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

· Public charity

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.

$20M
Granted FY2024still arriving
28
Grants FY2024still arriving
16
States reached
$7.0M
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, FY2018 to 2024.

Science & Tech$113MPublic Safety & Disaster$4.1MInternational$3.9MEducation$2.6MPublic Benefit$873kArts & Culture$597kCommunity Improvement$390kEnvironment$210kOther$0
02FY2024 · 28 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 28 grants below total $14,543,134, the rows itemized in this filing. The $19,603,464 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $5,060,330 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

  • $10k–50k1 grant · $44k
  • $50k–250k19 grants · $3.0M
  • $250k+8 grants · $11M
$184,000
Median grant
16
States reached
$90M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Internet Society$7,000,000
Global Cyber Alliance$1,500,000
Techsoup Global$1,041,358
University of California Berkeley$527,125
Code for Science and Society Inc$472,671
Techsoup Global$396,675
Center for Democracy and Technology$302,500
SubOptic Foundation$250,000
Mycelia Foundation$226,235
Atma Connect$200,000
Techsoup Global$200,000
Comp U Dopt$200,000
IEEE Communications Society$199,831
AZ Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University$184,000
Internet Security Research Group$177,500
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY18–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 8%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 33% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 10%People Centered Internet: $299k → 8%IETF ADMINISTRATION LLC: $8.3M → 10%ME2B ALLIANCE INC: $499k → 11%Global Cyber Alliance: $1.5M → 11%Syracuse University: $375k → 14%INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DISASTER RESOURCE CENTER: $240k → 11%Comp U Dopt: $200k → 16%Mycelia Foundation: $226k → 23%HELP NGO: $449k → 12%SubOptic Foundation: $250k → 15%ALLIED MEDIA PROJECTS INC: $241k → 21%Code for Science and Society Inc: $473k → 12%UNIVERSITY OF OREGON: $600k → 15%UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: $200k → 9%IEEE: $500k → 8%Internet Society: $7.0M → 15%DIGITAL HARBOR FOUNDATION: $235k → 19%People Centered Internet: $282k → 8%IETF ADMINISTRATION LLC: $5.0M → 10%Techsoup Global: $1.0M → 10%GLOBAL CYBER ALLIANCE: $1.5M → 11%Information Tech Disaster Resource Center: $240k → 11%SUBOPTIC FOUNDATION: $250k → 15%Code for Science and Society Inc: $350k → 12%PEOPLE CENTERED INTERNET INC: $249k → 8%University of California Berkeley: $527k → 10%TECHSOUP GLOBAL: $888k → 10%SUBOPTIC FOUNDATION: $200k → 15%CODE FOR SCIENCE AND SOCIETY INC: $317k → 12%ONESKY: $389k → 10%Techsoup Global: $545k → 10%CONNECTED GIVING FOUNDATION: $50.0M → 6%TECHSOUP GLOBAL: $400k → 10%UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO: $350k → 11%INTERNET SOCIETY: $12.7M → 6%Techsoup Global: $397k → 10%Center for Democracy and Technology: $303k → 14%CONNECTED GIVING FOUNDATION: $9.1M → 6%TECHSOUP GLOBAL: $353k → 10%CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY: $200k → 14%INTERNET SOCIETY US: $6.8M → 6%ATMA CONNECT: $200k → 10%Data & Society Research Institute: $520k → 17%Internet Society US: $1.3M → 6%INTERNET SOCIETY: $616k → 6%Internet Society US: $518k → 6%INTERNET SOCIETY: $451k → 6%AMREF HEALTH AFRICA INC: $248k → 17%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
MN
MI
NY
MA
OR
PA
NJ
CA
MO
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
SC
DC
GA
TX
FL

Grants abroad, by region: $4.9M on the FY2024 return

Schedule F, as filed: 7 regions, $4.7M to organizations and $274k to individuals. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.

Europe (including Iceland and Greenland)$1.5M · 30% · 12 grants · 7 people

Stated purpose: SCILLS · BOLT · Research

South America$1.3M · 26% · 7 grants · 3 people

Stated purpose: SCILLS · BOLT · RARE

Sub-Saharan Africa$1.2M · 25% · 12 grants · 27 people

Stated purpose: BOLT · RARE · Research

East Asia and the Pacific$448k · 9% · 4 grants · 1 person

Stated purpose: Research · SCILLS · Empowerment

South Asia$407k · 8% · 3 grants · 2 people

Stated purpose: RARE · BOLT · Empowerment

North America (Canada and Mexico)$77k · 2% · 1 grant · 2 people

Stated purpose: Research · Empowerment

Russia and Neighboring States$20k · 0% · 1 grant

Stated purpose: Research

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.

