Skip to content
Democracy Works at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Private foundation

Democracy Works

Its FY2025 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$535
Granted FY2022
5
Grants FY2022
3
States reached
$200
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 2022.

Public Benefit$5kCivil Rights$3kEducation$3kReligion$2kEnvironment$961International$600Housing & Shelter$454Arts & Culture$372Other$0
02FY2022 · 5 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$100
Median grant
3
States reached
$7k
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Sightline Institute$200
Valley and Mountain Fellowship$150
Am for Financial Reform Educa Fund$100
JUUstice Washington$50
UU Humanists Association$35
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 (FY20–21, $500) land where the poverty rate runs at 9%, against an area that typically sits at 8%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 8%Backbone Campaign: $250 → 9%Real Change: $150 → 9%Real Change: $100 → 9%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
IL
NY
MA
OR
OH
PA
RI
CA
DC
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.

65%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$10k · 10 repeat orgs$6k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +94% since the first grant, against +5% for those funded once.

10 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2022, 7 since wound down; 2 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

10
24

Total granted

$10k
$5k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+94%
+5%

Still filing today

30%
46%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2022, 75% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $135 went to new ones.

50%100%’20’21’22
RenewedFirst-time

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

’20’21’22
EnvironmentArts & CultureHuman ServicesFood & NutritionInternationalCommunity ImprovementOther
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

  • VA
    Valley and Mountain Fellowship
    2× · 2020–2022 · $3k
  • SU
    Saltwater UU Church
    2× · 2020–2021 · $2k
  • JW
    JUUSTICE WASHINGTON
    3× · 2020–2022 · $2k

Funded once

  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2021 · $2k
  • LI
    LOW INCOME HOUSING INSTITUTEgraduated
    one grant, 2020 · $354 · revenue +241%
  • IG
    Individual grant recipient
    one grant, 2020 · $257
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
Clean Energy Transition Institute

The Clean Energy Transition Institute (CETI) is an independent, nonpartisan research and analysis nonprofit whose mission is to accelerate an equitable clean energy transition in the Northwest.

Education
2
CarbonPlan

Improving the transparency and scientific integrity of climate solutions through open data and tools.

Environment
3
Partnership for Policy Integrity

Partnership for Policy Integrity (PFPI) uses data-driven advocacy and litigation to fight for forests, communities and the climate.

Environment
4
Environmental Investigation Agency

To establish and promote programs to protect the global climate, forests, wildlife and the natural environment, through research, advocacy, and investigation.

International
5
Institute for Social and Environmental Transition- International

ISET-International catalyzes transformative changes toward a more resilient and equitable future. Through research, training and implementation activities, we improve understanding and elevate the level of dialog and practice as society…

Environment
6
Institute for Energy Research

The institute for energy research (ier) is a not-for-profit organization that conducts intensive research and analysis on the functions, operations, and government regulation of global energy markets. ier maintains that freely functioning…

Environment
7
Grist Magazine Inc

Grist is an independent, non profit media organization dedicated to reporting on climate change.

Environment
8
The Urbanist

Seattle-based online publication seeking to examine and influence urban policies.

Community Improvement
9
Stockholm Environment Institute Us Inc

The center conducts research and engages with decision-makers and civil society on energy, water, and climate policy as well as on broader dimensions of development, sustainability, and equity. it builds capacity through training and…

Science & Tech
10
Rogue Climate

Rogue Climate's mission is to empower Southern Oregon communities most impacted by climate change including low-income, rural, youth, seniors & communities of color, to win climate justice by organizing for clean energy, sustainable jobs &…

Education
11
Invest in Washington Now Campaign

Advocate for tax policy in Washington State

—
12
Equitable Food Initiative

EFIs mission is to transform the produce industry and the lives of farmworkers by facilitating collaboration among workers, agricultural employers, retail buyers and consumer advocates.

Human Services
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Sightline Institute; the most unlike its peers is The Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum. 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

15 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. 15 of the 37 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.

