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Justice Action Network Foundation at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Justice Action Network Foundation

The mission of the Corporation is to maximize the effective and fair use of limited public resources in the criminal justice system.

$70k
Granted FY2024still arriving
3
Grants FY2024still arriving
2
States reached
$25k
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, FY2023 to 2024.

Crime & Legal$980kCivil Rights$50kReligion$50k
02FY2024 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

$25,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$1.5M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Tholos Foundation$25,000
R Street Institute$25,000
Libertas Institute$20,000
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 (FY23–23, $75k) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 11%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 11%Families Against Mandatory Minimums Foundation: $75k → 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

OR
OH
PA
CA
UT
CO
VA
KS
DC
LA
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.

17%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$180k · 3 repeat orgs$900k to everyone else

Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +37% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.

3 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2024, 0 since wound down.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

3
14

Total granted

$180k
$900k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+37%
+13%

Still filing today

100%
100%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 100% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $0 went to new ones.

50%100%’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

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

’23’24
Crime & LegalPublic BenefitCivil RightsInternationalEducationHuman ServicesOther
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

  • RS
    R STREET INSTITUTE
    2× · 2023–2024 · $75k · revenue +37%
  • LN
    Libertas Network
    2× · 2023–2024 · $55k · revenue +59%
  • TF
    Tholos Foundation
    2× · 2023–2024 · $50k · revenue -13%

Funded once

  • DP
    DUE PROCESS INSTITUTEgraduated
    one grant, 2023 · $150k · revenue +70% · 26% of their budget
  • PF
    PRISON FELLOWSHIP MINISTRIES
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue +13%
  • HR
    HUMAN RIGHTS FOR KIDS
    one grant, 2023 · $100k · revenue -44%
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
Fund for Justice

Fund for Justice is a nationally connected social impact research and advocacy organization that works to achieve fundamental, systemic reform by addressing policies and practicies that prevent individuals from reaching their full…

Crime & Legal
3
American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

The american enterprise institute is a community of scholars and supporters committed to expanding liberty, increasing individual opportunity, and strengthening free enterprise. aei pursues these ideals through independent thinking and the…

Social Science
4
Americans for Tax Reform

American for Tax Reform (ATR) is a national grassroots organization focused on increasing public awareness about the size and regulations of government and rallying support for lower taxes, smaller government and congressional…

—
5
Alliance for Justice

Alliance for justice builds the strength of progressive movements by training and educating nonprofit organizations on advocacy, while harnessing their collective power to transform our state and federal courts.

Civil Rights
6
Institute for Public Accuracy

To teach and disseminate educational materials to the public.

Arts & Culture
7
Cato Institute

The mission of the cato institute is to keep the principles, ideas, and moral case for liberty alive for future generations, while moving public policy in the direction of individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace.

Public Benefit
8
Fair Democracy

Fair democracy works to ensure that the roots of american democracy are healthy with strong voting rights and access, an engaged and informed electorate, an open and accountable government and trusted messengers engaging americans in civil…

Civil Rights
9
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
10
American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware Inc

The organization monitors legislation that could impact civil liberties and takes the necessary action to support or oppose such legislation.

—
11
American Constitution Society for Law & Policy

The american constitution society for law and policy (acs) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan legal organization. through a diverse nationwide network of progressive lawyers, law students, judges, scholars, advocates, and many others,…

Education
12
Prison Policy Initiative

The Organization challenges over-criminalizationand mass incarceration through research, advocacyand organizing.

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Center for American Progress; the most unlike its peers is Americans of Faith. 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

17 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.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
3
Early backer (in before they grew)
17/17
Grantees still filing
10/17
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

DUE PROCESS INSTITUTE: $150,000 · Crime & LegalDUE PROCESS INSTITUTEPRISON FELLOWSHIP MINISTRIES: $100,000 · Crime & LegalPRISON FELLOWSHIP MINISTRIESKansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice Inc: $50,000 · Crime & LegalKansas Appleseed Center for Law and …COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES INC: $50,000 · Crime & LegalCOMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES INCLibertas Network: $55,000 · Public BenefitLibertas Ne…PELICAN INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY: $50,000 · Public BenefitPELICAN INS…HUMAN RIGHTS FOR KIDS: $100,000 · InternationalHUMAN RIGH…Tholos Foundation: $50,000 · OtherTholos FoundationThe Buckeye Institute: $50,000 · OtherThe Buckeye InstituteTHE ARCHER GROUP: $50,000 · OtherTHE ARCHER GROUPDREAMORG: $50,000 · OtherDREAMORGNational District Attorneys Association: $50,000 · OtherNational District Attorneys Ass…AMERICANS OF FAITH: $50,000 · OtherAMERICANS OF FAITHR STREET INSTITUTE: $75,000 · EducationFAMILIES AGAINST MANDATORY MINIMUMS FOUNDATION: $75,000 · Human ServicesCENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: $50,000 · Civil RightsYOUTH RIGHTS & JUSTICE: $25,000 · Civil Rights
Crime & Legal$350,000Public Benefit$105,000International$100,000Other$300,000Education$75,000Human Services$75,000Civil Rights$75,000

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

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetDUE PROCESS INSTITUTE: $150,000 over 1y, 26% of budgetPRISON FELLOWSHIP MINISTRIES: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetHUMAN RIGHTS FOR KIDS: $100,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetR STREET INSTITUTE: $75,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetFAMILIES AGAINST MANDATORY MINIMUMS FOUNDATION: $75,000 over 1y, 1.8% of budgetLibertas Network: $55,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetPELICAN INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY: $50,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetTHE ARCHER GROUP: $50,000 over 1y, 2.9% of budgetDREAMORG: $50,000 over 1y, 1.2% of budgetNational District Attorneys Association: $50,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetAMERICANS OF FAITH: $50,000 over 1y, 6.9% of budgetTholos Foundation: $50,000 over 2y, 1.1% of budgetThe Buckeye Institute: $50,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetKansas Appleseed Center for Law and Justice Inc: $50,000 over 1y, 5.8% of budgetCOMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICES INC: $50,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetCENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetYOUTH RIGHTS & JUSTICE: $25,000 over 1y, 0.5% 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.

Coalition for Public …Justice Action NetworkDonors Trust IncNew Venture FundCharles Koch InstituteCharles Koch Foundati…The Pew Charitable Tr…Clean Slate Initiativ…Atlas Economic Resear…The Seminar Network I…The Lynde and Harry B…Vanguard Charitable E…
Coalition for Public SafetyDC30.6× affinity12 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Coalition for Public Safety · Justice Action Network · Donors Trust Inc · New Venture Fund · Charles Koch Institute · Charles Koch Foundation · The Pew Charitable Trusts · Clean Slate Initiative Inc · Atlas Economic Research Foundation · The Seminar Network Inc · The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Inc · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program

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 Justice Action Network Foundation funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Justice Action Network Foundation. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%2%8%17%30%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 81%
  • Youth Rights & Justice: 81% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
0get no government money at all
2report 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.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Justice Action Network Foundation?

Find your warmest path to Justice Action Network Foundation 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 17 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.

Possibly out of date. A more recent filing (FY2025) is on record and reports no grant expense, so the figures above are from FY2024, the most recent year this funder made grants.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Justice Action Network’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