How do I find funders for a civil rights and advocacy nonprofit in Illinois?

Start with the funders already giving to civil rights and advocacy in Illinois, currently The Chicago Community Trust, Freedom House, The Ford Foundation. Then look at who funds the civil rights and advocacy organizations on this page that resemble yours, and add the national funders reaching into Illinois from out of state.

How much grant money goes to civil rights and advocacy in Illinois?

$692M reached 358 civil rights and advocacy organizations in Illinois, from 1,477 funders. 30% came from funders also based in Illinois.

How recent is this data?

It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the two years with complete coverage. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

Funding · Illinois · Civil rights and advocacy

Who funds civil rights and advocacy in Illinois

Most of it comes from outside Illinois: only 30% is from funders based in the state, so national funders set the agenda here. Illinois's civil rights and advocacy organizations are comparatively well-backed, averaging 4 funders each.

$692M

granted

358

organizations

30%

from in-state

The short version

1,477 funders gave $692M to 358 civil rights and advocacy organizations in Illinois across the FY2022 and FY2023 IRS filings.
30% of that came from funders also based in Illinois; the rest reached in from out of state.
The largest funder of civil rights and advocacy in Illinois is The Chicago Community Trust, at $70M.
The civil rights and advocacy organization drawing the most is People's Action Institute, at $88M.

Largest funders of civil rights and advocacy in Illinois

The funders giving the most to civil rights and advocacy organizations in Illinois, in-state and out. Pick one for its dossier.

1The Chicago Community Trust$70M 2Freedom House$43M 3The Ford Foundation$38M 4Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund$30M 5The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation$24M 6John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation$20M 7Freedom Together Foundation$19M 8The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation$18M 9Sixteen Thirty Fund$18M 10Amalgamated Charitable Foundation Inc$12M

Civil rights and advocacy organizations in Illinois that draw the most

Sized by grant dollars received. Pick one to see exactly who funds it.

348 other civil rights and advocacy organizations$352M

People's Action Institute$88M National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum$44M American Bar Association$43M BYP100 Education Fund$26M Shriver Center on Poverty Law$26M National Korean American Service and Education Consortium Inc$25M Action Center on Race & the Economy Institute$23M National Partnership for New Americans$22M

How to find civil rights and advocacy funders in Illinois

1
Start with the funders already active in Illinois
The funders giving the most to civil rights and advocacy in Illinois are The Chicago Community Trust, Freedom House, The Ford Foundation. A funder already writing civil rights and advocacy checks in your state is the warmest place to begin.
2
See who funds organizations like yours
Open the civil rights and advocacy organizations on this page that resemble yours in size or work, and look at who funds them. Shared funders are the strongest signal of fit.
3
Add the out-of-state funders reaching in
70% of civil rights and advocacy money in Illinois comes from funders elsewhere, so national civil rights and advocacy funders are worth approaching even if they are not based in Illinois.

Questions and answers

How do I find funders for a civil rights and advocacy nonprofit in Illinois?: Start with the funders already giving to civil rights and advocacy in Illinois, currently The Chicago Community Trust, Freedom House, The Ford Foundation. Then look at who funds the civil rights and advocacy organizations on this page that resemble yours, and add the national funders reaching into Illinois from out of state.
Who is the largest civil rights and advocacy funder in Illinois?: The Chicago Community Trust gives the most to civil rights and advocacy organizations in Illinois, $70M across the 2022 and 2023 filings.
How much grant money goes to civil rights and advocacy in Illinois?: $692M reached 358 civil rights and advocacy organizations in Illinois, from 1,477 funders. 30% came from funders also based in Illinois.
How recent is this data?: It is read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file filings for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the two years with complete coverage. US charity filings lag 12 to 24 months.

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 camps

funders cluster by geography, not ideology

State money flows

the interactive map of money crossing state lines

Giving abroad

which US foundations fund each country

Each grant is placed by its stated purpose and the recipient's mission, falling back to the recipient's IRS activity category where that is unclear; location is the recipient's state on its most recent filing. Grant figures are read from IRS Form 990 and 990-PF e-file XML for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, among recipients resolved by EIN. Source: IRS Form 990 downloads.