0
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
4
Early backer (in before they grew)
15/15
Grantees still filing
9/15
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Valley and Mountain Fellowship: $2,900 · OtherValley and Mountain FellowshipSaltwater UU Church: $2,355 · OtherSaltwater UU ChurchIndividual grant recipient: $1,950 · OtherIndividual grant recipientJUUSTICE WASHINGTON: $1,525 · OtherJUUSTICE WASHINGTONUU Multiracial Unity Action Council: $1,165 · OtherUU Multiracial Unity Action CouncilAfghan Women's Fund: $1,000 · OtherAfghan Women's Fund+19 more: $2,979 · Other+19 moreREED INSTITUTE: $800 · EducationWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $50 · EducationSightline Institute: $500 · EnvironmentMETAFOUNDATION DBA POST CARBON INSTITUTE: $211 · EnvironmentSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $100 · EnvironmentREAL CHANGE HOMELESS EMPOWERMENT PROJECT: $250 · Human ServicesBackbone Campaign: $250 · Human ServicesSOUTH SEATTLE EMERALD: $322 · Arts & CultureTHE TOMAQUAG INDIAN MEMORIAL MUSEUM: $50 · Arts & CultureSECOND HARVEST FOODBANK OF NORTH CENTRAL OHIO: $155 · Food & NutritionINSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES: $100 · InternationalEconomic Opportunity Institute: $100 · Community Improvement
Other$13,874Education$850Environment$811Human Services$500Arts & Culture$372Food & Nutrition$155International$100Community Improvement$100

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 budgetREED INSTITUTE: $800 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetSightline Institute: $500 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetLOW INCOME HOUSING INSTITUTE: $354 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSOUTH SEATTLE EMERALD: $322 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetREAL CHANGE HOMELESS EMPOWERMENT PROJECT: $250 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetBackbone Campaign: $250 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMETAFOUNDATION DBA POST CARBON INSTITUTE: $211 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSECOND HARVEST FOODBANK OF NORTH CENTRAL OHIO: $155 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCLIMATE SOLUTIONS: $150 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetSIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetHOMESIGHT: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEconomic Opportunity Institute: $100 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetWIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC: $50 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.

  • Who funds REED INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds Sightline Institute ↗
  • Who funds LOW INCOME HOUSING INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds SOUTH SEATTLE EMERALD ↗
  • Who funds REAL CHANGE HOMELESS EMPOWERMENT PROJECT ↗
  • Who funds Backbone Campaign ↗
  • Who funds METAFOUNDATION DBA POST CARBON INSTITUTE ↗
  • Who funds SECOND HARVEST FOODBANK OF NORTH CENTRAL OHIO ↗
  • Who funds CLIMATE SOLUTIONS ↗
  • Who funds INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES ↗
  • Who funds SIERRA CLUB FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds HOMESIGHT ↗
  • Who funds Economic Opportunity Institute ↗
  • Who funds THE TOMAQUAG INDIAN MEMORIAL MUSEUM ↗
  • Who funds WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION INC ↗

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.

Seattle FoundationReal Progress Foundat…The Bullitt FoundationMedina FoundationGates FoundationThe Oregon Community …ImpactassetsincTides FoundationMightycause Charitabl…Ge Aerospace Foundati…American Endowment Fo…Morgan Stanley Global…
Seattle FoundationWA24× affinity10 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Seattle Foundation · Real Progress Foundation · The Bullitt Foundation · Medina Foundation · Gates Foundation · The Oregon Community Foundation · Impactassetsinc · Tides Foundation · Mightycause Charitable Foundation · Ge Aerospace Foundation · American Endowment Foundation · Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust 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 Democracy Works funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Democracy Works. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%0%1%3%5%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Reed Institute: 1% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–75%
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 Democracy Works?

Find your warmest path to Democracy Works 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 37 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-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record but names no grant recipient in the published copy, so the figures above are from FY2022, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Democracy Works’ 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