Virginia · Nonprofit
HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED
HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED (Virginia) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $230,000 to it, the largest being THE ERIC AND WENDY SCHMIDT FUND FOR STRATEGIC INNOVATION ($200,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.2M
- Funders on record
- 3
- Grants received
- $230k
- Net assets
- $859k
What Hacking for Defense Incorporated does
Mission
To enable powerful approaches to stimulating science, technology, invention, innovation, and entrepreneurship on university and college campuses, specifically directed toward solving real-world national security challenges.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Program
Develops curriculum and trains educators to use the "hacking 4" problem-solving methodology at more than 60 universities, including those offering hacking for defense and hacking for diplomacy. Over 3,648 students (graduate and undergraduate) worked on 190+ real-world problems, leading to the formation of 68 companies. All expenditures supported curriculum development, educator training, and student-project facilitation. No foreign grants or direct grants to other organizations were involved.innovation fund support:awarded seed grants and provided mentoring to mission-driven entrepreneurs tackling complex national security and diplomacy challenges. These allocations supported prototype development and accelerated early-stage ventures. All recipients were u.s.-based, and no foreign grants were issued.alumni development:facilitated ongoing engagement for former participants and educators through networking events, career resources, and project collaboration. While no direct grants were issued under this program, expenses covered alumni outreach, event logistics, and talent cultivation. No foreign grants were involved.
$1,417,387 spentof which $60,968 as grants$795,163 earned by the program100% of program spending
The program described on its FY2023 Form 990. Program spending in total: $1,417,387.
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 $454k to $1.4M (+212%).
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.
41% of HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (69% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Col Peter Newell
Board chairman
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
The chief executive listed changed between the FY2023 and FY2024, and between the FY2024 and FY2025 filings.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2021: the base broadened from 1 funder to 2 funders, grant income fell $200k → $30k.
From the IRS filings of HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED’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
HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED leans on a few funders — its largest provides 87% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2021 67% — 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
HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Virginia, across 2 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.
Against its field
HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED has grown faster than three-quarters of the 482 public safety & disaster nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 482 public safety & disaster nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED
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 Virginia
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
58% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
12%
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 HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED: 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 HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED?
- HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED (Virginia) receives grants from 3 organizations whose IRS filings report $230,000 to it, the largest being THE ERIC AND WENDY SCHMIDT FUND FOR STRATEGIC INNOVATION ($200,000). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED have?
- IRS filings report 3 organizations giving $230,000 in grants to HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED.
- Who is the largest funder of HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED?
- THE ERIC AND WENDY SCHMIDT FUND FOR STRATEGIC INNOVATION is the largest funder on record, with $200,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like HACKING FOR DEFENSE INCORPORATED find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Virginia. 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 3 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