51%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$64M · 38 repeat orgs$61M to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +7% since the first grant, against +4% for those funded once.

38 repeat relationships: 18 still active in FY2024, 20 since wound down; 5 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

38
10

Total granted

$64M
$60M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+7%
+4%

Still filing today

87%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 93% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.0M went to new ones.

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

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

’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
InternationalEducationScience & TechPublic Safety & DisasterPublic BenefitCivil RightsOther
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

  • CF
    CODE FOR SCIENCE & SOCIETY INC
    3× · 2022–2024 · $1.1M · revenue +37%
  • UNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOUNDATION
    3× · 2021–2023 · $800k · revenue +113%
  • DS
    DATA & SOCIETY RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC
    3× · 2021–2023 · $700k · revenue +7%

Funded once

  • CG
    CONNECTED GIVING FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2023 · $59M · 99% of their budget
  • SYRACUSE UNIVERSITYgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $375k · revenue +30%
  • ALLIED MEDIA PROJECTS INC
    one grant, 2023 · $241k · revenue -15%
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
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
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
Technology Policy Institute
International
4
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
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
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
7
Center for Humane Technology

Center for Humane Technology is a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring that the most consequential technologies actually serve humanity. We bring clarity to how the tech ecosystem works in order to shift the incentives that drive it.

Science & Tech
8
Observer Research Foundation America

Organization mission the observer research foundation america orf america is an independent, non-partisan, and nonprofit organization in washington dc dedicated to addressing policy challenges facing the united states, india, and their…

International
9
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
10
Pew Research Center

Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan "fact tank" that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world. Pew Research Center generates a foundation of facts that enriches the public dialogue and…

Social Science
11
Electronic Frontier Foundation Inc

See Schedule OThe mission of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Inc. ("EFF") is to ensure that technology supports freedom, justice, and innovation for all people of the world.

—
12
Meedan Inc

To strengthen journalism, digital literacy and information accessible for global communities.

Science & Tech
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Code for Science & Society Inc; the most unlike its peers is Songjogfoundation. 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

45 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. 45 of the 54 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.

11
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
45/45
Grantees still filing
25/45
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

CONNECTED GIVING FOUNDATION: $59,111,963 · Science & TechCONNECTED GIVING FOUNDATION+3 more: $1,588,922 · Science & TechINTERNET SOCIETY: $29,462,926 · InternationalINTERNET SOCIETY+12 more: $3,331,584 · International+12 moreIETF ADMINISTRATION LLC: $13,250,000 · OtherIETF ADMINISTRATION…TECHSOUP GLOBAL: $3,973,976 · OtherTECHSOUP GLOBAL+18 more: $4,408,322 · Other+18 moreSUBOPTIC FOUNDATION: $850,000 · EducationUNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOUNDATION: $799,861 · EducationInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc: $699,405 · EducationDIGITAL HARBOR FOUNDATION: $624,179 · EducationSYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: $374,998 · EducationCOMP-U-DOPT INC: $350,000 · EducationTEACH FOR BANGLADESH: $149,970 · EducationFOUNDATION FOR LEARNING EQUALITY INC: $149,116 · Education+1 more: $137,066 · EducationGLOBAL CYBER ALLIANCE INC: $3,000,000 · Public Safety & DisasterNETHOPE INC: $558,469 · Public Safety & DisasterINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DISASTER RESOURCE CENTER INC: $480,000 · Public Safety & DisasterDATA & SOCIETY RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $699,926 · Public BenefitInternet Safety Labs: $681,741 · Public BenefitMYCELIA FOUNDATION: $370,436 · Public BenefitCENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY: $502,500 · Civil RightsThe Center for Media Justice DBA MediaJustice: $200,000 · Civil Rights
Science & Tech$60,700,885International$32,794,510Other$21,632,298Education$4,134,595Public Safety & Disaster$4,038,469Public Benefit$1,752,103Civil Rights$702,500

