New York · Nonprofit
DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD
DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD (New York) receives grants from 118 organizations whose IRS filings report $68,405,858 to it, the largest being THE FORD FOUNDATION ($19,976,282). 78 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $7.6M
- Funders on record
- 118
- Grants received
- $68M
- Net assets
- $7.5M
What Demos a Network for Ideas and Action Ltd does
Mission
Demos is a non-partisan public policy research and advocacy organization founded in 2000. Headquartered in new york city, demos works with advocates and policymakers around the country in pursuit of three over-reaching commitments: achieving a true democracy by reducing the role of money in politics and guaranteeing the freedom to vote; creating pathways to ensure a diverse, expanded middle class in a new, sustainable economy; and transforming the public narrative to evaluate the values of community and racial equity.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Economic democracy and justice:demos is working to combat the inequality of our current economic system. This includes in-depth analysis, narrative development, and policy proposals to build economic power for all people, especially black and brown people, ensure economic security and mobility for all, democratize the economy, and ensure public dollars are used for the public good in the areas of budget and tax justice, worker justice, and financial justice.
$1,682,954 spentof which $2,784 as grants$125 earned by the program34% of program spendingDemocracy reform:demos is committed to creating an inclusive democracy by protecting our freedom to vote and ensuring the democratic process reflects our diverse electorate. We analyze policies, practices, and power dynamics that maintain racial inequality and exclude americans from full participation our democracy. We work toward full political participation and an inclusive and expansive electorate in the areas of voting rights, money in politics, and immigrant justice.
$1,644,081 spentof which $2,784 as grants$125 earned by the program33% of program spendingMovement building:demos works to connect the ideas of demos with strategies to support grassroots organizations. Our inclusive democracy project works with grassroots partners around the country to ensure that racial equity is at the center of advocacy campaigns for democracy reform. In partnership with movement organizations, we work for a responsive and accountable government, as well as a more equitable economy and democracy.
$865,443 spentof which $2,784 as grants$10,625 earned by the program18% of program spendingPower agenda:a framework for building people power reflects our affirmative vision for creating a just, inclusive, multiracial democracy and economy by building civic, political, and economic power for all. This requires structural reforms that include goals and interventions that restore and expand voting rights, strengthen worker rights and protections, and shift power to the people.
$739,523 spentof which $4,303 as grants$125 earned by the program15% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $4,932,001.
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.
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 $11M to $17M (+60%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 7% · 2022 8%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 6 of the last 9 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.
Board chair
Rupa Balasubramanian
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 34 funders to 39 funders, grant income rose $6.9M → $7.0M.
23 of 118 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 11% 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 DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 118 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
DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 29% of grant income, and it takes 4 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 4 funders to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 47% · 2018 34% · 2019 33% · 2020 42% · 2021 18% · 2022 31% · 2023 16% — 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
36% of DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 66% 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
59% of DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD's grant income comes from New York funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $7.6M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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
DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD's funding base is broadening — from 34 funders to 39 as grant income climbed.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 543 public benefit nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD
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 New York
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
57% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
55%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 29 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD: 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 DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD?
- DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD (New York) receives grants from 118 organizations whose IRS filings report $68,405,858 to it, the largest being THE FORD FOUNDATION ($19,976,282). 78 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD have?
- IRS filings report 118 organizations giving $68,405,858 in grants to DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD, 78 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD?
- THE FORD FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $19,976,282 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like DEMOS A NETWORK FOR IDEAS AND ACTION LTD find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in New York. 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 118 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 22, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing