Arizona · Nonprofit
ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA
ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA (Arizona) receives grants from 41 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,335,170 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,182,527). 27 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.9M
- Funders on record
- 41
- Grants received
- $4.3M
- Net assets
- $7.1M
What ACLU Foundation of Arizona does
Mission
The mission of the ACLU Foundation of Arizona is to defend and preserve, through litigation and public education, individual rights and freedoms guaranteed to all by the constitution and the laws of the united states and arizona.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Legal program - the ACLU Foundation of Arizona provides legal representation to persons whose civil liberties are threatened or violated. In fiscal year 2025, we maintained a docket of 15 active cases challenging violations by government. We sent 4 demand letters on government policies and/or actions that violated civil liberties. We were able to maintain our legal docket of 15 cases thanks to the donated legal services of local attorneys totaling $101,1791 during fiscal year 2024-2025. The ACLU Foundation of Arizona processed 1,184 complaints from community members seeking legal assistance from us.
$998,670 spent$310,894 earned by the program54% of program spendingOrganizing -through public education and community outreach, the ACLU Foundation of Arizona informs people about civil liberties and civil rights that are protected by the constitution and laws of the united states and arizona. The organization hosted 72 public education events, distributed legal handbooks, published issue reports, and conducted media interviews on pressing civil liberties issues affecting arizonans. The aclu foundation recruits, trains, and develops volunteer leaders. There were 349 active volunteers and there were 110 one on one meetings with volunteers during fiscal year 2024-2025.
$403,232 spent22% of program spendingPolicy -the aclu of arizona engages in research, policy analysis, and public education to advance civil rights and liberties. We work in coalitions, with partner groups, legal and social service providers, and impacted communities to develop and implement advocacy plans focused on civil rights and liberties. This advocacy includes monitoring, investigation, and advocacy to address abuses along the u.s./mexico border and unlawful immigration enforcement practices.
$235,025 spent13% of program spendingCommunications -through targeted communications, and traditional and online media, the aclu of arizona helps inform the public about pressing civil liberties issues. We use a variety of communications strategies to educate and raise awareness among our members, (which totaled 20,635 in 2025) and supporters, including drafting op-eds and letters to the editor and responding to civil liberties-related news items in the media. The aclu of arizona had 2,913 mentions in the press; 343,192 social media hits and 29,500 social media followers,and published 19 blogs.
$200,230 spent11% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,837,157.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2024 to 2025, from $5.9M to $7.3M (+23%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
87% of ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020, and between the FY2021 and FY2022 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 12 funders to 17 funders, grant income rose $465k → $553k.
15 of 41 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 65% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $2.9M from 2 payers (the payer shares this organization's board, largest American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA raised.
From the IRS filings of ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 41 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 27% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
69% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 33% · 2018 43% · 2019 32% · 2020 34% · 2021 50% · 2022 46% · 2023 36% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
59% of ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 66% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
65% of ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $1.5M that is directly attributable, 58% of it comes from funders outside Arizona, across 13 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $2.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Against its field
ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 479 civil rights nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 479 civil rights nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Arizona
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
69% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
88%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- ACLU of Arizona · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA?
- ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA (Arizona) receives grants from 41 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,335,170 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($1,182,527). 27 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 65% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA have?
- IRS filings report 41 organizations giving $4,335,170 in grants to ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA, 27 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $1,182,527 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ACLU FOUNDATION OF ARIZONA find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Arizona. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds ACLU Foundation of Arizona →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 41 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing