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Virginia · Nonprofit

Independent Women's Forum

Independent Women's Forum (Virginia) receives grants from 106 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,510,664 to it, the largest being DIANA DAVIS SPENCER FOUNDATION INC ($3,410,000). 63 of them have funded it in more than one year.

Revenue FY2025
$6.6M
Funders on record
106
Grants received
$24M
Net assets
$2.9M
63/106 repeat funderspeak grant-dependency 65%
01What it does

What Independent Women's Forum does

Mission

Engage more individuals in the civic process, educate them about the impact of public policies on their lives and our economy, and build support for policies that empower individuals.

As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.

Programs

  1. Domestic Policy and Economics - IWF examines the impact of policies - such as our tax code, regulatory system, national budget, health care laws and education system - on American families and the economy.

    $2,680,881 spent
    38% of program spending
  2. Education, Communication, and Earned Media - IWF promotes the work of our scholars and spokeswomen, bringing their message to audience through print publications, television, radio, the internet and social media platforms. IWF also develops educational materials to help build amoung the public greater understanding of economic facts and principles.

    $3,311,244 spent
    47% of program spending
  3. Independent Womens Law Center (IWLC)- supports freedom and opportunity for women and girls in the legal arena. In the courts, before administrative agencies and legislative bodies, and in the court of public opinion, IWLC fights against radical legal theories that deny due process, undermine equal opportunity, make the government less accountable, and punish certain viewpoints.

    $379,987 spent
    5% of program spending
  4. Independent Womens Network - IWF develops educational content, resources and events that are made available to Independent Womens Network, which is a group of women working together to improve their communities and our country.

    $613,036 spent
    9% of program spending

The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,985,148.

02The organization over time

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.

100 = 20172017 Revenue 100 ($2.2M) Expenses 100 ($2.2M) Net assets -785 ($-795907)2018 Revenue 148 ($3.2M) Expenses 168 ($3.7M) Net assets -1272 ($-1288657)2019 Revenue 172 ($3.8M) Expenses 137 ($3.0M) Net assets -563 ($-570499)2020 Revenue 260 ($5.7M) Expenses 227 ($5.0M) Net assets 100 ($101k)2021 Revenue 301 ($6.6M) Expenses 156 ($3.4M) Net assets 3187 ($3.2M)2022 Revenue 236 ($5.2M) Expenses 259 ($5.7M) Net assets 2640 ($2.7M)2023 Revenue 327 ($7.1M) Expenses 341 ($7.5M) Net assets 2258 ($2.3M)2024 Revenue 482 ($11M) Expenses 381 ($8.4M) Net assets 4350 ($4.4M)2025 Revenue 304 ($6.6M) Expenses 368 ($8.1M) Net assets 2896 ($2.9M)
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Revenue (304)Expenses (368)Net assets (2896)Peer revenue range

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 $1.5M to $4.3M (+177%).

$1.4M
$1.4M
$1.7M
$1.5M
$4.3M
$3.6M
$2.9M
$5.6M
$3.8M
'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
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.

2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
ContributionsProgram revenueInvestmentOther

97% of Independent Women's Forum’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (97% for the typical peer).

This organization
Typical peer · 1,024 orgs

Surplus & reserves

Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.

−$22k
’17
−$493k
’18
$719k
’19
$672k
’20
$3.1M
’21
−$555k
’22
−$389k
’23
$2.1M
’24
−$1.5M
’25
5.1
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.

Board chair

Heather R Higgins

Chairman of the Board

As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25
Listed111011111012121111
Joined·+0+2+0+1+2+2+1+0
No longer listed·11020220
03Who funds it

Who funds it, year by year

2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 17 funders to 40 funders, grant income rose $254k → $4.0M.

16 of 106 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 43% 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 Independent Women's Forum’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 106 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

Independent Women's Forum has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 15% of grant income, and it takes 5 funders to reach half.

the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 5 funders to its left

55% 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 Independent Women's Forum.

15%
largest funder
37%
top three
~15
effective funders

Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 23% · 2019 12% · 2020 23% · 2021 12% · 2022 11% · 2023 12% — 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

43% of Independent Women's Forum's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 59% give in more than one year at all.

first grant+1y+2y+3y+4y+5y+6y

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

Independent Women's Forum draws 96% of its grant income from funders outside Virginia, across 29 states in all.

WA
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
WY
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
NC
DC
OK
GA
TX
FL

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

’17
’18
’19
’20
’21
’22
’23
Virginia out of state home

Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $10M arriving through sponsors registered in 11 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

Against its field

Independent Women's Forum has grown faster than half of the 479 civil rights nonprofits its size.

Operating margin−22% · bottom quartile
Months of reserve5.1mo · below the median
Revenue growth (annualized)15% · above the median

this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 479 civil rights nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025

Organizations like Independent Women's Forum

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

05Profile & governance

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

Where the money goes

86% of spending goes to programs.

Program 86%Management 7%Fundraising 7%

Governance

8
board members
100%
independent
✓Conflict-of-interest policy✓Whistleblower policy✓Document retention✓Board reviewed the 990✓Audited financials

Public support

60%

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

Footprint & structure

Files a return copy in 28 states

NH
ND
MN
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
PA
NJ
RI
CA
KY
WV
VA
MD
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
HI
MS
AL
GA
FL

Screen this organization

A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Independent Women's Forum: 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 Independent Women's Forum?
Independent Women's Forum (Virginia) receives grants from 106 organizations whose IRS filings report $23,510,664 to it, the largest being DIANA DAVIS SPENCER FOUNDATION INC ($3,410,000). 63 of them have funded it in more than one year.
How many funders does Independent Women's Forum have?
IRS filings report 106 organizations giving $23,510,664 in grants to Independent Women's Forum, 63 of which have funded it in more than one year.
Who is the largest funder of Independent Women's Forum?
DIANA DAVIS SPENCER FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $3,410,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
How can an organization like Independent Women's Forum 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.

Play a game about who funds Independent Women's Forum →

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 106 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