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Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit

Dalberg Catalyst

Dalberg Catalyst (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $18,203,729 to it, the largest being THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION ($6,279,894). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$6.0M
Funders on record
14
Grants received
$18M
Net assets
$6.5M
8/14 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 74%
01What it does

What Dalberg Catalyst does

Mission

Dalberg Catalyst exists to co-create and actively accelerate systems solutions that have a tangible and durable impact on the pressing societal and planetary challenges of our time. We tackle challenges with agility and accountability, doing what it takes to have transformative impact. Our solutions combine: 1. The systems approach that complex problems require, 2. Building from local contexts, amplifying local voices, 3. Intellectual rigor, openness, and humility, and 4. Critical actors who collectively bring the capacity and legitimacy required to shift the paradigm and implement the necessary solutions.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Tvet - see schedule o

    $1,382,349 spent
    18% of program spending
  2. Cap-a - see schedule o

    $1,210,492 spentof which $769,410 as grants
    16% of program spending
  3. Climate smart forest economy program - see schedule o

    $1,038,464 spentof which $41,256 as grants
    14% of program spending
  4. Other Programs

    $3,942,435 spentof which $542,974 as grants$53,095 earned by the program
    52% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $7,573,740.

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 ($297k) Expenses 100 ($239k) Net assets 100 ($58k)2018 Revenue 267 ($793k) Expenses 274 ($656k) Net assets 337 ($194k)2020 Revenue 3215 ($9.5M) Expenses 1537 ($3.7M) Net assets 11071 ($6.4M)2021 Revenue 2139 ($6.4M) Expenses 1949 ($4.7M) Net assets 13873 ($8.0M)2022 Revenue 3743 ($11M) Expenses 4105 ($9.8M) Net assets 15974 ($9.2M)2023 Revenue 2934 ($8.7M) Expenses 3634 ($8.7M) Net assets 15860 ($9.1M)2024 Revenue 2015 ($6.0M) Expenses 3594 ($8.6M) Net assets 11249 ($6.5M)
2017201820202021202220232024
Revenue (2015)Expenses (3594)Net assets (11249)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 2023 to 2024, from $11M to $7.1M (−33%).

$58k
$194k
$7.1M
$9.3M
$11M
$11M
$7.1M
2017201820202021202220232024
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
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

99% of Dalberg Catalyst’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (97% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 1,679 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 7 reported years ran a deficit.

$58k
’17
$136k
’18
$5.9M
’20
$1.7M
’21
$1.3M
’22
$13k
’23
−$2.6M
’24
5.1
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

Sonila Cook

President/CEO

As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.

2017201820202021202220232024
Listed3346788
Joined·+0·+2+3+2+1
No longer listed·0·0211
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 6 funders, grant income rose $25k → $6.4M.

2 of 14 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 4% 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 Dalberg Catalyst’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

Dalberg Catalyst leans on a few funders — its largest provides 34% of grant income and the top three 83%; half comes from just 2 funders.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left

25% 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 Dalberg Catalyst.

34%
largest funder
83%
top three
~4
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2020 98% · 2021 49% · 2022 45% · 2023 44% — 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

63% of Dalberg Catalyst's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 57% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y

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

Dalberg Catalyst draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 4 states in all.

WA
NY
CA
MO

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

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

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $775k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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

Dalberg Catalyst has grown faster than three-quarters of the 1,607 international nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−44% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve5.1mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)54% · top quartile

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,607 international nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Organizations like Dalberg Catalyst

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

88% of spending goes to programs.

Program 88%Management 12%Fundraising 0%

Governance

4
board members
75%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

49%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 3 states

NY
CA
DC

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Dalberg Catalyst: 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.

A paid feature, included from the $75 plan up. Sign in to download.

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 Dalberg Catalyst?
Dalberg Catalyst (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 14 organizations whose IRS filings report $18,203,729 to it, the largest being THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION ($6,279,894). 8 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Dalberg Catalyst have?
IRS filings report 14 organizations giving $18,203,729 in grants to Dalberg Catalyst, 8 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Dalberg Catalyst?
THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $6,279,894 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Dalberg Catalyst 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 14 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