Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
DEMOCRACY 21
DEMOCRACY 21 (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $839,047 to it, the largest being STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS ACTION D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS ACTION ($516,422). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
Three funders worth looking at
Grantmakers with no record of funding this organization, ranked by how strongly the co-funder graph and the mission embeddings agree. The evidence is in section 03.
- Our American Future Actionlocalportfolio match
- Rockefeller Family Fund Incshared funders
- National Redistricting Action Fundportfolio match
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.
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 3 funders, grant income rose $1k → $162k.
Left out of every figure on this page: $285k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Democracy 21 Education Fund). These are real filings, and they are not money DEMOCRACY 21 raised.
From the IRS filings of DEMOCRACY 21’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
DEMOCRACY 21 leans on a few funders — its largest provides 62% of grant income and the top three 91%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
81% 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 DEMOCRACY 21.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 95% · 2018 100% · 2019 62% · 2020 100% · 2021 82% · 2022 80% · 2023 84% — 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
50% of DEMOCRACY 21's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 38% 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 DEMOCRACY 21's grant income comes from Washington, D.C. funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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.
Funders to approach
Grantmakers that don’t fund you yet, surfaced two ways: they back organizations that share your funders, or their grantees resemble your mission. The ones both signals agree on come first. Your 8 funders put you under-funded among the 400 organizations that share them.
- Our American Future Actionlocalportfolio matchDC · funds 79 organizations near you · its grantees resemble your mission
- Rockefeller Family Fund Incshared fundersNY · backs 49 organizations that share your funders
- National Redistricting Action Fundportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Unite America Institute Incportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Democracy Fund Voice Incportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Bright Future Fundportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- End Citizens United Let America Vote Action Fundportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Guardian of Rights Fundportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Action Now Incportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Fair Democracyportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Article IVportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
- Protect Democracy Projectportfolio matchits grantees resemble your mission
From the co-funder graph (funders backing at least two comparable organizations, shrunk for grantee count, donor-advised and mega-funds excluded) and the universe embeddings. A research starting point; overlap is association, not a guarantee of fit.
Organizations like DEMOCRACY 21
Nonprofits whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over the universe of 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
91% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Democracy 21 Education Fund · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DEMOCRACY 21: 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. How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds DEMOCRACY 21?
- DEMOCRACY 21 (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 8 organizations whose IRS filings report $839,047 to it, the largest being STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS ACTION D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS ACTION ($516,422). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DEMOCRACY 21 have?
- IRS filings report 8 organizations giving $839,047 in grants to DEMOCRACY 21, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DEMOCRACY 21?
- STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS ACTION D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS ACTION is the largest funder on record, with $516,422 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DEMOCRACY 21 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 8funders 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 August 27, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing