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Workers Defense Project at a glanceMostly funded, not a grantmaker: see who funds it →

· Public charity

Workers Defense Project

WORKERS DEFENSE PROJECT is a member-led organization that organizes latine immigrant workers in texas to fight for dignity and respect.

$908k
Granted FY2024still arriving
3
Grants FY2024still arriving
1
States reached
$494k
Largest
01What it fundsRead
02The needRead
03Its granteesRead
04Its fieldRead
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.

Civil Rights$1.0MPublic Benefit$850kCrime & Legal$227kCommunity Improvement$84kEmployment$45kHuman Services$30kPublic Safety & Disaster$10kYouth Development$10kOther$0
02FY2024 · 3 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

How this is measured
The 3 grants below total $870,874, the rows itemized in this filing. The $907,874 headline is the total grant expense on the return; the other $37,000 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

  • $50k–250k1 grant · $127k
  • $250k+2 grants · $744k
$250,000
Median grant
1
States reached
$10M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY PRIORITIES DBA EVERYTEXAN$494,064
WORKERS DEFENSE ACTION FUND$250,000
TEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID INC$126,810
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 (FY22–22, $20k) land where the poverty rate runs at 10%, against an area that typically sits at 14%. 0% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Its grants skew toward lower-need ZIPs.

area typical 14%AUSTIN JUSTICE COALITION: $20k → 10%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.
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.

72%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$1.6M · 5 repeat orgs$644k to everyone else

5 repeat relationships: 2 still active in FY2024, 3 since wound down; 1 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

5
10

Total granted

$1.6M
$150k

Median revenue growth · since first grant

-2%
+5%

Still filing today

100%
80%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 43% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $494k 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
Civil RightsEducationHuman ServicesPublic Safety & DisasterYouth DevelopmentCommunity 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

  • WD
    WORKERS DEFENSE ACTION FUND
    4× · 2021–2024 · $1.1M · revenue -54% · 37% of their budget
  • TO
    TEXAS ORGANIZING PROJECT EDUCATION FUND
    5× · 2019–2023 · $164k · revenue -51%
  • TR
    TEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID INC
    2× · 2022–2024 · $143k · revenue +2%

Funded once

  • UF
    United for Respect Education Fund
    one grant, 2021 · $30k · revenue -71%
  • AJ
    Austin Justice Coalition
    one grant, 2022 · $20k · revenue +5%
  • SC
    SHAPE Community Centergraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $20k · revenue +85%
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
Equal Justice Center

The Equal Justice Center is a non-profit law firm and employment justice organization which empowers low-income families, workers, and communities to achieve fair treatment in the workplace, in the justice system, and in our shared society…

Civil Rights
2
Jobs with Justice San Francisco

A long-term, strategic alliance of labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations working together to build greater economic power for workers and community members through employee rights at work and access to good jobs,…

Employment
3
American Civil Liberties Union of Texas Inc

The ACLU of Texas works with communities, at the State Capitol, and in the courts to protect and advance civil rights and civil liberties for every Texan, no exceptions.

—
4
Border Workers United

A community-based organization that develops leadership of workers to construct a movement of worker families in the texas borderlands.

—
5
Fair Work Center

We are workers, united across different industries to improve our working conditions and our lives. We come together as working people to build power through education, organizing, and enforcement. We work to raise and uphold standards in…

Employment
6
Every Voice Texas dba Asian Texans for Justice

Asian Texans for Justice connects Asian and Pacific Islander Texans with civic action to build personal and political power.

Civil Rights
7
Aclu Foundation of Texas Inc

The ACLU Foundation of Texas is the unyielding guardian and promoter of freedom, justice, equality and dignity of all people, particularly for those who are still fighting to secure the full exercise of their civil rights and liberties.…

Civil Rights
8
Redeeming Justice Network

Houston Legal Aid Center protects and advances the rights of the poor through the poor through the provision of pro bono or reduced cost legal services while also addressing the underlying spiritual and relational issues affecting…

Civil Rights
9
Oficina Legal Del Pueblo Unido Inc

We are texas lawyers for texas communities, boldly serving the movement for equality and justice in and out of the courts.

