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First Look Institute Inc at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

First Look Institute Inc

First Look Institute supports fearless investigative journalism, innovative and cinematic nonfiction filmmaking, and press freedom initiatives to protect the right to a free and open society and press.

$26M
Granted FY2023
4
Grants FY2023
2
States reached
$15M
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 2023.

Arts & Culture$25MCrime & Legal$2.6MRecreation & Sports$997kHuman Services$680kCivil Rights$472kEducation$281kPublic Benefit$133kEmployment$60kOther$0
02FY2023 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$9,372,941
Median grant
2
States reached
$1.8M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NewCoNews Inc$14,770,250
Field of Vision Inc$9,372,941
University of Maryland College Park Foundation$997,000
The Association of the Bar of the City Of NY Fund (dba The Vance Center)$957,000
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 (FY17–18, $680k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Freedom of the Press Found: $350k → 10%Freedom of The Press Foundation: $330k → 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

WA
MT
IL
NY
MA
OH
NJ
CA
VA
MD
AZ
DC
HI
AL
GA
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.

11%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$3.3M · 12 repeat orgs$27M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +125% since the first grant, against +45% for those funded once.

12 repeat relationships: 1 still active in FY2023, 11 since wound down; 3 grantees were first funded in FY2023 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

12
31

Total granted

$3.3M
$2.1M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+125%
+45%

Still filing today

83%
39%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2023, 4% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $25M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23
Arts & CultureCivil RightsEducationSocial ScienceHuman ServicesInternationalOther
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

  • AO
    ASSOCIATION OF THE BAR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK FUND INC
    4× · 2019–2023 · $1.1M · revenue +1%
  • FA
    FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION
    3× · 2017–2019 · $120k · revenue +164%
  • FIRELIGHT MEDIA INC
    3× · 2019–2021 · $105k · revenue +180%

Funded once

  • BD
    Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC
    one grant, 2018 · $1.2M
  • BD
    Baker Donelson
    one grant, 2017 · $204k
  • HR
    HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION INCgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $110k · revenue +73%
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
The Associated Press Foundation for Journalism Inc

The foundation's mission is to produce, support and promote high-quality journalism focused on underserved issue and focus areas in order to educate and inform the public and ensure widespread, ongoing public access to educational,…

Arts & Culture
2
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists Inc

International consortium of investigative journalists, inc.'s (icij) mission is to show people how the world really works through stories that rock the world; forcing positive change.

International
3
Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University Inc

The Knight First Amendment Institute defends the freedoms of speech and the press in the digital age through strategic litigation, research, public advocacy and public education. Our aim is to promote a system of free expression that is…

Education
4
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
5
Allbritton Journalism Institute

Allbritton journalism institute aims to train a new generation of non-partisan political reporters from diverse backgrounds to produce high-quality, fact-based journalism.

Education
6
Fund for Investigative Journalism Inc

The organization provides critical support to independent journalists to investigate news stories regarding corruption, malfeasance, exploitation, misappropriation of funds in the public and private sectors.

—
7
Institute for Nonprofit News

Fostering and promoting the highest quality investigative and public service journalism.

Education
8
America's Newspapers

Providing research, education and practical information all aimed at optimizing newspapers' business operations, deepening their community engagement and enhancing the quality of their journalism.

Employment
9
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
10
City Report Inc

CITY REPORT, INC. serves the people of New York through independent journalism that answers their information needs and holds the powerful to account.

Arts & Culture
11
The Marshall Project Inc

The marshall project is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization covering criminal justice.

