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New York · Nonprofit

FIRST DRAFT NEWS INC

FIRST DRAFT NEWS INC (New York) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,655,403 to it, the largest being THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF ($2,680,403). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2023
$0
Funders on record
10
Grants received
$4.7M
Net assets
$0
3/10 repeat fundersgrants exceed reported revenue in one year
01What it does

What First Draft News Inc does

Mission

First draft worked to protect communities from harmful information when it mattered most, sharing tips and resources to build resilence and empower people with knowledge.

As stated on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ.

Program

  1. Research and insights - first draft provided public access to previously produced research and insights on misinformation and resource guides through the organization's website. In 2023, first draft news distributed its remaining assets as grants to organization with similar missions as part of its dissolution.

    $536,547 spentof which $526,900 as grants
    100% of program spending

The program described on its FY2023 Form 990-EZ. Program spending in total: $536,547.

02The organization over time

The organization over time

Each line starts at 100 in 2019, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2019, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.

100 = 20192019 Revenue 100 ($960k) Expenses 100 ($502k) Net assets 100 ($459k)2020 Revenue 400 ($3.8M) Expenses 440 ($2.2M) Net assets 455 ($2.1M)2021 Revenue 203 ($1.9M) Expenses 465 ($2.3M) Net assets 370 ($1.7M)2022 Revenue 52 ($501k) Expenses 294 ($1.5M) Net assets 158 ($725k)2023 Revenue 0 ($0) Expenses 144 ($725k) Net assets 0 ($0)
20192020202120222023
Revenue (0)Expenses (144)Net assets (0)

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 $639k to $2.1M (+231%).

$639k
$2.1M
$1.8M
$731k
$0
20192020202120222023
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.

2019
2020
2021
2022
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 5 reported years ran a deficit.

$459k
’19
$1.6M
’20
−$389k
’21
−$972k
’22
−$725k
’23
5.8
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.

2019202020212022
Listed310158
Joined·+7+7+0
No longer listed·027
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2019 → 2022: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income fell $950k → $525k.

3 of 10 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 14% 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 DRAFT NEWS INC’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 DRAFT NEWS INC leans on a few funders — its largest provides 58% of grant income and the top three 81%; half comes from just 1 funder.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left

71% 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 DRAFT NEWS INC.

58%
largest funder
81%
top three
~3
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2019 100% · 2020 56% · 2021 68% · 2022 62% — 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

13% of FIRST DRAFT NEWS INC's funders are still giving 2 years after their first grant; 30% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y

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

FIRST DRAFT NEWS INC draws 76% of its grant income from funders outside New York, across 5 states in all.

NY
MA
PA
NJ
CA

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

’19
’20
’22
New York out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $635k arriving through sponsors registered in 2 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

Organizations like FIRST DRAFT NEWS INC

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

05Profile & governance

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

Public support

73%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 1 state

NY

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for FIRST DRAFT NEWS INC: 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 FIRST DRAFT NEWS INC?
FIRST DRAFT NEWS INC (New York) receives grants from 10 organizations whose IRS filings report $4,655,403 to it, the largest being THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF ($2,680,403). 3 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does FIRST DRAFT NEWS INC have?
IRS filings report 10 organizations giving $4,655,403 in grants to FIRST DRAFT NEWS INC, 3 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of FIRST DRAFT NEWS INC?
THE LENFEST INSTITUTE FOR JOURNALISM SPECIAL ASSET FUND OF TPF is the largest funder on record, with $2,680,403 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like FIRST DRAFT NEWS INC 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 FY2023 (financials across 2019–2023), and the filings of 10 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