—
10
Lioness Justice Impacted Womens Alliance

The Lioness Justice Impacted Women's Alliance is a nonprofit organization led by currently and formerly incarcerated girls, women, and gender-expansive individuals. Its mission is to reduce incarceration and address systemic inequities…

Crime & Legal
11
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
12
After Violence Project

The Texas After Violence Project is a community-based archive and documentary project cultivating deeper understanding of state-sanctioned violence on individuals, families, and communities. Our mission is to do responsible, inclusive, and…

Civil Rights
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is National Domestic Workers Alliance Inc; the most unlike its peers is Out Youth Austin. 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

14 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. 14 of the 16 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)
2
Early backer (in before they grew)
14/14
Grantees still filing
7/14
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

WORKERS DEFENSE ACTION FUND: $1,100,000 · Civil RightsWORKERS DEFENSE ACTION FUNDUNITED WE DREAM NETWORK INC: $136,583 · Civil RightsUNITED WE DREAM NETWORK INC+2 more: $30,000 · Civil RightsWORKERS DEFENSE PROJECT: $494,064 · EducationWORKERS DEFENSE PROJECTUnited for Respect Education Fund: $30,000 · EducationUnited for Respect Educati…TEXAS ORGANIZING PROJECT EDUCATION FUND: $164,084 · Community ImprovementTEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID INC: $143,316 · Crime & LegalGRASSROOTS LEADERSHIP INC: $84,084 · OtherAUSTIN BLACK PRIDE: $10,000 · OtherEMBRACE AUSTIN: $10,000 · OtherLiving Hope Wheelchair Association: $10,000 · OtherOut Youth Inc: $10,000 · OtherAustin Justice Coalition: $20,000 · Human ServicesSHAPE Community Center: $20,000 · Human ServicesWest Street Recovery: $10,000 · Public Safety & Disaster
Civil Rights$1,266,583Education$524,064Community Improvement$164,084Crime & Legal$143,316Other$124,084Human Services$40,000Public Safety & Disaster$10,000

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

25%50%75%100%$10Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWORKERS DEFENSE ACTION FUND: $1,100,000 over 4y, 37% of budgetWORKERS DEFENSE PROJECT: $494,064 over 1y, 13% of budgetTEXAS ORGANIZING PROJECT EDUCATION FUND: $164,084 over 5y, 1.0% of budgetTEXAS RIOGRANDE LEGAL AID INC: $143,316 over 2y, 0.3% of budgetUNITED WE DREAM NETWORK INC: $136,583 over 5y, 0.4% of budgetGRASSROOTS LEADERSHIP INC: $84,084 over 3y, 2.6% of budgetUnited for Respect Education Fund: $30,000 over 1y, 0.4% of budgetAustin Justice Coalition: $20,000 over 1y, 4.0% of budgetSHAPE Community Center: $20,000 over 1y, 3.1% of budgetNational Domestic Workers Alliance Inc: $15,000 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetFE Y JUSTICIA WORKER CENTER: $15,000 over 1y, 1.9% of budgetWest Street Recovery: $10,000 over 1y, 1.0% of budgetLiving Hope Wheelchair Association: $10,000 over 1y, 1.4% of budgetOut Youth Inc: $10,000 over 1y, 0.6% 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.

Tides FoundationAmalgamated Charitabl…Texas Organizing Proj…Unitarian Universalis…United Way of Greater…Houston Endowment IncBorealis PhilanthropyNetwork for GoodVanguard Charitable E…American Online Givin…Fidelity Investments …Amazonsmile Foundation
Tides FoundationCA17.6× affinity7 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Tides Foundation · Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc · Texas Organizing Project Education Fund · Unitarian Universalist Service Committee Inc · United Way of Greater Houston · Houston Endowment Inc · Borealis Philanthropy · Network for Good · Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program · American Online Giving Foundation 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 Workers Defense Project funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Workers Defense Project. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 00%3%10%23%40%funder's share of their income ↑0%1%3%4%5%share of the org’s income from government →
    no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
    0get no government money at all
    1report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
    0rely on government for over half their income
    ⤢ axis zoomed · 0–5%
    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.

    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 16 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.

    Source object · view filing

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    More from the funding graph

    The unnamed billions
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    The regranting layer
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    The endowment market
    who holds foundation money, and what just moved
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    By state
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