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Common Cause Education Fund

The COMMON CAUSE EDUCATION FUND employs research, outreach, educational programming, and coalition building to increase public understanding of how our democracy works, empower citizens to hold their government accountable, and promote broad and effective citizen engagement at federal, state, and local levels.

$2.5M
Granted FY2025still arriving
89
Grants FY2025still arriving
18
States reached
$250k
Largest
01What you fund
0175% classified

What you funded, over time

Every grant clustered by its grantee’s IRS cause code (NTEE), by year — across FY20242025.

Civil Rights$873kEducation$480kHuman Services$270kPublic Benefit$193kHealth$105kEnvironment$105kCrime & Legal$85kArts & Culture$65kCommunity Improvement$51kOther$961k
02FY2025 · 89 grants

Where the money goes

Your grants by size, and where they go.

The 89 grants below total $2,242,181 — the rows itemised in this filing. The $2,470,489 headline is the total grant expense reported on the return, so the remaining $228,308 is giving the schedule does not break out: grants under the $5,000 itemisation floor, grants to individuals, and grants reported on other schedules. Every figure below describes the itemised rows only.

By grant size · FY2025

  • Under $10k10 grants · $71k
  • $10k–50k69 grants · $1.3M
  • $50k–250k9 grants · $595k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$15,000
Median grant
18
States reached
$34M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
BLUEPRINT NORTH CAROLINA INC$250,000
WASHINGTON COUNCIL OF THE BLIND$100,000
ASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE INC$75,000
ARAB AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOUNDATION$75,000
FLORIDA RISING TOGETHER$65,000
INLAND EMPIRE UNITED EDUCATION FUND$60,000
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CALIFORNIA EDUCATION FUND$60,000
WE ARE DOWN HOME$57,500
MIGRANT EQUITY SOUTHEAST INC$52,500
DISABILITY RIGHTS NORTH CAROLINA$50,000
INITIATE JUSTICE$45,000
ACTION INSTITUTE NC$40,000
BLUEPRINT NORTH CAROLINA INC$32,000
CHINESE PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION$30,000
GREATER AUGUSTA'S INTERFAITH COALITION INC$30,000
02The need
03

Do your dollars go where the need is?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, then read against the area’s typical level.

show:

Your human-services grants (FY24–25, $245k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 12%. 69% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of your grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 12%BLACK POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT PROJECT: $15k → 11%TIDES CENTER: $30k → 10%MINKWON CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ACTION: $20k → 13%MAKE THE ROAD PA: $15k → 20%ACCESS: $10k → 21%WOMEN WATCH AFRIKA: $10k → 14%MIGRANT EQUITY SOUTHEAST INC: $53k → 16%SEAMAAC INC: $29k → 22%TIDES CENTER: $25k → 10%MINKWON CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ACTION: $10k → 13%PROMOTE THE VOTE: $23k → 22%CAROLINA FEDERATION FUND: $6k → 11%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount

Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty linein the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP; grantee ZIP can differ from where services are delivered.

Which US states your grants reach

WA
MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
OH
PA
CT
CA
MD
NM
NC
DC
GA
TX
FL

US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are actually delivered. Need from public data — U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA — shown as context about the area, never attributed to your giving.

03Your edge
repeat funding

Who you back again

Which organizations you funded more than once, and which you funded a single time. Each grantee is matched to its own filings.

8%of every dollar goes to organizations you’ve funded before.
$264k · 5 repeat orgs$2.8M to everyone else

5 repeat relationships — 5 still active in FY2025, 0 since wound down; 77 grantees were first funded in FY2025 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
22

Total granted

$264k
$797k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

0%
+0%

Still filing today

100%
73%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2025, 5% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $2.1M went to new ones.

50%100%’24’25
RenewedFirst-time

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

’24’25
Civil RightsHuman ServicesEducationPublic BenefitCommunity ImprovementCrime & LegalOther

First-time = a grantee’s first year in your filing window; renewed = funded in an earlier year too. As a portfolio matures the renewed share naturally climbs — once funded, an org stays “renewable” — so the signal is the years that buck it (a new-grantee intake wave). 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

  • YP
    YOUNG PEOPLES ALLIANCE EDUCATION FUND
    2× · 2024–2025 · $75k
  • NC
    NORTH CAROLINA BLACK ALLIANCE INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $75k · revenue 0%
  • LR
    LITTLE ROCK COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION
    2× · 2024–2025 · $50k · revenue 0%

