Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 41 organizations whose IRS filings report $41,599,450 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($9,645,790). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 69% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2024
- $25M
- Funders on record
- 41
- Grants received
- $42M
- Net assets
- $19M
What Defending Democracy Together Institute does
Mission
To elevate and assemble pro-democracy voices in an effort to educate the public about the essential function and value of american democracy and to encourage innovative thinking about how to solve the emerging challenges facing america.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
In 2024, Defending Democracy Together Institute's general programming continued its efforts to educate the public about the essential function and value of american democracy. The program supported convenings and resources that fostered civic trust and highlighted the importance of preserving democratic institutions and norms. Board members and affiliated experts also participated in public forums and news media to promote these ideals and broaden the reach of the institute's educational mission.
$12,818,232 spentof which $12,615,000 as grants73% of program spendingThe democracy innovation fund (dif) incubates and accelerates pro-democracy infrastructure on the center-right. Dif grants to nascent organizations to put these organizations on a path to independent growth and sustainability. During 2024, dif saw significant progress by its grantees and made grants to new organizations.
$2,774,464 spentof which $2,200,000 as grants16% of program spendingIn 2024, pillars of the community continued as a nonpartisan civic initiative dedicated to strengthening public confidence in election administration. The program convened community leaders and election officials through both virtual and in-person events, highlighting the essential role of trusted local institutions in supporting democratic processes. These efforts emphasized transparency, public education, and constructive dialogue around election systems.
$1,112,032 spent6% of program spendingThe lyceum labs project undertook three main activities in 2024: (1) continuing to form and convene the leading to govern network. The biggest and most important activity in 2024 was engaging leaders of more than two dozen 501(c) organizations in the leading to govern network through quarterly calls and our first ever 2-day in-person convening in washington, dc. All of these organizations share a belief in and commitment to providing support to pragmatic, solutions-oriented elected officials at the state and local levels through nonpartisan research, analysis, and educational activities. (2) orchestrating the "leading to govern" symposium in democracy journal. Lyceum labs curated a symposium on "revitalizing political leadership" for the summer 2024 issue of democracy: a journal of ideas. In the symposium, leaders of seven network partners published essays on the opportunities that they are pursuing through their organizations' respective missions and what they have learned through their work. Lyceum labs worked with michael tomasky, editor of the journal, to envision this symposium, select the themes, and solicit the essays. Lyceum labs also sub-granted to the democracy journal…
$759,990 spentof which $75,000 as grants4% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $17,464,718.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 $13M to $20M (+58%).
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.
97% of DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 7 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
Sarah Longwell
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2019 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 15 funders, grant income rose $1.4M → $11M.
18 of 41 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 69% 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: $1.0M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Defending Democracy Together). These are real filings, and they are not money DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE raised.
From the IRS filings of DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 41 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
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 23% 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
85% 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 DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 72% · 2020 71% · 2021 49% · 2022 98% · 2023 21% — 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
22% of DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 29% 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
69% of DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE'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 $13M that is directly attributable, 87% of it comes from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 9 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $29M arriving through sponsors registered in 10 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
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 4,064 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 4,064 education nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE
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
99% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
91%
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 DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE: 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 DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE?
- DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 41 organizations whose IRS filings report $41,599,450 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($9,645,790). 12 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 69% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE have?
- IRS filings report 41 organizations giving $41,599,450 in grants to DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE, 12 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $9,645,790 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DEFENDING DEMOCRACY TOGETHER INSTITUTE 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 2018–2024), and the filings of 41 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