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North Carolina · Nonprofit

Democracy North Carolina

Democracy North Carolina (North Carolina) receives grants from 99 organizations whose IRS filings report $19,512,955 to it, the largest being Z SMITH REYNOLDS FOUNDATION INC ($3,275,000). 52 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2024
$4.1M
Funders on record
99
Grants received
$20M
Net assets
$4.3M
52/99 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 83%
01What it does

What Democracy North Carolina does

Mission

Democracy North Carolina's mission is to strengthen democratic structures, build power among disenfranchised communities, and inspire confidence in a transformed political process that works for all.

As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Communications: Voter Education Resources - Distributed nonpartisan education resources including voter guides and GOTV materials. Created digital voter tool for local races and ballot measures.

    $612,416 spent
    22% of program spending
  2. Organizing: Community Engagement - Regional Managing Organizers worked with civic organizations, places of worship, and community leaders to educate voters on Voter ID laws, voting requirements, and gerrymandering impacts.

    $1,686,297 spentof which $225,000 as grants
    60% of program spending
  3. Policy: Election Protection & Advocacy - Trained Election Advocates (Vote Protectors, Canvass Monitors, CBOE volunteers). Managed NCVoter.org. Operated Election Protection hotline (888-OUR-VOTE).

    $514,258 spent
    18% of program spending

The 3 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,812,971.

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 ($2.9M) Expenses 100 ($2.1M) Net assets 100 ($2.0M)2018 Revenue 124 ($3.5M) Expenses 132 ($2.8M) Net assets 135 ($2.7M)2019 Revenue 92 ($2.6M) Expenses 103 ($2.2M) Net assets 158 ($3.1M)2020 Revenue 202 ($5.8M) Expenses 219 ($4.7M) Net assets 226 ($4.5M)2021 Revenue 137 ($3.9M) Expenses 144 ($3.1M) Net assets 269 ($5.4M)2022 Revenue 160 ($4.6M) Expenses 202 ($4.3M) Net assets 278 ($5.5M)2023 Revenue 123 ($3.5M) Expenses 164 ($3.5M) Net assets 279 ($5.6M)2024 Revenue 145 ($4.1M) Expenses 255 ($5.5M) Net assets 214 ($4.3M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Revenue (145)Expenses (255)Net assets (214)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 2019 to 2020, from $3.3M to $4.7M (+43%).

$2.0M
$2.8M
$3.3M
$4.7M
$5.5M
$5.8M
$6.4M
$5.0M
'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: 2020 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.

98% of Democracy North Carolina’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (97% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 1,024 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 2 of the last 8 reported years ran a deficit.

$712k
’17
$716k
’18
$413k
’19
$1.1M
’20
$826k
’21
$238k
’22
−$11k
’23
−$1.3M
’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

Adrienne Kelly

Executive Director

Board chair

Marcus Bass

Chairman

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Listed1413121313111516
Joined·+6+0+3+4+2+4+2
No longer listed·7124401
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 13 funders to 29 funders, grant income rose $648k → $2.7M.

32 of 99 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 37% 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: $2.1M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Blueprint North Carolina). These are real filings, and they are not money Democracy North Carolina raised.

From the IRS filings of Democracy North Carolina’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 99 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 North Carolina has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% of grant income, and it takes 7 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 7 funders to its left

53% 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 North Carolina.

17%
largest funder
33%
top three
~17
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 19% · 2018 20% · 2019 15% · 2020 14% · 2021 36% · 2022 18% · 2023 26% — 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

39% of Democracy North Carolina's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

55% of Democracy North Carolina's grant income comes from North Carolina funders.

WA
IL
MI
NY
MA
OH
PA
NJ
CA
CO
VA
MD
DE
NC
DC
LA
GA
FL

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

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

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.2M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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 North Carolina's funding base is broadening — from 13 funders to 29 as grant income climbed.

Operating margin−32% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve5.1mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)5% · below the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 976 civil rights nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024

Organizations like Democracy North Carolina

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 North Carolina

Nationally

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

76% of spending goes to programs.

Program 76%Management 14%Fundraising 10%

Governance

13
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

88%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

NC

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Democracy North Carolina: 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 North Carolina?
Democracy North Carolina (North Carolina) receives grants from 99 organizations whose IRS filings report $19,512,955 to it, the largest being Z SMITH REYNOLDS FOUNDATION INC ($3,275,000). 52 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Democracy North Carolina have?
IRS filings report 99 organizations giving $19,512,955 in grants to Democracy North Carolina, 52 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Democracy North Carolina?
Z SMITH REYNOLDS FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $3,275,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Democracy North Carolina find more funders?
Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in North Carolina. 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 99 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