California · Nonprofit
FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION
FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION (California) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,929,294 to it, the largest being JONATHAN LOGAN FAMILY FOUNDATION ($925,000). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.4M
- Funders on record
- 29
- Grants received
- $3.9M
- Net assets
- $1.6M
What First Amendment Coalition does
Mission
The First Amendment Coalition protects and promotes a free press, freedom of expression and the people's right to know. Continued on schedule o.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Strategic litigation, education and advocacyfac uses integrated advocacy - litigation, education and policy advocacy - to advance open government, free-press rights, and the public's right to know. Some examples of important fac achievements in 2024: - successfully obtained preliminary injunction in federal court to prevent enforcement of california law criminalizing publication of sealed arrest reports - in clear violation of first amendment case law.- led coalition of 26 organizations to advocate for student journalist dilan gohill, 19, who was arrested june 5 while covering protests and the occupation of the stanford university president's office.- fac worked in the california legislature and at local governments across the state to advance laws and policies that strengthen first amendment and open-government rights, and to fight laws that would weaken those rights.- in federal court, challenged on first amendment grounds a local ordinance that criminalizes journalism by barring presence with intent to observe or record at "sideshows," dangerous automotive events that have frequently captured headlines in the bay area. - representing a student journalist at cal poly san luis…
$847,339 spent$1,818 earned by the program100% of program spendingPress freedom initiativefac's press freedom initiative helps journalists oppose subpoenas seeking their confidential sources and notes protected under california's journalist shield law.
Legal hotline service in 2024, fac responded to 1,111 questions about accessing public records, participating in government meetings, and first amendment rights, empowering these individuals to exercise their rights.
Legislative oversightfac works with allies to advocate for bills in the california legislature that would expand the right of public access or first amendment rights, and to oppose bills that would limit these rights.
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $847,339.
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 2019 to 2020, from $950k to $1.2M (+24%).
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: 2020 7%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 8 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
David Snyder
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 5 funders to 16 funders, grant income rose $88k → $720k.
9 of 29 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 47% 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 FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION’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
FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 24% of grant income, and it takes 3 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 3 funders to its left
62% 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 FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 40% · 2018 57% · 2019 45% · 2020 29% · 2021 49% · 2022 26% · 2023 31% — 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
50% of FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 69% 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
84% of FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $1.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 6 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 FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION
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
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
60% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
70%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION: 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 FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION?
- FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION (California) receives grants from 29 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,929,294 to it, the largest being JONATHAN LOGAN FAMILY FOUNDATION ($925,000). 20 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION have?
- IRS filings report 29 organizations giving $3,929,294 in grants to FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION, 20 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION?
- JONATHAN LOGAN FAMILY FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $925,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like FIRST AMENDMENT COALITION 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.
Play a game about who funds First Amendment Coalition →
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 29 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