Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 346 organizations whose IRS filings report $106,000,346 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($20,416,250). 208 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $24M
- Funders on record
- 346
- Grants received
- $106M
- Net assets
- $28M
What Children's Defense Fund does
Mission
Children's Defense Fund envisions a nation where marginalized children flourish, leaders prioritize their well-being, and communities wield the power to ensure they thrive.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Cdf freedom schools - provided a high quality, research-based reading enrichment program for children and youth in underserved and impoverished communities. Fostered cultural pride and personal empowerment, academic confidence and belief in their ability to effect change in themselves, their communities and the world.
$8,228,876 spentof which $1,503,435 as grants$557,661 earned by the program45% of program spendingPolicy/advocacy for children - educated policy makers and the public on the policies and programs that improve the odds for poor children and children of color. Worked at the national, state and local levels to promote, implement and monitor key policy recommendations. Produced rigorous non-partisan research and reports on the factors that support children's well-being.
$6,400,237 spentof which $1,169,338 as grants35% of program spendingYouth leadership development - identified and trained children and young adults nationwide to be leaders and advocates for the supports and services that children need to thrive. Delivered empowering, multigenerational programming on social justice and civic action to young people, faith leaders and members of the broader community dedicated to addressing the needs of poor children in america.
$3,657,280 spentof which $668,193 as grants20% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2022 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $18,286,393.
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 2020 to 2021, from $32M to $55M (+73%).
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: 2017 13% · 2020 8% · 2021 5% · 2022 11% · 2023 10% · 2024 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
81% of CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND’s revenue is contributions — more earned-revenue than three-quarters of its peers (96% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 6 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
Starsky Wilson
President/CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 77 funders to 125 funders, grant income rose $4.5M → $18M.
52 of 346 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 35% 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: $270k from one payer (the same organization on both sides, largest Children's Defense Fund). These are real filings, and they are not money CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND raised.
From the IRS filings of CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 346 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
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 19% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left
58% 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 CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 11% · 2019 17% · 2020 11% · 2021 61% · 2022 16% · 2023 24% — 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
41% of CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 60% 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
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND draws 96% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 35 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $37M arriving through sponsors registered in 21 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
CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND's funding base is broadening — from 77 funders to 125 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 152 civil rights nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Government funding CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $2.2M on record — $2.1M federal, $86k state.
- Department of Health and Human Services$2.1M
- DE$84k
- NJ$2k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND
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
73% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
79%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 38 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND: 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 CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND?
- CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 346 organizations whose IRS filings report $106,000,346 to it, the largest being The Chicago Community Trust ($20,416,250). 208 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND have?
- IRS filings report 346 organizations giving $106,000,346 in grants to CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND, 208 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND?
- The Chicago Community Trust is the largest funder on record, with $20,416,250 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND 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 346 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