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California · Nonprofit

DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE

DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE (California) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,667,222 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($2,700,000). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$2.8M
Funders on record
39
Grants received
$13M
Net assets
$2.2M
18/39 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 70%
01What it does

What Democracy at Work Institute does

Mission

The mission of the Democracy at Work Institute is to expand the worker cooperative model to reach communities most directly affected by social and economic inequality, specifically people of color, recent immigrants, and low-wage workforces. We are a movement-based think-and-do tank supporting worker cooperatives to grow to a scale that creates meaningful change in the economy.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Rapid response cooperative development model - this model helps cooperatives form as llcs with member buy-in, profit distribution, and democratic governance. It uses franchise-like elements shared back-office services and standardized training that make cooperatives easier to start and are better supported as they grow.

    $743,042 spentof which $321,220 as grants$258,816 earned by the program
    22% of program spending

  2. Fiscally-sponsored projects - fiscally sponsored projects allow mission-aligned initiatives to access funding. We provide oversight and disburse funds incrementally over the course of the grant periods.

    $720,838 spentof which $630,709 as grants$56,543 earned by the program
    21% of program spending

  3. School for democratic management - as a field-building organization, dawi is committed to accelerating the work of the next generation of worker cooperative members, managers, developers, and regional partners by filling critical gaps in worker cooperative education via trends in online learning, regional cooperative growth, and the field's need for culturally-relevant content.

    $381,223 spent
    11% of program spending

  4. Communications & field building

    $377,916 spentof which $4,500 as grants
    11% of program spending

  5. Worker ownership cities

    $317,950 spent
    9% of program spending

  6. Rural projects/technical assistance

    $247,456 spent
    7% of program spending

  7. Data & research

    $238,007 spent
    7% of program spending

  8. Legacy fund

    $201,562 spent
    6% of program spending

  9. Organizational development

    $115,578 spent
    3% of program spending

  10. Wcc (worker co-op conference)

    $30,979 spent
    1% of program spending

The 10 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,374,551.

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 ($1.7M) Expenses 100 ($1.7M) Net assets 100 ($800k)2018 Revenue 119 ($2.1M) Expenses 132 ($2.3M) Net assets 69 ($555k)2019 Revenue 127 ($2.2M) Expenses 108 ($1.9M) Net assets 107 ($856k)2020 Revenue 104 ($1.8M) Expenses 108 ($1.9M) Net assets 97 ($775k)2021 Revenue 218 ($3.8M) Expenses 180 ($3.1M) Net assets 168 ($1.3M)2022 Revenue 222 ($3.8M) Expenses 180 ($3.1M) Net assets 254 ($2.0M)2023 Revenue 266 ($4.6M) Expenses 173 ($3.0M) Net assets 452 ($3.6M)2024 Revenue 160 ($2.8M) Expenses 241 ($4.2M) Net assets 273 ($2.2M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (160)Expenses (241)Net assets (273)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 2022 to 2023, from $2.3M to $4.0M (+69%).

$898k
$908k
$1.1M
$994k
$1.8M
$2.3M
$4.0M
$3.0M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
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
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Government-grant reliance: 2017 32% · 2018 30% · 2019 31% · 2020 52% · 2021 40% · 2022 29% · 2023 18% · 2024 37%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

87% of DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (16% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 1,617 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

−$18k
’17
−$245k
’18
$301k
’19
−$81k
’20
$618k
’21
$687k
’22
$1.6M
’23
−$1.4M
’24
5.2
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.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed1110111311131215
Joined·+0+2+4+4+4+2+4
No longer listed·1126231
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 2 funders to 16 funders, grant income rose $308k → $3.2M.

Funder
'17
'18
'19
'20
'21
'22
'23
'24*
'25*
total
Global Communitiesunclassified
$718k
Multiplierunclassified
$220k
Solidago Foundationunclassified
$208k
Cooperacin Santa Anaunclassified
$75k
Race Forwardunclassified
$75k
funders
2
3
2
6
9
13
16
13
10

11 of 39 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 12% 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 DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 39 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

DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left

34% 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 AT WORK INSTITUTE.

21%
largest funder
38%
top three
~12
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 81% · 2018 47% · 2019 92% · 2020 40% · 2021 32% · 2022 25% · 2023 25% — 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

33% of DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 46% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y

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

DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE draws 81% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 12 states in all.

WA
MI
NY
MA
PA
NJ
CA
MD
DE
NC
DC
FL

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

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
California out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.5M arriving through sponsors registered in 7 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

DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE is better cushioned than half of the 1,551 employment nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−52% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve5.2mo · above the median
Revenue growth (annualized)7% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 1,551 employment nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Government funding DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE receives

Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $3.0M on record.

Federal$3.0M
grants $3.0Mcontracts $0
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Top agencies
  • Department of Agriculture$3.0M

Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.

Organizations like DEMOCRACY AT WORK 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 California

Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute82%Policylink81%Education Training and Research Associates81%Rebuild the Dream81%Forward Impact81%Define American Inc81%Project Tf81%Aapi Democracy Fund80%

Nationally

Democracy Forward Foundation84%Independence Initiative Inc84%Partners in Democracy Inc84%Work for America Inc84%Democracyatwork Info84%Demand Progress Education Fund83%Centro de Los Derechos del Migrante Inc83%National Domestic Workers Alliance Inc83%
05Profile & governance

Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.

Where the money goes

81% of spending goes to programs.

Program 81%Management 18%Fundraising 2%

Governance

7
board members
57%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

77%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 2 states

NY
CA

Part of a family of 1 related entity

  • US Federation of Worker Cooperatives · exempt

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DEMOCRACY AT WORK 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.

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 DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE?
DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE (California) receives grants from 39 organizations whose IRS filings report $12,667,222 to it, the largest being WK Kellogg Foundation ($2,700,000). 18 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE have?
IRS filings report 39 organizations giving $12,667,222 in grants to DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE, 18 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE?
WK Kellogg Foundation is the largest funder on record, with $2,700,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like DEMOCRACY AT WORK INSTITUTE find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 39 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