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The Malala Fund at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

The Malala Fund

We work to ensure all girls can access and complete 12 years of education.

$13M
Granted FY2025still arriving
8
Grants FY2025still arriving
6
States reached
$450k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its fieldRead
04Through 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, FY2021 to 2025.

International$1.6MCivil Rights$402kEducation$359kArts & Culture$320kScience & Tech$140kPhilanthropy$135kPublic Safety & Disaster$100kSocial Science$50kOther$0
02FY2025 · 8 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 8 grants below total $1,523,000, the rows itemized in this filing. The $13,095,096 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $11,572,096 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 · FY2025

  • $50k–250k6 grants · $823k
  • $250k+2 grants · $700k
$150,000
Median grant
6
States reached
$55M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
ATLANTIC COUNCIL US$450,000
DEFAW INC$250,000
CIVIC ENGAGEMENT PROJECT DBA INSTITUTE FOR STATE EFFECTIVENESS$239,000
WARTISTS (ARTLORDS)$150,000
PLAYERS PHILANTHROPY FUND$135,000
INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR AID RELIEF AND ASSISTANCE$100,000
KIDS IN NEED OF DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION & RELIEF$100,000
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY$99,000
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 (FY22–24, $100k) land where the poverty rate runs at 11%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%AFGHANS EMPOWERED: $20k → 11%ROOTS AND WINGS: $80k → 11%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

IL
NY
MA
OH
CA
VA
MD
AZ
DC
TX
FL

Grants abroad, by region: $12M on the FY2025 return

Schedule F, as filed: 6 regions, $12M to organizations and $67k 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)$3.5M · 30% · 9 grants

Stated purpose: SUPPORT FOR ADVOCACY AND OPERATIONS · DIGITAL EDUCATION FOR AFGHAN GIRLS · ADVOCACY TO RECOGNIZE GENDER APARTHEID IN AFGHANISTAN

Sub-Saharan Africa$3.4M · 28% · 21 grants

Stated purpose: SUPPORT FOR ADVOCACY AND OPERATIONS · KEEP TANZANIAN GIRLS IN SCHOOL BY ADDRESSING BARRIERS TO EDUCATION · INCREASE EDUCATION FUNDING FOR MARRIED AND PREGNANT GIRLS IN NIGERIA

South Asia$2.9M · 24% · 27 grants · 15 people

Stated purpose: REINTEGRATION OF OUT OF SCHOOL GIRLS · STRENGTHEN PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS TO INCREASE EDUCATION ACCESS AND RETENTION · HELP GIRLS TRANSITION FROM PRIMARY TO SECONDARY SCHOOL

South America$1.7M · 14% · 9 grants

Stated purpose: STRENGTHEN PUBLIC POLICIES ON GENDER EQUALITY · PROMOTE QUILOMBOLA GIRLS' EDUCATION RIGHTS IN BRAZIL · IMPLEMENT PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION POLICY AND FINANCING

Middle East and North Africa$250k · 2% · 3 grants

Stated purpose: SUPPORT EDUCATION OF GIRLS AFFECTED BY CONFLICT · EDUCATION SUPPORT FOR SYRIAN REFUGEES

North America (Canada and Mexico)$150k · 1% · 1 grant

Stated purpose: ADVOCACY TO RECOGNIZE GENDER APARTHEID IN AFGHANISTAN

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.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 36% of The Malala Fund’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address. By recipient address, 44% of the giving stays in DC; by stated purpose, 16%.

The Malala Fundlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 53% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its 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
International Crisis Group

Crisis group works to prevent and resolve deadly conflict around the world by informing and influencing the perceptions and actions of policymakers and other key conflict actors. to this end, we endeavour to talk to all sides and provide…

International
2
Institute for Eastwest Studies Inc

Eastwest institute (ewi) works to reduce international conflict, addressing seemingly intractable problems that threaten world security and stability. (continued on schedule o)

—
3
Global Policy Forum Inc

Research and education of United Nations activities

International
4
Actionaid Usa

Actionaid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. actionaid usa is the u.s. branch of actionaid international, which works in…

Social Science
5
International Center for Research On Women

The international center for research for women (icrw) is a global research institute, with a mission to advance rights and opportunities for women, girls, and structurally excluded populations with actionable evidence and solutions.

International
6
Women's Refugee Commission Inc

To improve the lives and protect the rights of women, children and youth displaced by conflict and crisis. the women's refugee commission envisions a world in which refugees are safe, healthy and reliant and seeks to drive change in…

Human Services
7
World Learning Inc

Creating a more sustainable, peaceful, and just world through education, development, and exchange since 1932. as both an accredited academic institution and an international ngo, world learning, inc. offers the best of theory and practice…

International
8
Us Middle East Project Inc

The organization's mission is to engage in non partisan analysis of u.s. foreign policy in the middle east, with special emphasis on the middle east peace process, and to present policymakers in the united states, in the region and in the…

International
9
International Rescue Committee Inc

The International Rescue Committee responds to the world's worst humanitarian crises and helps people whose lives and livelihoods are shattered by conflict and disaster to survive, recover, and gain control of their future.

