Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
ISSUE ONE
ISSUE ONE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 124 organizations whose IRS filings report $51,931,591 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($8,935,341). 66 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $6.9M
- Funders on record
- 124
- Grants received
- $52M
- Net assets
- $7.5M
What Issue One does
Mission
Issue One is the leading crosspartisan political reform organization that educates the public, engages capitol hill, and advocates for solutions to fix our broken political system.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Protecting the guardrails of democracy and advancing free and fair elections Issue One leads crosspartisan efforts to check executive overreach and ensure u.s. Elections are free & fair. We mobilize bipartisan validators, civil society and grassroots supporters to check abuses of power, build resilience against false election narratives, deter manipulation and defend impartial election administration. We run digital campaigns and engage with capitol hill and the media to advance these goals, as detailed in schedule o. Issue One leads a crosspartisan effort to ensure u.s. Elections are free & fair. We collaborate with a range of experts, including current and former elected officials and election administrators, to strengthen protections for election workers and secure consistent, predictable federal funding for election administration.Issue One is the leading crosspartisan political reform group in washington, dc. We unite republicans, democrats, and independents in the movement to fix our broken political system and build an inclusive democracy that works for everyone. We are dedicated to educating the public and decision-makers on capitol hill and passing bipartisan legislation.…
$6,078,151 spent$53,438 earned by the program88% of program spendingReshaping the online information environment and the role of money in politics Issue One advocates for structural democracy reforms at the state and federal levels. We advance social media reform so that americans can trust the information that shapes their choices, engage across differences in good faith, and live free in a democracy where no one is above the law. We also advance innovative solutions to reduce the distorting influence of money in politics and strengthen equal representation for all. We run campaigns, publish reports, mobilize partners, and educate legislators to advance these goals, as detailed in schedule o.Issue One unites civil society, elected officials, and independent researchers in the fight to reform social media, with the aim of creating a healthier democracy for the digital age. In 2024, we helped pass the kids online safety act in the united states senate, garnering 91 votes in a divided chamber. In 2025, we worked with partners to strike down a 10 year moratorium on ai regulation in a major federal spending bill. Issue One's council for responsible social media solidified its role as a national convenor driving pragmatic, values based technology…
$769,047 spent11% of program spendingBuilding crosspartisan civic power for a structural reform agenda Issue One engages american citizens across sectors and ideologies to co-shape a durable, nonpartisan democracy reform agenda for the future. We work with sector partners, bipartsian councils and grassroots leaders to engage and activate citizens, and to build a broad coalition for the co-shaped agenda, as detailed in schedule o. Issue One plays a leading role in building crosspartisan civic power to defend the guardrails of democracy and enact structural democracy reforms. In 2025, we launched the council for american democracy, bringing together over 220 civic and business leaders to advance both objectives. The council's in-person gatherings in mount vernon, philadelphia, baltimore, new york, boston and maine engaged more than 700 attendees to help drive Issue One's constitutional defense initiatives. Their influence continues to fortify Issue One's citizen engagement strategy to co-shape and power the democracy reform agenda.
$54,011 spent1% of program spending
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,901,209.
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 2023 to 2024, from $5.5M to $12M (+119%).
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.
97% of ISSUE ONE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (88% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 4 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.
Chief executive
Nicholas Penniman
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Whitney Hatch
Board chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 23 funders to 45 funders, grant income rose $1.8M → $5.5M.
36 of 124 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 41% 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 ISSUE ONE’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 124 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
ISSUE ONE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
50% 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 ISSUE ONE.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 23% · 2018 34% · 2019 18% · 2020 31% · 2021 27% · 2022 13% · 2023 15% — 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
37% of ISSUE ONE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 53% 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
ISSUE ONE draws 89% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 20 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $21M arriving through sponsors registered in 16 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
ISSUE ONE is better cushioned than half of the 543 public benefit nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 543 public benefit nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like ISSUE ONE
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
75%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Issue One Action · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for ISSUE ONE: 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 ISSUE ONE?
- ISSUE ONE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 124 organizations whose IRS filings report $51,931,591 to it, the largest being FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND ($8,935,341). 66 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does ISSUE ONE have?
- IRS filings report 124 organizations giving $51,931,591 in grants to ISSUE ONE, 66 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of ISSUE ONE?
- FIDELITY INVESTMENTS CHARITABLE GIFT FUND is the largest funder on record, with $8,935,341 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like ISSUE ONE 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 124 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