Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC
APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 31 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,042,029 to it, the largest being FOLLOW YOUR DREAM FOUNDATION INC ($750,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.1M
- Funders on record
- 31
- Grants received
- $2.0M
- Net assets
- $1.9M
What Appleseed Foundation Inc does
Mission
The appleseed foundation supports the appleseed network, a collaboration of 20 nonprofit justice centers across the us and mexico working together to reduce poverty, combat discrimination, and invigorate democracy.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Appleseed network collaboration -- the appleseed foundation facilitates collaborative advocacy among the 20 justice centers in the appleseed network. These collaborations include multicenter projects related to economic justice, criminal justice, education and youth, immigration, and access to justice. Issues of social justice are both widespread across jurisdictions and deeply rooted in their specific community context, and appleseed's structure independent justice centers working collaboratively as a network allows appleseed to work on these issues both broadly and deeply.
$460,631 spentof which $258,000 as grants62% of program spendingCollective capacity building -- the appleseed foundation deepens the appleseed network's impact by helping build communities of learning and practice among the 20 appleseed justice centers. Through frequent workshops, trainings, staff cohorts, and study groups, the appleseed foundation brings appleseed centers together to share lessons learned, troubleshoot challenges, develop new and innovative approaches, and foster the sense of community necessary to sustain social justice movements.
$169,666 spentof which $10,914 as grants23% of program spendingAppleseed new justice -- the appleseed foundation sows the seeds of justice by launching new appleseed justice centers. When establishing a new appleseed center, the appleseed foundation works closely with local community members, advocates, and other stakeholders to identify the most pressing issues in the jurisdiction, gaps in existing advocacy infrastructure, and opportunities for collaboration. Two newest centers are connecticut appleseed (relaunched in 2024) and wisconsin appleseed (launched in 2025).
$109,578 spentof which $75,500 as grants15% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $739,875.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2021, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2021, 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 $1.7M to $2.0M (+18%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2022 12%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
98% of APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (82% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 5 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
Benet Magnuson Arthur Monroe
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base narrowed from 11 funders to 7 funders, grant income fell $361k → $85k.
10 of 31 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 33% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 31 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
APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 37% 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
75% 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 APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 42% · 2018 70% · 2019 30% · 2020 23% · 2021 49% · 2022 76% · 2023 31% — diversifying over time.
“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
35% of APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 35% 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
APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC draws 95% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 10 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $672k 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
APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC has grown faster than three-quarters of the 1,504 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,504 philanthropy nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like APPLESEED 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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
83%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for APPLESEED 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 APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC?
- APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 31 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,042,029 to it, the largest being FOLLOW YOUR DREAM FOUNDATION INC ($750,000). 11 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 31 organizations giving $2,042,029 in grants to APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC, 11 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC?
- FOLLOW YOUR DREAM FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $750,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like APPLESEED FOUNDATION INC find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2021–2025), and the filings of 31 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