Skip to content
Children's Defense Fund at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Children's Defense Fund

CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND envisions a nation where marginalized children flourish, leaders prioritize their well-being, and communities wield the power to ensure they thrive.

$7.1M
Granted FY2024still arriving
34
Grants FY2024still arriving
18
States reached
$1.4M
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 2024.

Public Benefit$4.4MEducation$3.6MHuman Services$2.2MCrime & Legal$1.9MCivil Rights$1.6MInternational$1.4MArts & Culture$701kCommunity Improvement$484kOther$0
02FY2024 · 34 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • Under $10k6 grants · $43k
  • $10k–50k12 grants · $284k
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $868k
  • $250k+7 grants · $5.9M
$40,000
Median grant
18
States reached
$40M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES INSTITUTE$1,414,666
SAVE THE CHILDREN FEDERATION INC$1,044,666
UNIDOSUS$1,020,000
START EARLY$648,000
THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL POLICY$583,333
CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL POLICY$583,333
THE JAMES B HUNT INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND POLICY FOUNDATIO$556,666
ARTS FOR HEALING AND JUSTICE$125,949
TEXANS CARE FOR CHILDREN INC$114,500
THE CONNIE RICE INSTITUTE FOR URBAN PEACE$113,807
CLEAN AND HEALTHY NEW YORK$105,000
MISSISSIPPI CENTER FOR JUSTICE$100,000
EVERY TEXAN$94,500
YOUTH JUSTICE COALITION$94,040
THE ANTI-RECIDIVISM COALITION$70,199
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, $384k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 78% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Panhandle Community Services: $20k → 20%FOCUS HOPE: $95k → 21%KIDS WIN MISSOURI: $50k → 5%ADELANTE MUJERES: $25k → 8%FAYETTE COUNTY FAMILY RESOURCE NETWORK INC: $25k → 20%PANHANDLE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $20k → 20%East Texas Human Need Network: $20k → 12%ERIE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $25k → 14%EAST TEXAS HUMAN NEED NETWORK: $20k → 12%Eliza Bryant Village: $6k → 17%Park Avenue Youth and Family Services: $7k → 14%DIVISION OF INDIAN WORK: $8k → 11%Park Avenue Youth and Family Services: $5k → 14%Lutheran Social Service of MN: $15k → 14%LUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MN: $7k → 14%Why Can't We Make a Difference Foundation Inc: $6k → 14%SUCCESS IN CHALLENGES INC: $5k → 14%CHILD DEVELOPMENT CONSORTIUM OF LOS ANGELES INC: $25k → 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.

Which US states its grants reach

WA
MN
IL
MI
NY
OR
OH
CT
CA
MO
KY
WV
KS
TN
NC
SC
DC
MS
AL
GA
TX
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.

84%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$14M · 29 repeat orgs$2.8M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +41% since the first grant, against +10% for those funded once.

29 repeat relationships: 14 still active in FY2024, 15 since wound down; 19 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

29
44

Total granted

$14M
$2.4M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+41%
+10%

Still filing today

86%
64%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $466k went to new ones.

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

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

’17’20’21’22’23’24
Human ServicesEducationCrime & LegalCommunity ImprovementPhilanthropyArts & 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

  • Save The Children Federation Inc
    2× · 2023–2024 · $1.3M · revenue +0%
  • TA
    THE ANTI-RECIDIVISM COALITION
    5× · 2020–2024 · $678k · revenue +176%
  • AL
    ACADEMIAS LA PAZ
    5× · 2017–2023 · $675k · revenue +64%

Funded once

  • NY
    NEW YORKERS FOR CHILDREN INC
    one grant, 2022 · $1.3M · revenue +8% · 50% of their budget
  • MP
    MINNEAPOLIS PUBLIC SCHOOL
    one grant, 2017 · $155k
  • F
    FOCUSHOPEgraduated
    one grant, 2017 · $95k · revenue +51%
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
Child Welfare League of America

Child welfare league of america engages its network of public and private agencies and partners to advance policies, best practices, and collaborative strategies that result in better outcomes for vulnerable children, youth, and families.

Human Services
2
Colorado Center On Law and Policy

Colorado center on law and policy is an antipoverty organization advancing the rights of every coloradan.

