Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS
GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 184 organizations whose IRS filings report $26,839,582 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($4,000,000). 121 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $10M
- Funders on record
- 184
- Grants received
- $27M
- Net assets
- $12M
What Grantmakers for Effective Organizations does
Mission
Geo is a community of funders committed to transforming philanthropic culture and practice by connecting members to the resources and relationships needed to support thriving nonprofits and communities.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Member programs: geo is a diverse community of nearly 500 grantmaking organizations working to transform philanthropic culture and practice. In 2024, grantmakers addressed shared challenges in grantmaking through geo's peer learning programs including webinars, member calls and remote learning series. Other member programs, such as our fellowship cohorts and ceo/senior leader programming found new ways for members and non-member grantmakers to come together to address the barriers to adopting grantmaking practices that support thriving communities. These opportunities allow members to talk about the challenges they are facing, advance equity, work through complex changes within their organizations, and advocate for improved practices across the field.
$1,916,677 spentof which $63,416 as grants35% of program spendingConferences: geo conferences educate and inspire action. In 2024, we held a national conference that convened over 1,000 grantmakers in person. About 1,000 participants gathered in los angeles to connect with each other and hear from dynamic speakers on topics related to shifting philanthropic culture. Participants exchanged ideas and deepened their skillset related to advancing racial-equity centered change in their organizations and the adoption and implementation of philanthropic practices that lead to thriving communities.
$1,358,154 spent$1,230,075 earned by the program25% of program spendingResearch & learning: we conduct research on field trends to mark changes in grantmaker practice over time, as well as ongoing skill-building for our staff, board and other key stakeholders to inform our strategy of building community.
$964,940 spent$189,533 earned by the program18% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$1,207,481 spent$1,114 earned by the program22% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $5,447,252.
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 2020 to 2021, from $8.2M to $13M (+55%).
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 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
83% of GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (80% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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
Marcus Walton
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 43 funders to 83 funders, grant income rose $1.9M → $2.6M.
20 of 184 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 19% 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 GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 184 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
GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 15% 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
26% 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 GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 21% · 2018 25% · 2019 13% · 2020 19% · 2021 15% · 2022 54% · 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
53% of GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS'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
GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS draws 98% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 30 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.0M arriving through sponsors registered in 14 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
GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 828 philanthropy nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 828 philanthropy nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS
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 Washington, D.C.
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
72% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
63%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 13 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS: 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 GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS?
- GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 184 organizations whose IRS filings report $26,839,582 to it, the largest being NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST ($4,000,000). 121 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS have?
- IRS filings report 184 organizations giving $26,839,582 in grants to GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS, 121 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS?
- NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST is the largest funder on record, with $4,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like GRANTMAKERS FOR EFFECTIVE ORGANIZATIONS find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Washington, D.C.. 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 184 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