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Common Cause Education Fund at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

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 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, FY2024 to 2025.

Public Benefit$2.3MCivil Rights$251kHealth$130kCrime & Legal$110kHuman Services$88kEducation$80kArts & Culture$75kReligion$55kOther$0
02FY2025 · 89 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 89 grants below total $2,242,181, the rows itemized in this filing. The $2,470,489 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $228,308 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.

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
GREATER AUGUSTA'S INTERFAITH COALITION INC$30,000
TIDES CENTER$30,000
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 (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 its 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
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
MT
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
OH
PA
CT
CA
MD
NM
NC
DC
GA
TX
FL
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.

8%of every dollar goes to organizations it has 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
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

  • NC
    NORTH CAROLINA BLACK ALLIANCE INC
    2× · 2024–2025 · $75k · revenue 0%
  • YP
    YOUNG PEOPLES ALLIANCE EDUCATION FUND
    2× · 2024–2025 · $75k
  • 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%
  • TL
    The League of Women Voters of North Carolina Incgraduated
    one grant, 2024 · $50k · revenue +199% · 58% of their budget
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
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
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
4
North Carolina Voter Project

Amplify unrepresented voices in north carolina elections through voter education and registration.

Civil Rights
5
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
6
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
7
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…

—
8
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…

—
9
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…

—
10
North Carolina Information Innovation Fund Inc

The North Carolina Information Innovation Fund NCIIF will educate the residents of North Carolina on civic duty and election related matters, including the importance of voting in elections, national policies impacting North Carolina, how…

Public Benefit
11
Center for Participatory Change

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

Community Improvement
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Southern Vision Alliance; 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.
04the grantee network

85 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. 85 of the 107 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.

2
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
31
Early backer (in before they grew)
85/85
Grantees still filing
42/85
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

North Carolina For The People: $150,000 · Civil RightsNorth Carolina For The PeopleARAB AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOUNDATION: $75,000 · Civil RightsARAB AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOUNDAT…ASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE - AAJC INC: $75,000 · Civil RightsASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTI…YOUNG PEOPLES ALLIANCE EDUCATION FUND: $75,000 · Civil RightsYOUNG PEOPLES ALLIANCE EDUCATIO…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 · OtherA BETTER CHANCE A BETTER COMMUNITY: $40,000 · OtherACTION INSTITUTE NC: $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…Make The Road States Inc: $15,000 · Human ServicesMake The …BLACK POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT PROJECT: $15,000 · Human ServicesBLACK POL…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 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 budgetBLUEPRINT NORTH CAROLINA: $282,000 over 1y, 7.5% of budgetNorth Carolina For The People: $150,000 over 1y, 31% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA BLACK ALLIANCE INC: $75,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetASIAN AMERICANS ADVANCING JUSTICE - AAJC INC: $75,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetYOUNG PEOPLES ALLIANCE EDUCATION FUND: $75,000 over 2y, 11% 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 budgetThe League of Women Voters of North Carolina Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 58% of budgetYOU CAN VOTE: $50,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS FOUNDATION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLITTLE ROCK COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $50,000 over 2y, 8.6% of budgetDemocracy North Carolina: $50,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetDISABILITY RIGHTS NORTH CAROLINA: $50,000 over 1y, 0.7% 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 budgetMINKWON CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ACTION INC: $30,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetSTARTING OVER STRONG: $30,000 over 1y, 15% of budgetSOUTHEAST ASIAN MUTUAL ASSISTANCE ASSOCIATIONS COALITION INC: $28,681 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetTRANSFORMATIVE JUSTICE COALITION: $25,000 over 1y, 4.6% of budgetCasa Azul De Wilson: $25,000 over 1y, 5.0% of budgetCAROLINA ABORTION FUND: $25,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetVALORES INC: $25,000 over 1y, 16% of budgetCENTER FOR RACIAL EQUITY IN EDUCATION: $25,000 over 1y, 2.7% of budgetCASA INC: $24,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEconomic Justice Coalition Inc: $20,000 over 1y, 4.9% of budgetTHE ELIZABETH CITY STATE UNIV FOUNDATION: $20,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetOHIO VOICE: $15,600 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetUPPER SEVEN LAW: $15,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetNEW YORK IMMIGRATION COALITION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetAMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF NEW MEXICO FOUNDATION: $15,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetLEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF NEW YORK STATE EDUCATION FOUNDATION INC: $15,000 over 1y, 3.6% of budgetPASTORS UNITED COMMUNITY ADVOCACY INC: $15,000 over 1y, 2.0% of budgetARAB COMMUNITY CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND S: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetKinston Teens Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 1.6% of budgetWOMEN WATCH AFRIKA: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetThe University of North Carolina at Asheville Foundation Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCATAWBA COLLEGE: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLivingstone College: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetJOHNSON C SMITH UNIVERSITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDISABILITY RIGHTS WISCONSIN INC: $8,000 over 1y, 0.1% 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
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.

Blueprint North Carol…NEO Philanthropy IncAmalgamated Charitabl…Tides FoundationZ Smith Reynolds Foun…New Venture FundBvm Capacity Building…Windward FundProteus Fund IncCommon Counsel Founda…Southern Coalition fo…The Prentice Foundati…
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

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 Common Cause Education Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Common Cause Education Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 40%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 8%
  • Casa Inc: 8% of income from government
  • Connecticut Citizen Research Group Inc: 0% 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, 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 107 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

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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