International
10
The Malala Fund

We work to ensure all girls can access and complete 12 years of education. by completing 12 years of quality schooling, girls will have the knowledge, skills and confidence they need to reach their full potential, make their own life…

Education
11
GoodWeave International

GoodWeave works to stop child and forced labor in global supply chains. Permanently.

International
12
Train the Nations
Religion
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Kids in Need of Development Education and Relief Kinder Usa; the most unlike its peers is Institute for State Effectiveness. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

20 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. 20 of the 23 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)
5
Early backer (in before they grew)
20/20
Grantees still filing
11/20
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

ATLANTIC COUNCIL OF THE UNITED STATES INC: $550,000 · InternationalATLANTIC COUNCIL OF THE UNITED STATES INCINSTITUTE FOR STATE EFFECTIVENESS: $339,000 · InternationalINSTITUTE FOR STATE EFFECTIVENESSVITAL VOICES GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP INC: $200,000 · InternationalVITAL VOICES GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP INCTHE INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR AID RELIEF AND ASSISTANCE INC: $100,000 · InternationalTHE INTERNATIONAL NETWORK FOR AID RELIEF AND ASSISTANCE I…AMERICAN NEAR EAST REFUGEE AID: $100,000 · InternationalAMERICAN NEAR EAST REFUGEE AIDUNRWA USA NATIONAL COMMITTEE INC: $100,000 · InternationalUNRWA USA NATIONAL COMMITTEE INCPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: $100,000 · InternationalPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUNDKIDS IN NEED OF DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION AND RELIEF KINDER USA: $100,000 · InternationalKIDS IN NEED OF DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION AND RELIEF KINDER U…DEFAW INC: $250,000 · OtherDEFAW INCIMPACT MAPPER PBC: $140,000 · OtherIMPACT MAPPER PBCKOLBA INC: $20,000 · OtherTHE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: $50,000 · OtherTHE BROOKINGS INS…+1 more: $10,441 · OtherToo Young to Wed Inc: $150,000 · Arts & CultureToo Young …Wartists Inc: $150,000 · Arts & CultureWartists I…LEARN AFGHAN INC: $130,000 · EducationLEARN AFGH…THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY: $99,000 · EducationTHE BOARD …GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR EDUCATION-US: $50,000 · EducationGLOBAL CAM…PLAYERS PHILANTHROPY FUND INC: $135,000 · PhilanthropyKARAM FOUNDATION: $100,000 · PhilanthropyWOMEN'S ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION: $152,000 · Civil RightsRoots and Wings Inc: $80,000 · Human ServicesAfghans Empowered Corp: $20,000 · Human Services
International$1,589,000Other$470,441Arts & Culture$300,000Education$279,000Philanthropy$235,000Civil Rights$152,000Human Services$100,000

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 budgetATLANTIC COUNCIL OF THE UNITED STATES INC: $550,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetINSTITUTE FOR STATE EFFECTIVENESS: $339,000 over 2y, 14% of budgetVITAL VOICES GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP INC: $200,000 over 1y, 0.9% of budgetWOMEN'S ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION: $152,000 over 1y, 4.4% of budgetToo Young to Wed Inc: $150,000 over 1y, 8.1% of budgetLEARN AFGHAN INC: $130,000 over 1y, 13% of budgetAMERICAN NEAR EAST REFUGEE AID: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetUNRWA USA NATIONAL COMMITTEE INC: $100,000 over 1y, 0.2% of budgetKARAM FOUNDATION: $100,000 over 1y, 2.2% of budgetPALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND: $100,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetKIDS IN NEED OF DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION AND RELIEF KINDER USA: $100,000 over 1y, 4.7% of budgetRoots and Wings Inc: $80,000 over 1y, 7.0% of budgetTHE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: $50,000 over 1y, 0.1% of budgetGLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR EDUCATION-US: $50,000 over 1y, 7.5% of budgetAfghans Empowered Corp: $20,000 over 1y, 36% of budgetCARE ABOUT CLIMATE INC: $10,441 over 1y, 9.9% 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 Ford FoundationChoose Love IncCultures of Resistanc…The Pfizer Foundation…Charities Aid Foundat…Network for GoodPaypal Charitable Giv…National Philanthropi…American Online Givin…Donor Advised Charita…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
The Ford FoundationNY14.4× affinity5 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: The Ford Foundation · Choose Love Inc · Cultures of Resistance Network Foundation · The Pfizer Foundation Inc · Charities Aid Foundation America · Network for Good · Paypal Charitable Giving Fund · National Philanthropic Trust · American Online Giving Foundation Inc · Donor Advised Charitable Giving Inc · Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund · Amazonsmile 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 The Malala Fund funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from The Malala Fund. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 20%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%19%38%56%75%share of the org’s 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 · 0–75%
    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.
    04Through Plinth

    Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

    How do I get to The Malala Fund?

    Find your warmest path to The Malala 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.

    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 23 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 2025, released 2025. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

    Source object · view filing

    Play a game based on Malala’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