Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC
CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 99 organizations whose IRS filings report $27,377,746 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($9,514,979). 61 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $11M
- Funders on record
- 99
- Grants received
- $27M
- Net assets
- $11M
What Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Inc does
Mission
Crew uses aggressive legal action, in-depth research, collaborative policy development, and bold communications to help foster a government that is ethical and accountable, reduce the influence of money in politics, and preserve america's (continued on schedule o) democratic system of government. We highlight abuses, change behavior, raise awareness, and lay the groundwork for new policies and approaches that encourage public officials to work for the benefit of the people, not for their own enrichment or the benefit of powerful interests.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Legal: crew has engaged in large-scale litigation to ensure compliance with key accountability and transparency laws including the constitution's disqualification clause, the federal records act, and the presidential records act. Crew has filed numerous ethics complaints and administrative and legal complaints with the office of government ethics, the department of justice, state prosecutors, the office of special counsel, and other agencies against executive branch officials, members of congress, and other government officials; crew has also filed complaints with the federal election commission, the internal revenue service, and other agencies concerning violations of campaign finance and tax laws by governmentofficials and those who seek to influence them, as well as by candidates for office and political or non-profit organizations. The organization has litigated against government agencies to ensure that they adequately enforce campaign finance laws and related laws.crew has initiated freedom of information act requests and other open records requests seeking information regarding potential ethics violations and conflicts of interest by government officials, the influence of…
$3,362,557 spent$42,528 earned by the program59% of program spendingEducation: crew has worked to educate the public about unethical, illegal, and anti-democratic conduct on the part of public officials and those who seek to influence them, the threat this conduct poses to our democracy, the legal provisions available and the legal reformsnecessary to hold them accountable, as well as the corrupting influence of money in politics. It has publicized instances of these kinds of abuses and broader patterns of unethical or anti-democratic conduct and improper or excessive influence. The organization's activities have been highlighted in print, broadcast, and online news sources throughout the country and the world. It also maintains websites and social media accounts that publicize its activities. Crew has also published in depth reports on government ethics, democracy, and corruption issues and on the influence of money in politics based on its own research, obtained documents, and legal analysis. Crew's president & ceo, board members, and other employees regularly appear in print and broadcast media discussing government ethics, money in politics, and the preservation of democracy.
$2,313,573 spent41% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,676,130.
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 2019 to 2020, from $4.7M to $8.4M (+76%).
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: 2021 6% · 2022 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (30% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 8 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
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 24 funders to 41 funders, grant income rose $1.7M → $2.4M.
35 of 99 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 78% 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 CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 99 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
CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 35% of grant income and the top three 55%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
82% 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 CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 34% · 2018 18% · 2019 55% · 2020 52% · 2021 64% · 2022 44% · 2023 15% — 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
43% of CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 62% 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
78% of CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON 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 $5.9M that is directly attributable, 89% of it comes from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 19 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21M arriving through sponsors registered in 16 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
CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 269 public benefit nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 269 public benefit nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON 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
67% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
85%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 29 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON 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 CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC?
- CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 99 organizations whose IRS filings report $27,377,746 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($9,514,979). 61 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 78% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC have?
- IRS filings report 99 organizations giving $27,377,746 in grants to CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC, 61 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON INC?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $9,514,979 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like CITIZENS FOR RESPONSIBILITY AND ETHICS IN WASHINGTON 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.
Play a game about who funds Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington →
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 99 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