Crime & Legal
3
The Campbell Institute

Children's institute's mission is to leverage research, practice, policy, and advocacy to shift systems toward justice for families so that all of oregon's children, prenatal to grade 5, have access to opportunity.

Unclassified
4
CommonHealth Action

CommonHealth ACTION develops people and organizations to produce health through equitable policies, programs, and practices.

Health
5
Center for Law and Social Policy

Center for law and social policy (clasp) is a national, nonpartisan, anti-poverty nonprofit advancing policy solutions to improve the lives of people with low incomes. we develop practical yet visionary strategies for reducing poverty,…

Crime & Legal
6
Collaborative for Children

The mission of Collaborative for Children is to meaningfully improve the quality of early childhood education and care for Greater Houston's children through those most influential in their lives.

Human Services
7
Alternatives Inc

Alternatives, inc.'s mission is to facilitate personal development,strengthen family relationships and enhance the community's well being. serving over 3,000 youth and families annually, the organization offers a range of counseling and…

Health
8
Partnership for Public Service Inc

Making our government work better is a daunting task, and we are a small organization seeking to transform a government that employs millions of civilians and manages trillions of dollars in taxpayer revenue needed to protect public…

Employment
9
Utah's Promise

Utah's promise (up) is committed to 100% of kids and families thriving. we unify leaders, partners, communities and systems to achieve that promise.

Philanthropy
10
Children First Pa

Summary

Human Services
11
Foundations for a Better Oregon

Foundations for a better oregon advances oregon's commitment to supporting every child to learn, grow, and thrive. we build bridges between community, policymakers, and philanthropy, setting a foundation for shared vision and collective…

Education
12
Mid-City Community Advocacy Network

Mid-city community advocacy network works to build a safe, productive, and healthy community for the residents of city heights and greater san diego through collaboration, advocacy, and organizing.

Community Improvement
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Center for the Study of Social Policy; the most unlike its peers is Success in Challenges 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

67 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 67 of the 93 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)
19
Early backer (in before they grew)
65/67
Grantees still filing
42/67
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES INSTITUTE INC: $2,164,666 · EducationNATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES IN…JAMES B HUNT JR INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP & POLICY FDN: $856,666 · EducationJAMES B HUNT JR INSTITUTE FO…ACADEMIAS LA PAZ: $675,385 · EducationACADEMIAS LA PAZFRIENDSHIP ACADEMY OF THE ARTS: $565,633 · EducationFRIENDSHIP ACADEMY OF THE AR…+7 more: $121,467 · EducationNEW YORKERS FOR CHILDREN INC: $1,320,000 · Crime & LegalNEW YORKERS FOR CHILD…THE ANTI-RECIDIVISM COALITION: $677,680 · Crime & LegalTHE ANTI-RECIDIVISM C…Texans Care For Children Inc: $674,625 · Crime & LegalTexans Care For Child…THE CONNIE RICE INSTITUTE FOR URBAN PEACE: $440,145 · Crime & LegalTHE CONNIE RICE INSTI…BAMA KIDS INC: $113,400 · Crime & Legal+3 more: $117,000 · Crime & LegalUNIDOSUS: $1,320,000 · OtherUNIDOSUSSTART EARLY: $948,000 · OtherSTART EARLYVarious Hats Inc: $193,000 · OtherCLEAN AND HEALTHY NEW YORK: $363,834 · OtherCLEAN AND HEALTHY NEW YORKCHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND: $269,984 · OtherCHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND+62 more: $1,775,329 · Other+62 moreCENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL POLICY: $1,488,166 · Public BenefitCENTER FOR THE…Center for Public Policy Priorities: $670,875 · Public BenefitCenter for Pub…Save The Children Federation Inc: $1,344,666 · InternationalYOUTH JUSTICE COALITION INC: $614,401 · Youth DevelopmentARTS FOR HEALING AND JUSTICE NETWORK: $410,909 · Arts & CultureSCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA: $97,556 · Arts & Culture+1 more: $5,988 · Arts & Culture
Education$4,383,817Crime & Legal$3,342,850Other$4,870,147Public Benefit$2,159,041International$1,344,666Youth Development$614,401Arts & Culture$514,453

