South Carolina · Nonprofit
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC (South Carolina) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $279,454 to it, the largest being NATIONAL LOW INCOME HOUSING COALITION ($80,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.9M
- Funders on record
- 13
- Grants received
- $279k
- Net assets
- $3.3M
What American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina Foundation Inc does
Mission
At the aclu of south carolina foundation, we advocate, litigate, educate, and mobilize to defend and advance the civil rights and civil liberties of all south carolinians.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
On its FY2024 return the organization reported starting a significant new program.
The organization added a new priority area in 2025: immigrants' rights. This priority uses all of the organization's strategies -- advocacy and organizing, communications, and litigation -- to protect the rights of immigrants living in south carolina.
Its own explanation, from Schedule O of that return (Part III, line 2).
Impact litigation: our legal team uses impact litigation to vindicate the various civil rights and liberties protected under state and federal law. When policy or practice fails to live up to the values set forth in our constitution, litigation provides an opportunity to right the wrongs experienced by our clients and to reform the systems that caused the harm.we prioritize cases in the areas of voting rights, juvenile justice, free speech, and lgbtq equality. In 2024, we were successful in getting struck down a north myrtle beach ordinance prohibiting profane, vulgar, and obscene music," arguing that such an ordinance violated the first amendment. Also in 2024, we challenged the south carolina department of motor vehicles and state election commission's failure to register eligible 17-year-old voters, which led to an update in systems and processes ensuring these young voters could register as required by law.
$328,205 spentof which $5,500 as grants36% of program spendingAdvocacy and organizing: our advocacy team analyzes the impact of proposed and existing legislation on civil rights and civil liberties and looks for opportunities to further our mission through positive policy changes. Then we advocate for good laws and stand in the way of bad policy. When we're advocating, we organize and mobilize activists who lead efforts in local communities and engage in statewide campaigns.in 2024, we successfully stopped state lawmakers from censoring the curriculum taught in public schools. We conducted legal analysis of the proposed policies, educated south carolinians about the ways curriculum censorship violates the first amendment, and elevated the voices of students, parents, teachers, and libraries who were opposed to these harmful proposals.
$312,223 spent$358 earned by the program34% of program spendingCommunications and public education: our communications team educates the public about civil rights and civil liberties. We tell the story of south carolinians -- those whose rights have been violated and those who fight for change. We grow our base of supporters by firing up and energizing people who share our values. And we persuade the public to support our issues.in 2024, we launched a podcast called "while I breathe." through it, we highlight major civil rights issues of the day. We've taken listeners into eviction court and townhall meetings with local sheriffs, and we've told stories of the activists who are working to change the state on issues ranging from the freedom to read to religious liberty to gerrymandering.
$138,968 spentof which $5,000 as grants15% of program spendingAll other program services
$131,153 spentof which $855 as grants$224 earned by the program14% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $910,549.
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 2023 to 2024, from $2.1M to $2.9M (+39%).
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.
98% of AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (97% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 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.
Chief executive
Jace Woodrum
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 3 funders to 2 funders, grant income fell $63k → $26k.
9 of 13 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 54% 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 3 payers (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 OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC raised.
From the IRS filings of AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 12 of 13 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
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 29% 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
99% 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 OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 45% · 2018 60% · 2020 98% · 2021 81% · 2022 100% · 2023 78% — 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
0% of AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% 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
54% of AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION 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 $127k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside South Carolina, across 4 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $152k arriving through sponsors registered in 8 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
AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 431 civil rights nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 431 civil rights nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION 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 South Carolina
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
68% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 2 related entities
- American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina · exempt
- American Civil Liberties Union National Foundation · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION 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.
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 OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC?
- AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC (South Carolina) receives grants from 13 organizations whose IRS filings report $279,454 to it, the largest being NATIONAL LOW INCOME HOUSING COALITION ($80,000). 5 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 54% 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 OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 13 organizations giving $279,454 in grants to AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC, 5 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC?
- NATIONAL LOW INCOME HOUSING COALITION is the largest funder on record, with $80,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in South Carolina. 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 of South Carolina →
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 13 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