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The Fund for Democratic Communities at a glanceAlso receives grants: funding profile →

· Private foundation

The Fund for Democratic Communities

Its FY2025 filing reports that it accepted unsolicited grant applications.

$1.3M
Granted FY2024still arriving
4
Grants FY2024still arriving
3
States reached
$100k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02Its fieldRead
03Through PlinthRead
01What it funds
0180% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2025.

Community Improvement$372kCivil Rights$126kPublic Benefit$102kEducation$47kEmployment$34kHuman Services$29kReligion$25kPhilanthropy$21kOther$0
02FY2024 · 4 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 4 grants below total $239,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $1,333,000 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $1,094,000 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–50k2 grants · $39k
  • $50k–250k2 grants · $200k
$100,000
Median grant
3
States reached
$0
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
Movement Voter Fund voa Tides Foundation$100,000
Showing Up for Racial Justice Education Fund$100,000
Magnolia House Foundation$25,000
Magnolia House Foundation$14,000
02Its 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
Carolina Common Enterprise

The specific objectives and purposes of this corporation shall be to assist individuals and communities, particularly those in low-income and socially disadvantaged areas, in the creation, expansion, and improvement of rural and…

Community Improvement
2
Natl Alliance of Community & Economic Developmen

To lead the community partners in shaping and influencing strategies that advance community prosperity we advocate for reliable resources and systems that benefit low and moderate income communities and we build the capacity of members and…

Community Improvement
3
Forward Justice Action Network

Forward Justice Action Network is a nonprofit with the purpose to engage in educational and advocacy activities to promote political and grassroots support for public policies that advance racial social and economic justice in North…

Human Services
4
Center for Participatory Change

Igniting collective power. Transforming systems of oppression. Healing in community.

Community Improvement
5
North Carolina Black Alliance Inc

The North Carolina Black Alliance (NCBA) works toward state-level systemic change by strengthening the network of elected officials representing communities of color throughout the state and collaborating with progressive, grassroots…

Education
6
Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Southern coalition for social justice partners with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities across the south to defend and advance their political, social, and economic rights. through an intersectional and…

Crime & Legal
7
Common Future

Common future is a network of pioneering leaders across the u.s. and canada who work deeply within their communities to create alternative approaches to business, philanthropy, and investing. we envision an economy that has transitioned…

Community Improvement
8
Fuerza LaboralPower of Workers

Fuerza Laboral is a workers' rights center whose mission is to shift the balance of power in our economy in favor of workers by educating, training, and organizing workers to become community leaders; taking direct action to recover unpaid…

Education
9
Cooperation L a

The L.A. Co-op Lab is a collective that builds capacity for worker ownership in Los Angeles as a pathway toward a more equitable and democratic economy.

Arts & Culture
10
Powerswitch Action

Powerswitch action is a national network forging collective democracy and economies in our cities and states, together with our 21 grassroots affiliates.

Community Improvement
11
Action Institute Nc

Action institute nc is a community organization and citizens action group that organizes residents of low-wealth communities and constituencies most of whom are people of color- to represent their own interests on issues of social and…

—
12
Workers Center for Racial Just Nfp

The mission of the Workers Center For Racial Justice is to eliminate structural barriers to sustainable and living wage

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is New Economy Coalition Inc; the most unlike its peers is The Ceres Trust. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
03the grantee network

24 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. 24 of the 36 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.

1
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
9
Early backer (in before they grew)
24/24
Grantees still filing
15/24
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

Shared Capital Cooperative (NCDF): $113,070 · OtherShared Capital Cooperative (NCDF)Movement Voter Fund voa Tides Foundation: $100,000 · OtherMovement Voter Fund voa Tides FoundationRenaissance Community Cooperative: $21,180 · OtherRenaissance Community CooperativeThe Peoples Alliance Fund: $20,000 · OtherThe Peoples Alliance FundKemetic Institute of Mound Bayou, Inc: $17,000 · Other+16 more: $67,426 · Other+16 moreTHE WORKING WORLD INC: $150,000 · Community ImprovementTHE WORKING WORLD INCINQUIRING SYSTEMS INC: $65,000 · Community ImprovementINQUIRING SYSTEMS INC+3 more: $7,129 · Community ImprovementSHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE EDUCATION FUND INC: $100,000 · Civil RightsSHOWING UP FOR…MAGNOLIA HOUSE FOUNDATION INC: $39,000 · EducationSTUDENT ACTION WITH FARMWORKERS: $5,000 · EducationNORTH CAROLINA JUSTICE CENTER: $25,000 · Human ServicesTHE INTERACTIVE RESOURCE CENTER INC: $9,755 · Human ServicesEL PUEBLO INC: $3,812 · Human ServicesDEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE: $32,000 · EmploymentMiami Workers Center Inc: $2,000 · Employment+1 more: $850 · EmploymentEDGE FUNDERS ALLIANCE: $7,000 · Philanthropy
Other$338,676Community Improvement$222,129Civil Rights$100,000Education$44,000Human Services$38,567Employment$34,850Philanthropy$7,000

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 budgetTHE WORKING WORLD INC: $150,000 over 1y, 3.9% of budgetSHOWING UP FOR RACIAL JUSTICE EDUCATION FUND INC: $100,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetINQUIRING SYSTEMS INC: $65,000 over 1y, 1.1% of budgetMAGNOLIA HOUSE FOUNDATION INC: $39,000 over 1y, 34% of budgetDEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE: $32,000 over 1y, 1.5% of budgetNORTH CAROLINA JUSTICE CENTER: $25,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetTHE INTERACTIVE RESOURCE CENTER INC: $9,755 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetNeighborhood Funders Group: $8,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetEDGE FUNDERS ALLIANCE: $7,000 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNORTHSTAR CHURCH OF THE ARTS: $6,000 over 1y, 4.3% of budgetEL PUEBLO INC: $3,812 over 1y, 0.3% of budgetMOVEMENT STRATEGY CENTER: $3,500 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetCENTER FOR POPULAR DEMOCRACY INC: $2,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetMiami Workers Center Inc: $2,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetCOOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION: $850 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetCOOPERATIVE COUNCIL OF NORTH CAROLINA: $515 over 1y, 0.5% of budgetNEW ECONOMY COALITION INC: $317 over 1y, 0.0% 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.

Amalgamated Charitabl…WK Kellogg FoundationTriangle Community Fo…ImpactassetsincCommunity Foundation …Common Counsel Founda…NEO Philanthropy IncTides CenterTides FoundationBlueprint North Carol…Rockefeller Family Fu…Movement Strategy Cen…
Amalgamated Charitable Foundation IncDC19.6× affinity8 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · WK Kellogg Foundation · Triangle Community Foundation Inc · Impactassetsinc · Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro Inc · Common Counsel Foundation · NEO Philanthropy Inc · Tides Center · Tides Foundation · Blueprint North Carolina · Rockefeller Family Fund Inc · Movement Strategy Center

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.
03Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to The Fund for Democratic Communities?

Find your warmest path to The Fund for Democratic Communities 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 36 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-PF 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 $1.4M of grant expense with no grantee named in the published copy. A private foundation itemizes every grant it makes, so a return carrying none has filed its list as an attachment that the public copy does not include. The figures above are therefore from FY2024, the most recent year this funder’s grantee list reached the public record.

Source object · view filing

Play a game based on Fund for Democratic Communities’ 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