Texas · Public charity
The 85 Fund
To educate the public and support activities that highlight the relationship between structural limits on government power and the protection of our dignity and our freedoms.
- $118M
- Granted FY2024(still arriving)
- 39
- Grants FY2024
- 37
- Organizations funded FY2023
- 24%
- First-time grantees FY2023
Read this first · the figures below need context
91% of The 85 Fund’s FY2024 grant dollars went to Donors Trust Inc, not to grantees.
Its money now reaches organizations through that sponsor, which does not report who recommended each grant. FY2024 names 37 organizations directly, so a portfolio cannot be read from it.
Organizations named directly on the return
Amber years are those where most dollars went to a sponsor.
- Median grant, FY2024
- $110,000
- Largest grant, FY2024
- $67,900,000
- Organizations funded a year
- 26 to 41
- FY2020 to FY2023
- States reached, FY2024
- 13
- Total assets, FY2024
- $2.8M
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2023, 24% of the organizations The 85 Fund funded were first-time grantees, receiving 11% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2023, 89% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.0M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2024still arriving | 37 | $11M | 32% |
| FY2023 | 37 | $9.3M | 24% |
| FY2022 | 37 | $12M | 38% |
| FY2021 | 26 | $8.7M | 46% |
| FY2020 | 41 | $22M | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2020 to 2024.
Where its grants go
Grant dollars by states, across the years we hold.
Which US states its grants reach
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2020 to FY2024, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies | $12,215,445 | 4 | 28% |
| Ethics and Public Policy Center Inc | $5,818,000 | 5 | 39% |
| Turning Point USA Inc | $3,265,000 | 2 | 7% |
| Club for Growth Foundation Inc | $3,250,000 | 3 | 69% |
| Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression Inc | $2,366,667 | 2 | 6% |
| Hawthorn Foundation Inc | $2,300,000 | 3 | 21% |
| Foundation for Government Accountability Inc | $2,000,000 | 1 | 19% |
| Paragon Health Institute | $2,000,000 | 2 | 25% |
| Independent Women's Forum | $1,610,000 | 5 | 7% |
| American Legislative Exchange Council | $1,540,412 | 4 | 5% |
Show all 88 grantees
Where it is load-bearing
The 85 Fund supplied at least a quarter of the budget for 18 of its grantees at some point. The chart plots its 83 largest grantees; load-bearing ones sit top left.
Tap a dot to name the grantee.
How this is measured
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.
Open a dossier: Donors Trust Inc · Bradley Impact Fund Inc · Sarah Scaife Foundation Incorporated · The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Inc · John William Pope Foundation · Holman Foundation Inc · The Searle Freedom Trust · Adolph Coors Foundation · Charles Koch Foundation · Bader Family Foundation · The Seminar Network Inc · Triad Foundation Inc
How this is measured
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to The 85 Fund?
Find your warmest path to The 85 Fund 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.
About The 85 Fund
- How much does The 85 Fund give?
- The 85 Fund reported 39 grants totaling $118,174,781 in its FY2024 IRS filing. It funded between 26 and 41 organizations a year over FY2020 to FY2023.
- What does The 85 Fund fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2020 to FY2024, its largest causes are Philanthropy (86%), Civil Rights (5%), Public Benefit (4%).
- Who are The 85 Fund's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2020 to FY2024: The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies ($12M), Ethics and Public Policy Center Inc ($5.8M), Turning Point USA Inc ($3.3M).
- Does The 85 Fund fund new organizations?
- In FY2023, 24% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Which funders back the same organizations as The 85 Fund?
- Its strongest co-funders, measured against what their size predicts, include Donors Trust Inc, Bradley Impact Fund Inc, Sarah Scaife Foundation Incorporated.
- Where is The 85 Fund based?
- The 85 Fund is based in TX.
Play a game based on 85’s filings →