Maryland · Nonprofit
FAIRVOTE ACTION
FAIRVOTE ACTION (Maryland) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,000,866 to it, the largest being Article IV ($815,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.8M
- Funders on record
- 5
- Grants received
- $2.0M
- Net assets
- $439k
What Fairvote Action does
Mission
Fairvote Action campaigns for better elections for all. We win voting reforms that make democracy more functional and representative for every american.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Program
2024 Fairvote Action (c4) accomplishmentsFairvote Action achieved several voting reform wins in 2024. In partnership with other advocates and organizations, Fairvote Action: provided funding and advocacy support for successful campaigns to pass pro-rcv legislation in six states and win seven municipal rcv ballot measures.published articles on voter choice act, fair representation act, spoiler effect, and low turnout runoffs.lobbied congress in support of rcv legislation and the fair representation act. Helped continue rcv movement growth through grants to state and local rcv groups.engaged in cross-partisan efforts to continue the use of rcv in democratic and republican presidential primaries.enhanced organizational capacity through addition of one new board member, continued fundraising, and updated strategy.
$1,530,468 spentof which $443,000 as grants$1,794,799 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2024 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,530,468.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2018, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2018, 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 $10k to $788k (+7709%).
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 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
Meredith Sumpter
President and CEO
Board chair
Tom Wathen
Chair and treasurer
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2020 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 3 funders, grant income rose $100k → $825k.
Left out of every figure on this page: $109k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Fairvote). These are real filings, and they are not money FAIRVOTE ACTION raised.
From the IRS filings of FAIRVOTE ACTION’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
FAIRVOTE ACTION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 41% of grant income and the top three 91%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
100% 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 FAIRVOTE ACTION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2022 77% · 2023 61% — 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.
Where its funders are
FAIRVOTE ACTION draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Maryland, across 5 states in all.
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.
Organizations like FAIRVOTE ACTION
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 Maryland
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
96% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 26 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Fairvote · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FAIRVOTE ACTION: 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 FAIRVOTE ACTION?
- FAIRVOTE ACTION (Maryland) receives grants from 5 organizations whose IRS filings report $2,000,866 to it, the largest being Article IV ($815,000). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FAIRVOTE ACTION have?
- IRS filings report 5 organizations giving $2,000,866 in grants to FAIRVOTE ACTION, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FAIRVOTE ACTION?
- Article IV is the largest funder on record, with $815,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FAIRVOTE ACTION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Maryland. 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 2018–2024), and the filings of 5 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