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Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit

CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY

CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 53 organizations whose IRS filings report $29,999,071 to it, the largest being THE FORD FOUNDATION ($8,087,707). 33 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$11M
Funders on record
53
Grants received
$30M
Net assets
$16M
33/53 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 66%
01What it does

What Center for Democracy and Technology does

Mission

Advocating for public policies that advance democratic values in the digital age.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Privacy & data: as technology permeates all facets of society, the personal data collected, used and shared by companies and governments has wide-ranging effects on people's lives. Cdt advances laws, policies and best practices to protect people's digital privacy, and to address unfair and discriminatory uses of people's data. We champion consumers' interests, with a particular focus on the rights of historically marginalized communities.

    $1,507,742 spentof which $60,000 as grants$150,000 earned by the program
    19% of program spending
  2. Research: the research team conducts and supports original, objective research to inform current policy debates. The team examines novel questions that can give context to policy conversations - and builds bridges between researchers and policymakers, to support evidence- based policymaking. The research team works closely with cdt policy teams to identify research questions but conducts independent and objective research to address these questions.

    $1,318,322 spent
    17% of program spending
  3. Equity in civic technology: as government agencies increasingly rely on data and technology to carry out their responsibilities, it is critical that they do so in ways that affirm individual privacy, respect civil rights, promote transparent and accountable oversight, and advance just social structures within the broader community. Cdt furthers these goals by creating solutions-oriented policy resources and actionable technical guidance.

    $1,303,801 spent
    17% of program spending
  4. Ai governance lab: the ai governance lab develops and promotes adoption of robust, technically informed solutions for the effective regulation and governance of ai systems. The lab provides public interest expertise in rapidly developing policy and technical conversations, to advance the interests of individuals whose lives and rights are impacted by ai.

    $1,121,094 spent$85,000 earned by the program
    14% of program spending
  5. Security & surveillance: new technologies have given governments unprecedented means to access personal information. In order to ensure all people can seek information and express themselves freely, there must be reasonable checks and balances on governments' ability to access, collect, and store individuals' data. Cdt advances thoughtful solutions for government surveillance, cyber security, and other issues concerning civil liberties and new technologies.

    $598,288 spentof which $105,000 as grants
    8% of program spending
  6. Communications

    $567,949 spent
    7% of program spending
  7. Elections and democracy: cdt works to support secure, accessible, informed, and trustworthy elections. Our team monitors trends and conducts real-time research to understand how ai is impacting elections; helps voters access authoritative information about elections and campaigns; fights tech-enabled voter suppression; and supports election security and administration through our work with election officials, ai companies and online platforms, legislators, voting rights organizations, and other stakeholders.

    $404,996 spent
    5% of program spending
  8. Free expression: the internet and new technologies give people the ability to express themselves, access information, and find community. Cdt works to protect these activities online, and to advance platform governance approaches that promote human rights and ensure accountability for companies and governments involved. Our team works to sustain a free and open internet on both a domestic and global stage.

    $354,862 spent
    5% of program spending
  9. Grants made to support the operations of the cdt europe organization.

    $350,000 spentof which $350,000 as grants
    4% of program spending
  10. Internet architecture/open internet: the open internet team works to enable internet users to maximize the opportunities for free expression and innovation offered by an accessible, interconnected, and unrestricted platform. To help the internet retain its democratic values and openness, the team works to protect users' rights to access, create, and share content and services.

    $238,784 spent
    3% of program spending
  11. Competition: powerful companies with strong market positions exist throughout the internet ecosystem, ranging from broadband providers to operating systems to digital platforms and more. Cdt develops pragmatic approaches to competition policy and works with policymakers and companies around the globe to cultivate a vibrant digital economy of the future.

    $101,003 spent
    1% of program spending

The 11 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,866,841.

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. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($6.2M) Expenses 100 ($4.8M) Net assets 100 ($2.9M)2018 Revenue 76 ($4.7M) Expenses 116 ($5.6M) Net assets 71 ($2.1M)2019 Revenue 150 ($9.3M) Expenses 150 ($7.2M) Net assets 146 ($4.2M)2020 Revenue 95 ($5.9M) Expenses 120 ($5.7M) Net assets 152 ($4.4M)2021 Revenue 165 ($10M) Expenses 126 ($6.0M) Net assets 295 ($8.6M)2022 Revenue 182 ($11M) Expenses 144 ($6.9M) Net assets 446 ($13M)2023 Revenue 126 ($7.8M) Expenses 154 ($7.3M) Net assets 463 ($14M)2024 Revenue 181 ($11M) Expenses 183 ($8.8M) Net assets 549 ($16M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (181)Expenses (183)Net assets (549)Peer revenue range

Balance sheet

Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2021 to 2022, from $9.3M to $19M (+105%).

$3.8M
$3.1M
$5.4M
$5.7M
$9.3M
$19M
$19M
$21M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
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
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2021 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

96% of CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (96% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 156 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$1.4M
’17
−$831k
’18
$2.2M
’19
$183k
’20
$4.2M
’21
$4.4M
’22
$481k
’23
$2.5M
’24
16
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

Alexandra Givens

President & CEO

Board chair

William S Bernstein

Chair

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

The chief executive listed changed between the FY2019 and FY2020 filings.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed2219212019181922
Joined·+1+3+4+5+0+3+9
No longer listed·4156126
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 15 funders to 20 funders, grant income rose $3.1M → $4.9M.

9 of 53 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 24% 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 CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 53 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

CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY 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

32% 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 CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY.

27%
largest funder
62%
top three
~7
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 64% · 2018 23% · 2019 36% · 2020 33% · 2021 45% · 2022 41% · 2023 35% — 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

34% of CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY draws 94% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 15 states in all.

WA
MT
IL
WI
NY
MA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
VA
AZ
AR
DC
FL

In-state vs out-of-state, by year

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Washington, D.C. out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.3M arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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

Against its field

CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 152 civil rights nonprofits its size.

Operating margin22% · top quartile
Months of reserve15.9mo · top quartile
Revenue growth (annualized)9% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 152 civil rights nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024

Organizations like CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY

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

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

90% of spending goes to programs.

Program 90%Management 6%Fundraising 5%

Governance

13
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

66%

Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 12 states

NH
IL
NY
MA
CT
CA
WV
VA
MD
SC
MS
FL

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • Cdt Europe · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY: 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 CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY?
CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 53 organizations whose IRS filings report $29,999,071 to it, the largest being THE FORD FOUNDATION ($8,087,707). 33 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY have?
IRS filings report 53 organizations giving $29,999,071 in grants to CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY, 33 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY?
THE FORD FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $8,087,707 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 53 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