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Internet Society at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Internet Society

To promote the open development, evolution, and use of the internet for the benefit of all people throughout the world.

$5.4M
Granted FY2024still arriving
19
Grants FY2024still arriving
—
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, FY2017 to 2024.

Science & Tech$5.3MEducation$2.3MInternational$1.3MCommunity Improvement$968kPublic Benefit$762kHuman Services$410kCivil Rights$330kArts & Culture$313kOther$0
02FY2024 · 19 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 19 grants below total $1,285,975, the rows itemized in this filing. The $5,361,734 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $4,075,759 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 · FY2024

  • Under $10k2 grants · $12k
  • $10k–50k10 grants · $230k
  • $50k–250k6 grants · $793k
  • $250k+1 grant · $250k
$26,000
Median grant
—
States reached
$68M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
NetHope Inc$250,000
Allied Media Projects Inc$240,662
Aspiration$192,768
IETF Trust LLC$150,000
UN Technical Cooperation Activities$100,000
Oxfam America$60,000
People Centered Internet Inc$50,000
USTTI$40,140
SFBAYISOC$28,039
Association for Progressive Comm$26,000
Association for Progressive Comm$25,000
Freedom House$25,000
Internet Society of Puerto Rico Chapter Inc$23,500
Equitable Origin Inc$19,500
Copia Institute$15,000
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 (FY20–23, $365k) land where the poverty rate runs at 15%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%PCs for People: $88k → 14%NYC MESH: $15k → 17%South Union Community Development Inc: $175k → 16%PCs for People: $88k → 14%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

NH
WA
MN
IL
MI
NY
OR
OH
PA
NJ
CA
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
NC
DC
HI
TX
FL

Grants abroad, by region: $3.7M on the FY2024 return

Schedule F, as filed: 9 regions, $3.6M to organizations and $79k to individuals. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.

Sub-Saharan Africa$1.5M · 40% · 48 grants · 7 people

Stated purpose: EMPOWR PPL · GROW INT · Empowering People to Take Action

Europe (including Iceland and Greenland)$674k · 18% · 20 grants · 7 people

Stated purpose: EMPOWR PPL · GROW INT · STRENGTHEN INT

South America$504k · 14% · 15 grants · 2 people

Stated purpose: EMPOWR PPL · GROW INT · Empowering People to Take Action

South Asia$209k · 6% · 8 grants · 2 people

Stated purpose: EMPOWR PPL · GROW INT · Empowering People to Take Action

Central America and the Caribbean$198k · 5% · 6 grants · 3 people

Stated purpose: EMPOWR PPL · Empowering People to Take Action

East Asia and the Pacific$168k · 5% · 7 grants · 16 people

Stated purpose: GROW INT · EMPOWR PPL · Empowering People to Take Action

North America (Canada and Mexico)$164k · 4% · 5 grants · 3 people

Stated purpose: EMPOWR PPL · GROW INT · Empowering People to Take Action

Russia and Neighboring States$147k · 4% · 4 grants

Stated purpose: EMPOWR PPL · GROW INT

Middle East and North Africa$134k · 4% · 5 grants

Stated purpose: EMPOWR PPL · GROW INT

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. Grants abroad on Schedule F are filed by region, purpose and amount with no recipient name, so they are shown by region and cannot be placed on the country map or matched to a grantee.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

71%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$8.3M · 32 repeat orgs$3.4M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +44% since the first grant, against +28% for those funded once.

