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Vermont · Nonprofit

American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc

American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc (Vermont) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $763,248 to it, the largest being THE VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($332,580). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 99% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.

Revenue FY2025
$1.8M
Funders on record
8
Grants received
$763k
Net assets
$4.6M
3/8 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 9%
01What it does

What American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc does

Mission

The ACLU Foundation of Vermont is an organization that protects civil liberties. It provides legal representation, communication, and advocacy with regards to rights guaranteed by the U.S. and Vermont Constitutions.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Program

  1. The ACLU Foundation of Vermont is an organization that protects civil liberties. It provides legal representation, communication, and advocacy with regards to rights guaranteed by the U.S. and Vermont Constitutions.

    $1,091,999 spent$43,202 earned by the program
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,091,999.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($1.1M) Expenses 100 ($565k) Net assets 100 ($2.7M)2018 Revenue 104 ($1.1M) Expenses 127 ($718k) Net assets 107 ($2.9M)2019 Revenue 94 ($1.0M) Expenses 142 ($803k) Net assets 115 ($3.1M)2020 Revenue 91 ($996k) Expenses 159 ($897k) Net assets 110 ($3.0M)2021 Revenue 131 ($1.4M) Expenses 154 ($871k) Net assets 161 ($4.4M)2022 Revenue 142 ($1.6M) Expenses 228 ($1.3M) Net assets 178 ($4.8M)2023 Revenue 88 ($962k) Expenses 269 ($1.5M) Net assets 148 ($4.0M)2024 Revenue 137 ($1.5M) Expenses 296 ($1.7M) Net assets 162 ($4.4M)2025 Revenue 162 ($1.8M) Expenses 309 ($1.7M) Net assets 168 ($4.6M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (162)Expenses (309)Net assets (168)

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $3.3M to $4.7M (+43%).

$2.8M
$3.1M
$3.3M
$3.3M
$4.7M
$5.0M
$4.1M
$4.6M
$4.7M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Total assetsTotal liabilities

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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

$533k
’17
$418k
’18
$223k
’19
$99k
’20
$569k
’21
$277k
’22
−$559k
’23
−$164k
’24
$36k
’25
1.6
months of
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.

Chief executive

James Duff Lyall

Executive Director

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed182022232323212021
Joined·+4+2+3+3+4+4+5+3
No longer listed·20234662
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 3 funders to 4 funders, grant income rose $43k → $85k.

6 of 8 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 99% 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: $713k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc raised.

From the IRS filings of American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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

American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 44% of grant income and the top three 91%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

100% 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 American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc.

44%
largest funder
91%
top three
~3
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 50% · 2018 47% · 2019 58% · 2020 75% · 2021 57% · 2022 61% · 2023 57% — 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

50% of American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y

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

99% of American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc'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 $6k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from Vermont funders.

VT

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $757k arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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.

04Its place in the field

Organizations like American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc

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 Vermont

Nationally

05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

63% of spending goes to programs.

Program 63%Management 23%Fundraising 14%

Governance

16
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

89%

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

  • American Civil Liberities Union of Vermont Inc · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc: 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.

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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 American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc?
American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc (Vermont) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $763,248 to it, the largest being THE VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION ($332,580). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 99% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
How many funders does American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc have?
IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $763,248 in grants to American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc?
THE VERMONT COMMUNITY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $332,580 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont Inc find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Vermont. 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 American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Vermont →

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 8 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 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing