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Protect Democracy Project at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Protect Democracy Project

The mission of PROTECT DEMOCRACY PROJECT is to prevent our democracy from declining into a more authoritarian form of government.

$320k
Granted FY2022
6
Grants FY2022
2
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
05Through PlinthRead

Read this first · the figures below need context

82% of Protect Democracy Project’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc, not to grantees.

Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 16 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it. Everything below is therefore FY2022, the last year Protect Democracy Project named its own grantees at scale: 6 organizations, $320k. It is dated, not current.

Organizations named directly on the return

3
’19
4
’20
2
’21
6
’22
9
’23
16
’24

Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.

01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2019 to 2024.

Philanthropy$6.2MPublic Benefit$1.9MEducation$649kInternational$150kReligion$122kCommunity Improvement$60kCivil Rights$45kSocial Science$35kOther$0
02FY2022 · 6 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2022

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $85k
  • $50k–250k3 grants · $235k
$50,000
Median grant
2
States reached
$95M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
WHISTLEBLOWER AID$100,000
RAINEY CENTER FREEDOM PROJECT$85,000
BUSINESS FOR AMERICA EDUCATION FUND$50,000
TEAM DEMOCRACY$35,000
KEYSTONE RESEARCH CENTER$25,000
THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF NATIONAL SECURITY LEADERS$25,000
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:

Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY19–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 99% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%REPRESENT US EDUCATION FUND: $6k → 12%KEYSTONE RESEARCH CENTER: $25k → 12%TEAM DEMOCRACY: $35k → 15%TIDES FOUNDATION: $258k → 12%HARRY POTTER ALLIANCE: $10k → 20%GLOBAL IMPACT: $150k → 14%LAW FORWARD: $50k → 10%MORMON WOMEN FOR ETHICAL GOVERNMENT FOUNDATION: $10k → 8%COALITION FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE: $100k → 12%RIGHTCOUNT INC: $500k → 16%INTERFAITH AMERICA: $65k → 14%THE TRUSTEES OF PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: $50k → 11%PUBLIC DEMOCRACY INC: $50k → 6%FIX OUR HOUSE: $15k → 8%THE CENTER FOR CHRISTIANITY AND PUBLIC LIFE: $7k → 11%NORTH MAIN STREET FUND: $60k → 7%THE TIDES ADVOCACY: $25k → 12%AMERICAN COLLEGE OF NATIONAL SECURITY LEADERS GRANT: $27k → 14%INTERFAITH AMERICA: $50k → 14%AMERICAN VALUES COALITION: $15k → 12%THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF NATIONAL SECURITY LEADERS: $25k → 14%RAINEY CENTER FREEDOM PROJECT: $85k → 14%VALUES UNITED DBA WHISTLEBLOWER AID: $300k → 14%ISSUE ONE: $100k → 14%VALUES UNITED DBA WHISTLEBLOWER AID: $100k → 14%COMMON CAUSE EDUCATION FUND: $25k → 14%WHISTLEBLOWER AID: $100k → 14%DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE: $15k → 14%WHISTLEBLOWER AID: $10k → 14%ISSUE ONE: $12k → 14%GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY CENTER ON FAITH AND JUSTICE: $27k → 14%CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON CREW: $8k → 14%AMALGAMATED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION: $5.5M → 14%BUSINESS FOR AMERICA EDUCATION FUND: $50k → 14%AMALGAMATED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC: $435k → 14%BUSINESS FOR AMERICA EDUCATION FUND: $25k → 14%PROTECT DEMOCRACY UNITED: $355k → 14%BUSINESS FOR AMERICA EDUCATION FUND: $25k → 14%INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF MODERN AUTHORITARIANISM: $95k → 14%PROTECT DEMOCRACY UNITED: $335k → 14%BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: $10k → 14%SOJOURNERS: $30k → 14%DEMOCRACY A JOURNAL OF IDEAS INC: $25k → 14%THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: $10k → 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
IL
WI
NY
MA
IN
PA
NJ
CA
UT
CO
VA
MD
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.

55%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 6 repeat orgs$1.3M to everyone else

6 repeat relationships: 3 still active in FY2022, 3 since wound down; 19 grantees were first funded in FY2022 (too recent to call). Read against FY2022, the last year this funder named its own grantees directly; its giving has since run through a sponsor, which reports no donor behind each grant.

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

6
6

Total granted

$1.6M
$153k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+39%
+46%

Still filing today

100%
83%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 36% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $849k went to new ones.

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

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

’19’20’21’22’23’24
EducationPublic BenefitSocial ScienceReligionCivil RightsCommunity 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

  • PD
    PROTECT DEMOCRACY UNITED
    2× · 2023–2024 · $690k · revenue +39%
  • IA
    INTERFAITH AMERICA
    2× · 2023–2024 · $115k · revenue +62%
  • BF
    BUSINESS FOR AMERICA EDUCATION FUND
    3× · 2022–2024 · $100k · revenue +6%

Funded once

  • CF
    Coalition for Good Governance
    one grant, 2019 · $100k · revenue -21% · 26% of their budget
  • DD
    DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTEgraduated
    one grant, 2019 · $15k · revenue +743%
  • HA
    HP ALLIANCE INC
    one grant, 2020 · $10k · revenue -7%
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
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
2
Press Watch

To educate journalists and the public, and foster public debate, about improving political journalism to reflect public needs and hold the powerful accountable.

—
3
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
4
Center for Democracy and Technology

Advocating for public policies that advance democratic values in the digital age.

Civil Rights
5
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
6
Democracy Works Inc

The organization's mission is to leverage web-technologies to improve civic engagement and voter education.