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 budgetNATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES INSTITUTE INC: $2,164,666 over 2y, 6.7% of budgetCENTER FOR THE STUDY OF SOCIAL POLICY: $1,488,166 over 3y, 14% of budgetSave The Children Federation Inc: $1,344,666 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetUNIDOSUS: $1,320,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetNEW YORKERS FOR CHILDREN INC: $1,320,000 over 1y, 50% of budgetSTART EARLY: $948,000 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetJAMES B HUNT JR INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP & POLICY FDN: $856,666 over 2y, 6.0% of budgetTHE ANTI-RECIDIVISM COALITION: $677,680 over 5y, 1.5% of budgetACADEMIAS LA PAZ: $675,385 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetTexans Care For Children Inc: $674,625 over 6y, 15% of budgetCenter for Public Policy Priorities: $670,875 over 6y, 4.6% of budgetYOUTH JUSTICE COALITION INC: $614,401 over 5y, 8.0% of budgetFRIENDSHIP ACADEMY OF THE ARTS: $565,633 over 5y, 4.7% of budgetTHE CONNIE RICE INSTITUTE FOR URBAN PEACE: $440,145 over 3y, 12% of budgetARTS FOR HEALING AND JUSTICE NETWORK: $410,909 over 5y, 6.2% of budgetCLEAN AND HEALTHY NEW YORK: $363,834 over 4y, 31% of budgetCHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND: $269,984 over 2y, 1.2% of budgetCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: $160,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetBAMA KIDS INC: $113,400 over 2y, 35% of budgetPOLICY MATTERS OHIO: $110,000 over 2y, 4.0% of budgetMISSISSIPPI CENTER FOR JUSTICE: $100,000 over 1y, 2.5% of budgetSCIENCE MUSEUM OF MINNESOTA: $97,556 over 4y, 0.2% of budgetFOCUSHOPE: $94,701 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetSOUTHWEST GA PROJECT FOR COMMUNITY EDUCATION INC: $67,100 over 1y, 8.2% of budgetKIDS WIN MISSOURI: $50,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetPEOPLE UNITED FOR SUSTAINABLE HOUSING INC: $50,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetTEXAS IMPACT EDUCATION FUND: $43,000 over 2y, 8.4% of budgetUNITED WAY OF TARRANT COUNTY: $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetEAST TEXAS HUMAN NEEDS NETWORK: $40,000 over 2y, 9.9% of budgetPANHANDLE COMMUNITY SERVICES: $40,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetMinnesota Council of Nonprofits Inc: $40,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetHOLA OHIO: $30,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetCOMMUNITY COALITION FOR SUBSTANCE ABUSE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT: $27,300 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetInnovation Ohio Education Fund: $25,400 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetTHE OAKLAND PUBLIC EDUCATION FUND: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFayette County Family Resource Network Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetChild Development Consortium of Los Angeles Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetADELANTE MUJERES: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetUNITED WAY OF GREATER KNOXVILLEINC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCHUCKANUT HEALTH FOUNDATION: $25,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetERIE NEIGHBORHOOD HOUSE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetLUTHERAN SOCIAL SERVICE OF MINNESOTA: $22,246 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCausewave Community Partners Inc: $20,000 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetPROJECT VIDA HEALTH CENTER: $20,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetFAITH IN PUBLIC LIFE INC: $20,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetGEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLA UNION DEL PUEBLO ENTERO: $20,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetOhio Womens Alliance: $19,285 over 1y, 4.6% 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.

New Venture FundUnidosusThe George Gund Found…Rockefeller Philanthr…Episcopal Health Foun…Community Catalyst IncThe Ford FoundationThe Cleveland Foundat…Windward FundOhio VoiceMt Sinai Health Care …Amalgamated Charitabl…
New Venture FundDC28.5× affinity17 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: New Venture Fund · Unidosus · The George Gund Foundation · Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc · Episcopal Health Foundation · Community Catalyst Inc · The Ford Foundation · The Cleveland Foundation · Windward Fund · Ohio Voice · Mt Sinai Health Care Foundation · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc

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 Children's Defense Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Children's Defense Fund. 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 31%
  • Adelante Mujeres: 31% of income from government
  • Save the Children Federation Inc: 30% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
25report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
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 93 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

Play a game based on Children's Defense’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