32 repeat relationships: 11 still active in FY2024, 21 since wound down; 7 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

32
32

Total granted

$8.3M
$2.6M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+44%
+28%

Still filing today

69%
53%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 36% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $821k went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationScience & TechInternationalCommunity ImprovementHuman ServicesPublic 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

  • UNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOUNDATION
    4× · 2018–2022 · $1.5M · revenue +156%
  • IS
    INTERNET SECURITY RESEARCH GROUP
    5× · 2017–2021 · $775k · revenue +250%
  • UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION INC
    6× · 2018–2024 · $600k · revenue +2%

Funded once

  • TS
    THE SHADOWSERVER FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2020 · $400k · revenue +21%
  • MF
    MOZILLA FOUNDATIONgraduated
    one grant, 2018 · $250k · revenue +35%
  • CO
    City of Wilson
    one grant, 2021 · $180k
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
University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development

Internet2 promotes the missions of its members by providing both leading-edge network capabilities and unique partnership opportunities that together facilitate the development, deployment and use of revolutionary internet technologies.

Science & Tech
2
Internet Society Foundation

At the internet society foundation, we focus on funding initiatives that strengthen the internet in function and reach so that it can effectively serve all people. our work advances the vision of the internet society (isoc): the internet…

International
3
Global Network Initiative Inc

Protecting and advancing freedom of expression and privacy in information and communications technology (ict) sector.

International
4
Open Technology Fund

The open technology fund aims to advance internet freedom globally by supporting the research, development, implementation, and maintenance of technologies that provide secure and uncensored access to the internet.

Arts & Culture
5
Electronic Privacy Information Center

Epic's mission is to secure the fundamental right to privacy in the digital age for all people through advocacy, research, and litigation.

Civil Rights
6
The Internet Association

To protect and preserve the free, innovative and decentralized architecture of the internet that has enabled it to evolve into a powerful engine for economic growth, freedom and prosperity. by channeling the strengths, cultures and stories…

—
7
Corporation for National Research Initiatives

Scientific research in information processing; fostering dev. of nat'l inf. infra.

Science & Tech
8
Orcid Inc

Orcid provides an identifier for individuals to use with their name as they engage in research, scholarship, and innovation activities. we provide open tools that enable transparent and trustworthy connections between researchers, their…

Education
9
Brave New Software Project Inc

Brave New Software is dedicated to keeping the Internet open and decentralized. We build open source software tools that helps users access an uncensored internet, and create a more open and protected information infrastructure for us all.

Civil Rights
10
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
11
United States Telecom Association

See schedule oustelecom exists to ensure members can compete, grow and thrive to build a world where families, enterprises and communities are connected through the power of broadband.our member companies have committed a considerable…

—
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Access Now; the most unlike its peers is Ipnsig 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

49 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

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 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 49 of the 73 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)
14
Early backer (in before they grew)
46/49
Grantees still filing
33/49
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DIAMOND KEY SECURITY NFP: $2,521,000 · OtherDIAMOND KEY SECURITY NFPINTERNET SECURITY RESEARCH GROUP: $775,000 · OtherINTERNET SECURITY RESEARCH GROUPREGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGO: $220,000 · OtherALLIED MEDIA PROJECTS INC: $240,662 · Other+36 more: $2,537,879 · Other+36 moreUNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOUNDATION: $1,480,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOU…THE SHADOWSERVER FOUNDATION INC: $400,000 · EducationTHE SHADOWSERVER FOUNDAT…ASSOCIATION FOR PROGRESSIVE COMMUNICATIONS: $132,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $125,000 · Education+11 more: $388,951 · Education+11 moreIETF Trust: $609,197 · Science & TechIETF Trus…MOZILLA FOUNDATION: $250,000 · Science & TechMOZILLA F…CODE FOR SCIENCE & SOCIETY INC: $133,000 · Science & TechCODE FOR …+1 more: $8,466 · Science & TechUNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION INC: $600,000 · InternationalFREEDOM HOUSE: $150,000 · InternationalOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $60,000 · InternationalPeople-Centered Internet Inc: $50,000 · InternationalAspiration Aspirationtechorg: $192,768 · Community ImprovementFIFTH WARD COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $175,000 · Community ImprovementINSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF RELIANCE: $65,000 · Community Improvement+1 more: $5,040 · Community ImprovementPCS FOR PEOPLE: $175,000 · Human ServicesSOUTH UNION COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC SOUTH UNION CDC: $174,900 · Human ServicesTIDES CENTER: $35,000 · Human ServicesNYC MESH: $14,859 · Human Services+1 more: $10,000 · Human ServicesNETHOPE INC: $250,000 · Public Safety & Disaster
Other$6,294,541Education$2,525,951Science & Tech$1,000,663International$860,000Community Improvement$437,808Human Services$409,759Public Safety & Disaster$250,000