Civil Rights
7
Commission On Presidential Debates

Organize general election presidential and vice-presidential debates

Civil Rights
8
Voteamerica

The mission of voteamerica is to strengthen united states democracy by increasing voter turnout.

Civil Rights
9
The International Institute for Strategic Studies - Us

To provide accurate, objective information and analysis on international strategic issues for legislators, diplomats, foreign affairs analysts, international business leaders, economists, the military, defense commentators, journalists,…

International
10
Center for Popular Democracy Inc

The center for popular democracy (cpd) and its affiliates know that everyday people have the power to change the world. we upend business and politics as usual to forge a representative, multiracial government and society where we all…

Public Benefit
11
The Institute for Cultural Evolution

To advance political evolution in america to outgrow the hyper-partisan polarization that threatens our democracy.

Social Science
12
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
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Inc; the most unlike its peers is Team Democracy 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

33 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. 33 of the 34 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)
32/33
Grantees still filing
18/33
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc: $5,909,675 · PhilanthropyAmalgamated Charitable Foundation IncTIDES FOUNDATION: $257,784 · PhilanthropyPROTECT DEMOCRACY UNITED: $690,352 · OtherPROTECT DEMOCRACY UN…RIGHTCOUNT INC: $500,000 · OtherRIGHTCOUNT INCINSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF MODERN AUTHORITARIANISM: $95,000 · OtherINSTITUTE FOR THE ST…Coalition for Good Governance: $100,000 · OtherCoalition for Good G…NORTH MAIN STREET FUND: $60,000 · Other+8 more: $230,000 · Other+8 moreVALUES UNITED: $510,000 · EducationAMERICAN COLLEGE OF NATIONAL SECURITY LEADERS INC: $51,500 · EducationThe Trustees of Princeton University: $50,000 · EducationGEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: $27,000 · EducationDEMOCRACY A JOURNAL OF IDEAS INC: $25,000 · Education+2 more: $25,000 · EducationISSUE ONE: $112,000 · Public BenefitBUSINESS FOR AMERICA EDUCATION FUND: $100,000 · Public BenefitCOMMON CAUSE EDUCATION FUND: $25,000 · Public BenefitMormon Women For Ethical Government Foun dation: $10,000 · Public Benefit+2 more: $13,500 · Public BenefitGlobal Impact: $150,000 · InternationalINTERFAITH AMERICA: $115,000 · ReligionCENTER FOR CHRISTIANITY AND PUBLIC LIFE: $6,500 · ReligionJOSEPH RAINEY CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY: $85,000 · Social ScienceKeystone Research Center Inc: $25,000 · Social ScienceTHE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: $10,000 · Social Science
Philanthropy$6,167,459Other$1,675,352Education$688,500Public Benefit$260,500International$150,000Religion$121,500Social Science$120,000

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 budgetAmalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc: $5,909,675 over 2y, 1.4% of budgetPROTECT DEMOCRACY UNITED: $690,352 over 2y, 13% of budgetVALUES UNITED: $510,000 over 4y, 21% of budgetRIGHTCOUNT INC: $500,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetTIDES FOUNDATION: $257,784 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGlobal Impact: $150,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetINTERFAITH AMERICA: $115,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budgetISSUE ONE: $112,000 over 2y, 1.3% of budgetCoalition for Good Governance: $100,000 over 1y, 26% of budgetBUSINESS FOR AMERICA EDUCATION FUND: $100,000 over 3y, 22% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF MODERN AUTHORITARIANISM: $95,000 over 1y, 14% of budgetJOSEPH RAINEY CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY: $85,000 over 1y, 6.8% of budgetNORTH MAIN STREET FUND: $60,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetAMERICAN COLLEGE OF NATIONAL SECURITY LEADERS INC: $51,500 over 2y, 60% of budgetThe Trustees of Princeton University: $50,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetLAW FORWARD INC: $50,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetPUBLIC DEMOCRACY AMERICA: $50,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetTeam Democracy Inc: $35,000 over 1y, 100% of budgetSojourners Inc: $30,000 over 1y, 0.6% of budgetGEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: $27,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetDEMOCRACY A JOURNAL OF IDEAS INC: $25,000 over 1y, 3.0% of budgetKeystone Research Center Inc: $25,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetTIDES ADVOCACY: $25,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCOMMON CAUSE EDUCATION FUND: $25,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetAmerican Values Coalition: $15,000 over 1y, 3.2% of budgetDEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE: $15,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetHP ALLIANCE INC: $10,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetTHE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMormon Women For Ethical Government Foun dation: $10,000 over 1y, 5.3% of budgetThe George Washington University: $10,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC: $7,500 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetCENTER FOR CHRISTIANITY AND PUBLIC LIFE: $6,500 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetRepresentUs Education Fund: $6,000 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.

The William & Flora H…Hopewell FundDemocracy Fund IncNew Venture FundAmalgamated Charitabl…Jewish Community Fede…Catena FoundationTides FoundationFoundation to Promote…ImpactassetsincMarin Community Found…Rockefeller Philanthr…
The William & Flora Hewlett FoundationCA22.5× affinity9 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · Hopewell Fund · Democracy Fund Inc · New Venture Fund · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco the Peninsula Marin & Sonoma · Catena Foundation · Tides Foundation · Foundation to Promote Open Society · Impactassetsinc · Marin Community Foundation · Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors 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 Protect Democracy Project funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Protect Democracy Project. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%5%10%15%20%share of the org’s income from government →median 11%
  • The Trustees of Princeton University: 11% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
2get no government money at all
2report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
0rely on government for over half their income
⤢ axis zoomed · 0–20%
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 Protect Democracy Project?

Find your warmest path to Protect Democracy Project 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 34 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 2022, released 2022. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Protect Democracy Project’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