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Citizens for Self-Governance at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Citizens for Self-Governance

To provide communication, education, and training on matters related to self-governance.

$203k
Granted FY2024still arriving
1
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$200k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through 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, FY2020 to 2024.

Philanthropy$515kPublic Benefit$340kEducation$246kArts & Culture$119kCrime & Legal$40k
02FY2024 · 1 grant

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$200,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$2.4M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CONVENTION OF STATES ACTION$200,000
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 (FY20–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 22% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%PRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $20k → 14%TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION: $30k → 10%CONVENTION OF STATES ACTION: $200k → 16%AMERICAN FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $10k → 14%LANDMARK LEGAL FOUNDATION: $20k → 15%EMPOWER WISCONSIN FOUNDATION: $50k → 10%VANGUARD CHARITABLE TRUST: $515k → 7%MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: $80k → 6%TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION: $10k → 10%AMERICAN FIRST LEGAL FOUNDATION: $10k → 14%MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: $39k → 6%TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION: $10k → 10%1789 ALLIANCE: $216k → 10%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

WI
MI
RI
CA
MO
VA
DC
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.

26%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$189k · 3 repeat orgs$546k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +20% since the first grant, against -19% for those funded once.

3 repeat relationships: 0 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
5

Total granted

$189k
$346k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+20%
-19%

Still filing today

100%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 0% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $200k went to new ones.

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

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

’20’21’22’23’24
EducationCrime & LegalArts & CultureCommunity ImprovementPublic BenefitOther
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

  • MR
    MEDIA RESEARCH CENTER
    2× · 2022–2023 · $119k · revenue +20%
  • TP
    TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION
    3× · 2021–2023 · $50k · revenue +10%
  • AF
    America First Legal Foundation
    2× · 2021–2022 · $20k · revenue +401%

Funded once

  • 1A
    1789 ALLIANCEgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $216k · revenue +51% · 100% of their budget
  • EW
    Empower Wisconsin Foundation Inc
    one grant, 2021 · $50k · revenue -99% · 76% of their budget
  • CN
    CITIZENS NEWS GUILD INC
    one grant, 2022 · $40k · revenue -19%
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
Press Watch

To educate journalists and the public, and foster public debate, about improving political journalism to reflect public needs and hold the powerful accountable.

—
2
James Madison Center for Free Speech
—
3
Free Press

Free press was created to give people a voice in the crucial decisions that shape our media. we believe that positive social change, racial justice and meaningful engagement in public life require equitable access to technology, diverse…

Arts & Culture
4
American Civil Liberties Union Fund of the District of Columbia

Preservation of civil liberties through litigation and public education.

—
5
Federation for American Immigration Reform

The federation for american immigration reform's (fair) mission is to educate the public about the economic, sociological, environmental, demographic and other effects of mass immigration to the united states.

International
6
Freedom Fighters Foundation

Freedom Fighters Foundation is a non-profit civil liberties organization dedicated to the core principles of constitutionally limited government, conservative family values, free markets and individual liberty. Our mission is to advance…

Community Improvement
7
The Liberal Patriot Inc

The liberal patriot (tlp) is a digital newsletter focused on american politics and public policy. tlp aims to provide readers with honest analysis and original commentary to help advance a vital center perspective in american life.

Civil Rights
8
Open Markets Institute

The open markets institute works to help people relearn how to use competition policy to build stronger democracies, more just and equitable societies, more innovative and sustainable economies, and a more secure and peaceful world.

Education
9
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
10
Media Freedom Foundation

Public education on contemporary social issues and protection of the 1st amendment of the U.S. constitution.

Recreation & Sports
11
American Constitution Society for Law & Policy

The american constitution society for law and policy (acs) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan legal organization. through a diverse nationwide network of progressive lawyers, law students, judges, scholars, advocates, and many others,…

Education
12
American Civil Liberties Union of the District of Columbia

Preservation of civil liberties through advocacy and lobbying.

—
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Texas Public Policy Foundation; the most unlike its peers is Empower Wisconsin Foundation 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

11 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.

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

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
1
Early backer (in before they grew)
11/11
Grantees still filing
7/11
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

VANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAM: $515,000 · PhilanthropyVANGUARD CHARITABLE ENDOWMENT PROGRAMCONVENTION OF STATES ACTION: $200,000 · OtherCONVENTION OF STATES A…Empower Wisconsin Foundation Inc: $50,000 · OtherEmpower Wisconsin Foun…1789 ALLIANCE: $216,300 · Education1789 ALLIANCEPRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $20,000 · EducationPRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUN…HILLSDALE COLLEGE: $10,000 · EducationMEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: $118,659 · Arts & CultureMEDIA RESE…TEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION: $50,000 · Public BenefitCITIZENS NEWS GUILD INC: $40,000 · Community ImprovementLandmark Legal Foundation: $20,000 · Crime & LegalAmerica First Legal Foundation: $20,000 · Crime & Legal
Philanthropy$515,000Other$250,000Education$246,300Arts & Culture$118,659Public Benefit$50,000Community Improvement$40,000Crime & Legal$40,000

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

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budget1789 ALLIANCE: $216,300 over 1y, 100% of budgetCONVENTION OF STATES ACTION: $200,000 over 1y, 2.6% of budgetMEDIA RESEARCH CENTER: $118,659 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetEmpower Wisconsin Foundation Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 76% of budgetTEXAS PUBLIC POLICY FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetCITIZENS NEWS GUILD INC: $40,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetPRAGER UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLandmark Legal Foundation: $20,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAmerica First Legal Foundation: $20,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetHILLSDALE COLLEGE: $10,000 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 set of overlaps that mostly run through this funder rather than between each other.

Vanguard Charitable E…
Vanguard Charitable Endowment ProgramPA9.4× affinity4 shared granteesties to 0 of 0Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Citizens for Self-Governance funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Citizens for Self-Governance. 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%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.
    05Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to Citizens for Self-Governance?

    Find your warmest path to Citizens for Self-Governance 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 11 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 Citizens for Self-Governance’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