Funded once

  • NC
    North Carolina For The People
    one grant, 2024 · $150k · 31% of their budget
  • PLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTH ATLANTIC INC
    one grant, 2024 · $50k · revenue +0%
  • NC
    NORTH CAROLINA NAACP STATE CONFERENCE
    one grant, 2024 · $50k

Repeat = funded in two or more distinct years; growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Your field

The map has a center of gravity: the average direction from the rest of the sector toward the organizations the foundation funds — the shape of its giving. Scoring every nonprofit along that direction surfaces the ones that look most like the portfolio. These are the closest matchesthat aren’t grantees — a resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Forward Justice Action Network

Forward Justice Action Network is a nonprofit with the purpose to engage in educational and advocacy activities to promote political and grassroots support for public policies that advance racial social and economic justice in North…

Human Services
2
Action Nc

Action nc is a community organization and citizen action group that organizes residents of low-wealth communities and constituencies - most of whom are people of color- to represent their own interests on issues of social and economic…

3
North Carolinians for Redistricting Reform

North Carolinians for Redistricting Reform (NC4RR) is a bipartisan nonprofit working to improve North Carolina's representative democracy through redistricting reform. NC4RR's objective is to help pass a state constitutional amendment in…

4
New Virginia Majority

New Virginia Majority is a grassroots organization that works with low income people in local communities through leadership development, trainings and workshops, issue education and advocacy.

Civil Rights
5
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…

6
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California Inc

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

7
Virginia New Majority Education Fund

New Virginia Majority Education Fund is a grassroots organization that engages low income people and people of color in local communities through leadership development, trainings and workshops, issue education through grassroots…

Education
8
Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Southern coalition for social justice partners with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities across the south to defend and advance their political, social, and economic rights. through an intersectional and…

Crime & Legal
9
Center for Participatory Change

Igniting collective power. Transforming systems of oppression. Healing in community.

Community Improvement
10
North Carolina Latino Power

The mission of NC Latino Power is to build and expand political and civic participation among Latino citizens of North Carolina through leadership training, voter education, and organizing within faith and community institutions.

Education
11
North Carolina Equal Access to Justice Foundation Inc

In collaboration with the legal community, NCEAJF empowers North Carolinians to navigate the civil justice system.

Crime & Legal
12
Nh Center for Justice & Equity

We elevate and empower people of color in New Hampshire by fostering connections, changing systems, and meeting community needs to make a better Granite State where all belong.

Civil Rights

For reference, the grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Southern Vision Alliance and the most unlike its peers is Sowega Rising. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.

For each theme you fund, this compares how the sector’s money is shifting with how your own giving is shifting.

← shrinkinggrowing →↓ leaning in → pulling backsteadyDevelopmental Disabilities …Asian American Advocacy & H…Lgbtq+ Community CentersNative Hawaiian Community D…Muslim Community Organizati…Youth Development CentersFaith-Based Liberal Arts Co…Public University Foundatio…Legal Aid & Immigration Ser…Environmental Advocacy Orga…Pregnancy Support ServicesGovernment Accountability R…
the sector your giving your giving is ahead of the sector the sector’s ahead of you· dot size = how much the theme matters to each side
Ordered by the change in your giving — leaning in on top, pulling back at the bottom. The bar between the two dots is how out of step you are with the sector. Hover any row for detail.

Sector change and giving change are each shown relative to their own range, growing (right) or shrinking (left); both normalized, so inflation isn’t mistaken for growth.

Your grantees are a median of 13 years old; the field is 12. You back the established end — and your money leans older still.

THE FIELDby orgYOUR GRANTEESby number26%17%<5yr16%27%5–10yr20%11%10–20yr14%11%20–35yr12%24%35–55yr12%10%55yr+
THE FIELDby orgYOUR MONEYby value26%22%<5yr16%23%5–10yr20%11%10–20yr14%11%20–35yr12%26%35–55yr12%7%55yr+

The field is 26% startups (under 5 years old) — 17% of your grantees by number, and just 22% of your money.

Closures · last 5 years

The orgs you fund almost never close 3% lost their exemption, against 15% of the field you don’t fund.

orgs you fund
3%3/107
the rest of the field
15%
7,957/53,073

Age = years since IRS exemption (a founding proxy). “Closed” = auto-revocation for 3 years of non-filing — a floor on closure, not proof, and bigger established orgs lapse least. Association, not causation.

04the grantee network

85 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.

