Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
CITIES FORWARD INC
CITIES FORWARD INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,181,000 to it, the largest being SIXTEEN THIRTY FUND ($2,679,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 72% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $6.2M
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $7.2M
- Net assets
- $195k
What Cities Forward Inc does
Mission
Cities forward is a nonpartisan effort focused on helping cities and local governments around the country make participation in the democratic process a priority. Continued on schedule o.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
In 2024, cities forward developed a theory of change focused on investing in nonpartisan civic engagement programs that enhance city governments ability to build genuine relationships with community members and residents. This included 1 connecting to services supporting efforts to help communities and residents understand how to access local, state, and federal government programs, services, and benefits. 2 community building creating awareness about neighborhood-based events to help build and strengthen community connections. 3 engaging in civic life, including voting removing barriers that prevent residents from fully participating in civic life, providing residents with reliable information about upcoming opportunities to participate with local government, and to share nonpartisan information about upcoming elections.
$6,382,604 spentof which $3,533,350 as grants96% of program spendingCities forward believes that governments have immense potential as drivers of civic engagement. Tribal governments are uniquely positioned to drive civic engagement among their members and reduce barriers to voting for native communities. The tribes forward project directly supported tribal governments seeking to expand upon their existing civic engagement efforts. Tribes forward also established partnerships with nonpartisan organizations to help foster government-to-government relationships between tribes and local election officials.
$276,000 spentof which $175,000 as grants4% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,658,604.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2023, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2023, 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 $853k to $213k (−75%).
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.
100% of CITIES FORWARD INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 2 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.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
2 of 5 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 72% 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 CITIES FORWARD 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
CITIES FORWARD INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 37% of grant income and the top three 90%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
90% 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 CITIES FORWARD INC.
“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.
Where its funders are
72% of CITIES FORWARD 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 $2.0M that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 3 states.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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
CITIES FORWARD INC's revenue grew 519% between 2023 and 2024.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,003 public benefit nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like CITIES FORWARD 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
97% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
0%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CITIES FORWARD 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 CITIES FORWARD INC?
- CITIES FORWARD INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $7,181,000 to it, the largest being SIXTEEN THIRTY FUND ($2,679,000). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 72% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CITIES FORWARD INC have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $7,181,000 in grants to CITIES FORWARD INC, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CITIES FORWARD INC?
- SIXTEEN THIRTY FUND is the largest funder on record, with $2,679,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CITIES FORWARD 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 FY2024 (financials across 2023–2024), and the filings of 5 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