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 budgetUNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOUNDATION: $1,480,000 over 4y, 0.3% of budgetINTERNET SECURITY RESEARCH GROUP: $775,000 over 5y, 4.8% of budgetIETF Trust: $609,197 over 7y, 100% of budgetUNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION INC: $600,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE SHADOWSERVER FOUNDATION INC: $400,000 over 1y, 12% of budgetMOZILLA FOUNDATION: $250,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetNETHOPE INC: $250,000 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetALLIED MEDIA PROJECTS INC: $240,662 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetAspiration Aspirationtechorg: $192,768 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetFIFTH WARD COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT CORPORATION: $175,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetPCS FOR PEOPLE: $175,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetSOUTH UNION COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INC SOUTH UNION CDC: $174,900 over 1y, 54% of budgetFREEDOM HOUSE: $150,000 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetCODE FOR SCIENCE & SOCIETY INC: $133,000 over 2y, 1.9% of budgetASSOCIATION FOR PROGRESSIVE COMMUNICATIONS: $132,000 over 5y, 0.6% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE FOUNDATION INCORPORATED: $125,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetUS TELECOMMUNICATIONS TRAINING INSTITUTE INC: $120,140 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetCENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY: $90,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetWORLD WIDE WEB FOUNDATION: $75,168 over 4y, 0.9% of budgetARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION FOR A NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: $75,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR LOCAL SELF RELIANCE: $65,000 over 2y, 1.0% of budgetNANOG INC: $61,000 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $60,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetEQUITABLE ORIGIN INC: $59,494 over 2y, 4.2% of budgetVILLANOVA UNIVERSITY: $59,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc: $51,451 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetACCESS NOW: $50,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetPeople-Centered Internet Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 41% of budgetTHE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $40,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCommunity Learning Network: $37,500 over 2y, 8.0% of budgetTIDES CENTER: $35,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDYNAMIC COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS: $35,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetCREATIVE COMMONS CORPORATION: $30,000 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetGEORGE MASON UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION INC: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetPUBLIC KNOWLEDGE: $25,000 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetKIPAHULU OHANA INC: $20,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetMARCONI SOCIETY INC: $20,000 over 2y, 1.5% of budgetMural Company: $15,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetNYC MESH: $14,859 over 1y, 15% of budgetElon University: $14,000 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetCONNECT HUMANITY: $10,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINTERNET EDUCATION FOUNDATION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetARTHUR C CLARKE FOUNDATION OF THE UNITED STATES: $6,000 over 1y, 6.2% of budgetPEERINGDB: $5,040 over 1y, 2.4% 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.

Internet Society Foun…The Ford FoundationInternet Corporation …Mozilla FoundationJohn S and James L Kn…Democracy Fund IncOmidyar Network Fund …New Venture FundFoundation to Promote…Tides FoundationLuminate Foundation I…Craig Newmark Foundat…
Internet Society FoundationVA30.5× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Internet Society Foundation · The Ford Foundation · Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers · Mozilla Foundation · John S and James L Knight Foundation · Democracy Fund Inc · Omidyar Network Fund Inc · New Venture Fund · Foundation to Promote Open Society · Tides Foundation · Luminate Foundation Inc · Craig Newmark Foundation

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 Internet Society funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Internet Society. 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%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 1%
  • Code for Science & Society Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc: 1% of income from government
  • Oxfam-America Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
1get no government money at all
6report 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 73 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

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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