUNTIES INC: $30,000 over 1y, 5.5% of budgetLOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPeople Organized For Westside Renewal POWER: $20,000 over 1y, 3.7% of budgetBLACK WOMEN FOR WELLNESS: $20,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $19,600 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetTURNING POINT ALCOHOL AND DRUG EDUCATION PROGRAM INC: $16,400 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetCANGRESS DBA LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK: $11,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetNetwork on Women in Prison dba Legal Services for Prisoners w Children: $6,920 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.

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.

California Community …Social Justice Partne…United Way IncThe California Endowm…Silicon Valley Commun…Morgan Stanley Global…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
California Community FoundationCA16.6× affinity6 shared granteesties to 7 of 7Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: California Community Foundation · Social Justice Partners Los Angeles · United Way Inc · The California Endowment · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%0%1%3%5%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
    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 · 0–40%
    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 15 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 Southern 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