Each one resolved to its own IRS returns and tracked year by year — your grant beside their revenue from every source. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

Counted here: distinct organizations you funded across 20172025, not grant rows in a single year — so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 85 of the 107 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile; the rest are funded organizations whose filings we could not track year by year.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
35
Early backer (in before they grew)
85/85
Grantees still filing
47/85
Grew since you first funded

Where your money sits — by cause, then by grantee

North Carolina For The People — $150,000 · Civil RightsNorth Carolina For The PeopleYOUNG PEOPLES ALLIANCE EDUCATION FUND — $75,000 · Civil RightsYOUNG PEOPLES ALLIANCE EDUCATIO…ASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE - AAJC INC — $75,000 · Civil RightsASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTI…ARAB AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOUNDATION — $75,000 · Civil RightsARAB AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOUNDAT…FLORIDA RISING TOGETHER INC — $65,000 · Civil RightsFLORIDA RISING TOGETHER INCLEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CALIFORNIA EDUCATION FUND — $60,000 · Civil RightsLEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CALIF…YOU CAN VOTE — $50,000 · Civil RightsYOU CAN VOTEN C A PHILIP RANDOLPH INSTITUTE INC — $50,000 · Civil RightsN C A PHILIP RANDOLPH INSTITUTE…Democracy North Carolina — $50,000 · Civil RightsDemocracy North CarolinaNC BUDGET & TAX CENTER — $32,500 · Civil RightsCENTER FOR EMPOWERED POLITICS EDUCATION FUND — $32,000 · Civil RightsSTARTING OVER STRONG — $30,000 · Civil Rights+7 more — $128,500 · Civil Rights+7 moreWASHINGTON COUNCIL OF THE BLIND — $100,000 · OtherWASHINGTON COUNCIL OF THE BLINDNORTH CAROLINA NAACP STATE CONFERENCE — $50,000 · OtherNATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE — $50,000 · OtherDISABILITY RIGHTS NORTH CAROLINA — $50,000 · OtherACTION INSTITUTE NC — $40,000 · OtherA BETTER CHANCE A BETTER COMMUNITY — $40,000 · OtherINITIATE JUSTICE — $45,000 · OtherLITTLE ROCK COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION — $50,000 · Other+48 more — $736,600 · Other+48 moreBLUEPRINT NORTH CAROLINA — $282,000 · EducationBLUEPRINT NORTH C…NORTH CAROLINA BLACK ALLIANCE INC — $75,000 · EducationNORTH CAROLINA BL…WE ARE DOWN HOME — $57,500 · EducationWE ARE DOWN HOMECENTER FOR RACIAL EQUITY IN EDUCATION — $25,000 · Education+4 more — $40,000 · Education+4 moreTIDES CENTER — $55,000 · Human ServicesTIDES CEN…Migrant Equity Southeast Inc — $52,500 · Human ServicesMigrant E…MINKWON CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ACTION INC — $30,000 · Human ServicesMINKWON C…SOUTHEAST ASIAN MUTUAL ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATIONS COALITION INC — $28,681 · Human ServicesSOUTHEAST…Casa Azul De Wilson — $25,000 · Human ServicesCasa Azul…PROMOTE THE VOTE PA — $23,000 · Human ServicesPROMOTE T…BLACK POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT PROJECT — $15,000 · Human ServicesBLACK POL…Make The Road States Inc — $15,000 · Human ServicesMake The …ARAB COMMUNITY CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND S — $10,000 · Human ServicesWOMEN WATCH AFRIKA — $10,000 · Human Services+1 more — $6,000 · Human ServicesINLAND EMPIRE UNITED EDUCATION FUND — $60,000 · Public BenefitThe League of Women Voters of North Carolina Inc — $50,000 · Public BenefitNEO Philanthropy Inc — $31,000 · Public BenefitOHIO VOICE — $15,600 · Public BenefitStep Up Maryland Incorporated — $15,000 · Public BenefitGround Game Fund — $11,000 · Public BenefitSOUTHERN VISION ALLIANCE — $10,000 · Public BenefitPLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTH ATLANTIC INC — $50,000 · HealthCHINESE PROGRESSIVE ASSOCIATION — $30,000 · HealthCAROLINA ABORTION FUND — $25,000 · HealthNORTH CAROLINA LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS FOUNDATION — $50,000 · EnvironmentCommunity Water Center — $30,000 · EnvironmentCONNECTICUT CITIZEN RESEARCH GROUP INC — $25,000 · Environment
Civil Rights$873,000Other$1,161,600Education$479,500Human Services$270,181Public Benefit$192,600Health$105,000Environment$105,000

