Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND
DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,056,000 to it, the largest being THE FORD FOUNDATION ($1,720,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2023
- $9k
- Funders on record
- 16
- Grants received
- $3.1M
- Net assets
- $0
What Democracy Initiative Education Fund does
Mission
To dedicate itself to public education for member organizations about the necessity of broader democracy reform so that Democracy Initiative Education Fund can fully realize the promise of american democracy; a government of, by, and for the people.
As stated on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ.
Programs
National education and engagement - dief acts as a catalyst for partner organizations to collaborate with and support the efforts of partner organizations to educate their membership. Activities include research and analysis, strategic guidance, and communications tools to help inform the groups' members and the public about democracy issues while connecting to the organizational mission and to utilize a race, class, gender lgbtq equity lens.
$111,785 spent37% of program spendingState and local educational campaigns - dief acts as a catalyst for the partner organization to engage their members in the efforts to educate the public around democracy reform in several states, working with local leaders. The organizations also coordinate engagement of local leaders in national educational efforts on democracy issues. Specific issues have included voting rights, civic participation and money in politics.
$90,636 spent30% of program spendingMovement building and coalition - dief focuses organizations to transcend silos and take collective action by unifying around democracy reform. The organizations support the participation of partner groups in coalition activities and facilitates information sharing. Activities include regular coalition meetings on various democracy issues, newsletter distribution, and ongoing stewardship with individual organizations to strategize on their institutional engagement through a race, class, gender, lgbtq equity lens.
$60,424 spent20% of program spendingLeadership development - dief encourages and supports lgbtq leaders from marginalized communities and provides training and support through internships, mentorships and fellowships.
$39,276 spent13% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2022 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $302,121.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2020 to 2021, from $574k to $45k (−92%).
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. 3 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
Charly Carter
Executive director
As listed on its FY2022 Form 990-EZ.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2022: the base narrowed from 7 funders to 4 funders, grant income fell $620k → $373k.
4 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% 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 INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND’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 INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND leans on a few funders — its largest provides 56% of grant income and the top three 76%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 32% · 2018 47% · 2019 56% · 2020 59% · 2021 80% · 2022 86% — growing more concentrated.
“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
36% of DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 56% 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 FY2022, 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 INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND draws 93% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 6 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $106k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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.
Organizations like DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND
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.
Public support
25%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND: 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 DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND?
- DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,056,000 to it, the largest being THE FORD FOUNDATION ($1,720,000). 9 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND have?
- IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $3,056,000 in grants to DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND, 9 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND?
- THE FORD FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $1,720,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DEMOCRACY INITIATIVE EDUCATION FUND 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 Democracy Initiative Education →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2023 (financials across 2017–2023), and the filings of 16 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