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$100k$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetCONNECTED GIVING FOUNDATION: $59,111,963 over 1y, 99% of budgetINTERNET SOCIETY: $29,462,926 over 6y, 24% of budgetTECHSOUP GLOBAL: $3,973,976 over 3y, 5.2% of budgetGLOBAL CYBER ALLIANCE INC: $3,000,000 over 2y, 31% of budgetCODE FOR SCIENCE & SOCIETY INC: $1,139,460 over 3y, 4.6% of budgetSUBOPTIC FOUNDATION: $850,000 over 2y, 76% of budgetPeople-Centered Internet Inc: $829,366 over 3y, 49% of budgetUNIVERSITY OF OREGON FOUNDATION: $799,861 over 3y, 0.3% of budgetDATA & SOCIETY RESEARCH INSTITUTE INC: $699,926 over 3y, 16% of budgetInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc: $699,405 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetInternet Safety Labs: $681,741 over 3y, 58% of budgetDIGITAL HARBOR FOUNDATION: $624,179 over 4y, 1.5% of budgetAtma Connect: $581,800 over 2y, 48% of budgetNETHOPE INC: $558,469 over 3y, 4.5% of budgetINTERNET SECURITY RESEARCH GROUP: $527,500 over 3y, 3.4% of budgetCENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY: $502,500 over 2y, 2.7% of budgetINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DISASTER RESOURCE CENTER INC: $480,000 over 2y, 15% of budgetOneSky: $432,147 over 2y, 5.8% of budgetSYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: $374,998 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMYCELIA FOUNDATION: $370,436 over 2y, 92% of budgetCOMP-U-DOPT INC: $350,000 over 2y, 0.6% of budgetMOZILLA FOUNDATION: $350,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetRHIZOMATICA COMMUNICATIONS: $348,934 over 2y, 32% of budgetAMREF HEALTH AFRICA INC INC (AMREF): $275,000 over 2y, 3.2% of budgetGEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION: $269,574 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetALLIED MEDIA PROJECTS INC: $240,662 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetEnvironmental Law Institute: $210,003 over 3y, 1.5% of budgetThe Center for Media Justice DBA MediaJustice: $200,000 over 2y, 2.8% of budgetCONNECT HUMANITY: $200,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetWORLD WIDE WEB FOUNDATION: $199,974 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetHIAS INC: $194,985 over 3y, 0.1% of budgetAspiration Aspirationtechorg: $190,068 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetFradkin Foundation for Economic Research: $150,550 over 2y, 100% of budgetBRAC USA INC: $149,979 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetTEACH FOR BANGLADESH: $149,970 over 3y, 13% of budgetSESAME WORKSHOP: $149,916 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetPHANDEEYAR FOUNDATION: $149,899 over 1y, 13% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR LEARNING EQUALITY INC: $149,116 over 3y, 3.4% of budgetFOUNDATION CARING FOR COLOMBIA LTD: $145,442 over 2y, 13% of budgetTRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: $137,066 over 2y, 0.0% of budgetUNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetTECHNOLOGY FOR SOCIAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT INITI: $99,462 over 1y, 42% of budgetOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $80,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetSONGJOGFOUNDATION: $44,032 over 1y, 31% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR EFFECTIVE PHILANTHROPY INC: $10,000 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.

Internet SocietyThe Ford FoundationNew Venture FundTides FoundationCraig Newmark Foundat…The William & Flora H…Omidyar Network Fund …The Patrick J McGover…John D and Catherine …Foundation to Promote…Silicon Valley Commun…Gates Foundation
Internet SocietyVA30.5× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Internet Society · The Ford Foundation · New Venture Fund · Tides Foundation · Craig Newmark Foundation · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · Omidyar Network Fund Inc · The Patrick J McGovern Foundation Inc · John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation · Foundation to Promote Open Society · Silicon Valley Community Foundation · Gates 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 Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Internet Society Foundation. 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 2%
  • Hias Inc: 88% of income from government
  • Phandeeyar Foundation: 2% of income from government
  • Code for Science & Society Inc: 2% of income from government
  • Digital Harbor Foundation: 2% of income from government
  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc: 1% of income from government
  • The Center for Effective Philanthropy Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Oxfam-America Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
4get no government money at all
5report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely 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 54 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