Each org by its size and your share of it — top-left is where you’re load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ your share of their budgetBLUEPRINT NORTH CAROLINA — $282,000 over 1y, 7.5% of budgetNorth Carolina For The People — $150,000 over 1y, 31% of budgetYOUNG PEOPLES ALLIANCE EDUCATION FUND — $75,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA BLACK ALLIANCE INC — $75,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetLEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CALIFORNIA EDUCATION FUND — $60,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetPLANNED PARENTHOOD SOUTH ATLANTIC INC — $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS FOUNDATION — $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetYOU CAN VOTE — $50,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetThe League of Women Voters of North Carolina Inc — $50,000 over 1y, 58% of budgetDemocracy North Carolina — $50,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetLITTLE ROCK COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION — $50,000 over 2y, 8.6% of budgetNC BUDGET & TAX CENTER — $32,500 over 2y, 0.5% of budgetCENTER FOR EMPOWERED POLITICS EDUCATION FUND — $32,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNEO Philanthropy Inc — $31,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSTARTING OVER STRONG — $30,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetMINKWON CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ACTION INC — $30,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetSOUTHEAST ASIAN MUTUAL ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATIONS COALITION INC — $28,681 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCENTER FOR RACIAL EQUITY IN EDUCATION — $25,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetCasa Azul De Wilson — $25,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetVALORES INC — $25,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetCAROLINA ABORTION FUND — $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetCASA INC — $24,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTHE ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIV FOUNDATION — $20,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetEconomic Justice Coalition Inc — $20,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetOHIO VOICE — $15,600 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATION — $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetNEW YORK IMMIGRATION COALITION INC — $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetLEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC — $15,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetUPPER SEVEN LAW — $15,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetPASTORS UNITED COMMUNITY ADVOCACY INC — $15,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetThe University of North Carolina at Asheville Foundation Inc — $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKinston Teens Inc — $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetJOHNSON C SMITH UNIVERSITY — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWOMEN WATCH AFRIKA — $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetCATAWBA COLLEGE — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLivingstone College — $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNEWTOWN FLORIST CLUB INC — $7,500 over 1y, 5.7% of budgetInspiring Minds of New York City Inc — $7,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE PROACTIVE PROJECT INC — $6,000 over 1y, 3.4% of budgetCAROLINA FEDERATION FUND — $6,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMICHIGAN DISABILITY RIGHTS COALITION — $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNonprofit Enterprise at Work Inc — $6,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budget
Go grantee by grantee — a decade per org, and how each moved after you funded them

A decade per grantee — revenue shaded, your grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

The grantmakers whose grantees overlap with yours far more than size alone predicts. Each orbits closer the stronger the alignment; the arcs between them show where they also fund each other. Here it reads as a tightly interlocked camp — most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Blueprint North CarolinaNC51.6× affinity23 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Blueprint North Carolina · NEO Philanthropy Inc · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Tides Foundation · Z Smith Reynolds Foundation Inc · New Venture Fund · Bvm Capacity Building Institute Inc · Windward Fund · Proteus Fund Inc · Common Counsel Foundation · Southern Coalition for Social Justice · The Prentice Foundation Inc

Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. A research starting point: overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

Government reliance of your grantees

Every dot is one organization Common Cause Education Fund funds. Left–right is the share of its income from government; up–down is the share from you. Bigger dots raise more. Filter to federal or a single department — and drag the year to watch it move.

2024
202122232425
no gov · 40%6%25%56%100%your share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from governmentmedian 8%
  • Casa Inc8% of income from government
  • Connecticut Citizen Research Group Inc0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
19report 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, FY2025

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 your grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first — a floor, not 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 12–24 months.

On method. Every financial figure here is read directly from IRS e-file XML — your own 990/990-PF and the multi-year returns of the 107 grantees we resolved across every year we hold, several hundred filings in all (a different count from the grant rows on the cover, which are one fiscal year)— each linked to its source. Grantee achievements and outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III); we read these as association with sustained funding — the foundation is one of several forces — suppress low-confidence name matches rather than guess, and say so where a figure rests on a single grant or filing. Not everything on this page is a filed figure, and the difference matters. Filed is what you reported on your 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. How we build these →

Generated from your IRS Form 990 e-file return for fiscal year 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

More from the funding graph