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American Energy Action at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

American Energy Action

AMERICAN ENERGY ACTION (aea) is organized to promote social welfare within the meaning of section 501(c)(4) of the internal revenue code, including but not limited to, educating the public and raising awareness of the issues affecting clean energy, advocating for policies necessary for the economic, social, and environmental benefits of…

$68k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$65k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through PlinthRead
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 2024.

Environment$1.1MPublic Benefit$615kCommunity Improvement$350kSocial Science$100kCivil Rights$10k
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 1 grants below total $65,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $67,500 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $2,500 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.
$65,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$11M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CENTER FOR VOTER INFORMATION$65,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%CLEAN ENERGY FOR AMERICA: $25k → 8%DOWN BALLOT CLIMATE ACTION FUND: $65k → 10%TEXAS IMPACT FOR ISSUE ADVOCACY: $10k → 10%AMERICAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION: $353k → 14%GOVERNMENT INTEGRITY FUND: $100k → 15%MAJORITY FORWARD: $300k → 14%SOLAR ENERGY INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION INC: $250k → 14%HOUSE MAJORITY FORWARD: $150k → 14%WIND ENERGY FOUNDATION: $150k → 14%STAND FOR AMERICA INC: $100k → 14%AMERICAN RENEWABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATION: $300k → 14%EMPOWER AMERICA PROJECT: $150k → 14%AMERICAN ACTION FORUM: $100k → 14%CENTER FOR VOTER INFORMATION: $65k → 14%SENATE OPPORTUNITY FUND: $100k → 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
Clean Future Action Fund Inc

To educate, lobby and advocate for policies that advance clean energy development and deployment.

Environment
2
Policy Action for a Clean Tomorrow Inc

Clean Tomorrow advances policies that reduce climate emissions by turning policy ambition into action. We work to catalyze rapid change that will accelerate the innovation and growth of clean energy.

Environment
3
Climate Equity Action Fund

The climate equity action fund (ceaf) works hand-in-hand with community-based partners in critical states across the country to secure and sustain policy wins for climate and clean energy. building on over a decade of trust with leading…

Environment
4
Clean Energy for America Education Fund

Clean Energy for America Action Fund (CE4AEF) is a network of clean energy business leaders, workers, and advocates advancing federal decarbonization policies to protect our environment. CE4AEF works to demonstrate the depth, breadth, and…

Environment
5
Working for America Policy Inc

To advance pro-growth, pro-worker and pro-american public policy through rigorous policy research, advocacy, and public awareness campaigns.

—
6
Clean Future Forum Inc

To research, develop, and educate the public and policymakers about the economic growth and emissions reduction benefits of clean energy.

Environment
7
Foreign Policy for America

Foreign Policy For America is a nonpartisan advocacy organization founded to strengthen support for principled American engagement in the world.

—
8
Energy Action Fund

Energy action fund advocates for a clean and equitable energy future to tackle the climate crisis.

Environment
9
United for Clean Power

United for Clean Power is focused on public policies that build a 21st century energy future.

Environment
10
American Advancement

Promote public policies aimed at removing barriers to economic growth and advancing economic opportunity for the American people.

—
11
Employ America

To promote macroeconomic policies that ensure the sustained advancement of labor market outcomes for all american workers, i.e. tight labor markets, higher wages and better quality employment.

Employment
12
Solar Energy Industries Association

Seia is the driving force behind solar energy and storage, building a stronger solar industry to power america through advocacy and education. representing organizations that promote, manufacture, install and support the development of…

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is American Action Forum Inc; the most unlike its peers is American Wind Energy Association. 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

12 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. 12 of the 13 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
0
Early backer (in before they grew)
8/12
Grantees still filing
5/12
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

AMERICAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION: $353,000 · OtherAMERICAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATIONGovernment Integrity Fund: $350,000 · OtherGovernment Integrity FundAMERICAN RENEWABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATION: $300,000 · OtherAMERICAN RENEWABLE ENERGY ASSOCIATIONMAJORITY FORWARD: $300,000 · OtherMAJORITY FORWARDWIND SOLAR ALLIANCE: $150,000 · OtherWIND SOLAR ALLIANCEEMPOWER AMERICA PROJECT: $150,000 · OtherEMPOWER AMERICA PROJECTTIDES ADVOCACY: $65,000 · Other+1 more: $10,000 · OtherSTAND FOR AMERICA INC: $200,000 · Community ImprovementSTAND FOR AMERICA…HOUSE MAJORITY FORWARD: $150,000 · Community ImprovementHOUSE MAJORITY FO…AMERICAN ACTION FORUM INC: $100,000 · Social ScienceCENTER FOR VOTER INFORMATION: $65,000 · Civil RightsClean Energy For America Inc: $25,000 · Environment
Other$1,678,000Community Improvement$350,000Social Science$100,000Civil Rights$65,000Environment$25,000

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 budgetAMERICAN WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION: $353,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetGovernment Integrity Fund: $350,000 over 2y, 2.1% of budgetSTAND FOR AMERICA INC: $200,000 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetWIND SOLAR ALLIANCE: $150,000 over 1y, 9.3% of budgetEMPOWER AMERICA PROJECT: $150,000 over 1y, 47% of budgetHOUSE MAJORITY FORWARD: $150,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetAMERICAN ACTION FORUM INC: $100,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetTIDES ADVOCACY: $65,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR VOTER INFORMATION: $65,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetClean Energy For America Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetTEXAS IMPACT: $10,000 over 1y, 2.5% 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.

How much its grantees rely on government

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

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%13%28%50%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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.
    04Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to American Energy Action?

    Find your warmest path to American Energy Action through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

    Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

    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 13 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 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

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    More from the funding graph

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    The regranting layer
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    $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