Community Improvement
12
The Association of Foreign Press Corresp in the Usa (Afpc-Usa)

The assocn. of foreign press corrs. usa serves the community of international correspondents in the u.s. through educational programs, educational publications, and the production of educational content, as well as scholarships, excellence…

Education
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; the most unlike its peers is Committee to Protect Journalists 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

27 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. 27 of the 48 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)
6
Early backer (in before they grew)
27/27
Grantees still filing
17/27
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

THE INTERCEPT MEDIA INC: $14,770,250 · Arts & CultureTHE INTERCEPT MEDIA INCFIELD OF VISION INC: $9,372,941 · Arts & CultureFIELD OF VISION INC+5 more: $801,571 · Arts & CultureBaker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC: $1,150,890 · OtherBaker Donelson: $204,334 · OtherFIRST AMENDMENT COALITION: $120,000 · OtherNo Evil Eye Microcinema LLC: $75,000 · Other+23 more: $538,613 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK FOUNDATION INC: $997,000 · EducationNATIONAL PRESS PHOTOGRAPHERS FOUNDATION INC: $139,000 · EducationJOURNALISM DEVELOPMENT NETWORK INC: $100,000 · Education+1 more: $26,500 · EducationASSOCIATION OF THE BAR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK FUND INC: $1,145,000 · Social ScienceFREEDOM OF THE PRESS FOUNDATION: $680,000 · Human ServicesHUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION INC: $110,000 · Civil RightsFIRELIGHT MEDIA INC: $105,000 · Civil RightsTHE SIGNALS NETWORK INC: $105,000 · Civil RightsCOMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS INC: $72,000 · Civil Rights+3 more: $15,000 · Civil RightsAlliance for Global Justice Corp: $50,000 · International
Arts & Culture$24,944,762Other$2,088,837Education$1,262,500Social Science$1,145,000Human Services$680,000Civil Rights$407,000International$50,000

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 budgetTHE INTERCEPT MEDIA INC: $14,770,250 over 1y, 78% of budgetASSOCIATION OF THE BAR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK FUND INC: $1,145,000 over 4y, 9.5% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK FOUNDATION INC: $997,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetFREEDOM OF THE PRESS FOUNDATION: $680,000 over 2y, 11% of budgetTYPE MEDIA CENTER INC: $633,571 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL PRESS PHOTOGRAPHERS FOUNDATION INC: $139,000 over 3y, 32% of budgetFIRST AMENDMENT COALITION: $120,000 over 3y, 7.8% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATION INC: $110,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetFIRELIGHT MEDIA INC: $105,000 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetTHE SIGNALS NETWORK INC: $105,000 over 2y, 52% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC: $100,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetJOURNALISM DEVELOPMENT NETWORK INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.8% of budgetCOMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS INC: $72,000 over 5y, 0.2% of budgetTHE REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS: $67,500 over 3y, 1.0% of budgetAlliance for Global Justice Corp: $50,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetSisters in Cinema NFP: $30,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetSYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: $26,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFJC: $26,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetMAYSLES INSTITUTE INC: $25,000 over 1y, 4.8% of budgetBIG SKY FILM INSTITUTE: $13,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetThe Center for Investigative Reporting formrly Foundation for National Progress: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetNATIONAL PRESS PHOTOGRAPHERS ASSOCIATION INC: $10,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetNAACP LEGAL DEFENSE & EDUC FUND INC: $5,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetEQUAL JUSTICE INITIATIVE: $5,000 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 tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Foundation to Promote…John D and Catherine …The Ford FoundationChicken & Egg Films I…Perspective Media Ini…Park Foundation IncSilicon Valley Commun…Tides FoundationNational Philanthropi…Network for GoodVanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…
Foundation to Promote Open SocietyNY16.9× affinity6 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Foundation to Promote Open Society · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · The Ford Foundation · Chicken & Egg Films Inc · Perspective Media Initiatives Inc · Park Foundation Inc · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Tides Foundation · National Philanthropic Trust · Network for Good · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving 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 First Look Institute Inc funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from First Look Institute Inc. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 10%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%13%25%38%50%share of the org’s income from government →median 6%
  • The Center for Independent Documentary Inc: 6% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
4report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–50%
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 48 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 2023, released 2023. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2024) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2023, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on First Look Institute’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