Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE
LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $59,024,738 to it, the largest being FREEDOM TOGETHER FOUNDATION ($8,000,000). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.3M
- Funders on record
- 26
- Grants received
- $59M
- Net assets
- $2.3M
What Living Cities Inc the National Community Development Initiative does
Mission
Living cities harnesses the collective power of philanthropy and financial institutions to improve the lives of low-income people and the cities where they live.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
City and community engagement: living cities programmatic area focused on advancing initiatives that shift social, knowledge and financial capital so more people on u.s. Cities have access to ownership and wealth building pathways. This area acknowledges that public, private and philanthropic leaders and capital decision makers have a role to play in addressing long standing racial income and wealth gaps. Through place-based, city-facing and field building initiatives, living cities tests innovations that increase the equitable flow of capital locally and leverages lessons to promote replication and systemic change across the nation.
$10,874,288 spentof which $7,905,209 as grants61% of program spendingMember collective action: living cities members work together with staff to shape the center for wealth equity, a shared platform for advancing inclusive economic growth and long-term resilience. Through the center, members help generate knowledge capital, including stories of possibility that influence how capital decision-makers invest in communities and businesses, alongside practical implementation strategies that broaden participation in the economy. This work expands access to capital and strengthens the foundation for a more durable, opportunity-rich economy.
$2,302,571 spentof which $21,500 as grants13% of program spendingCnc: living cities advances public understanding of how capital, policy, and local leadership can work together to build stronger local economies and expand economic opportunity. Through strategic communications, storytelling, research dissemination, webinars, and public engagement, living cities shares lessons and insights from its work with cities, financial institutions, philanthropy, and community leaders nationwide. This work helps accelerate the adoption of approaches that improve capital access, strengthen local economic systems, and promote long-term economic resilience and shared prosperity.
$3,533,152 spentof which $2,604,737 as grants20% of program spendingOther
$1,241,540 spent7% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $17,951,551.
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 2024 to 2025, from $41M to $21M (−48%).
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.
71% of LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (81% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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
Joseph Scantlebury
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 8 funders to 12 funders, grant income fell $7.1M → $4.4M.
4 of 26 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 1% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
Left out of every figure on this page: $538k from one payer (an institutional transfer, not a grant programme, largest Suntrust Bank Charitable-Irr Tr(1071). These are real filings, and they are not money LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE raised.
From the IRS filings of LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE’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
LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 14% 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
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 20% · 2018 32% · 2019 21% · 2020 18% · 2021 14% · 2022 25% · 2023 23% — growing more concentrated.
“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
63% of LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 73% 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
LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 13 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $730k arriving through sponsors registered in 3 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
LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE's revenue fell 85% between 2017 and 2025.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 6,891 human services nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE
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
80% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
46%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 2 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Living Cities Blended Catalyst Fund LLC · disregarded
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE: 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 LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE?
- LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 26 organizations whose IRS filings report $59,024,738 to it, the largest being FREEDOM TOGETHER FOUNDATION ($8,000,000). 19 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE have?
- IRS filings report 26 organizations giving $59,024,738 in grants to LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE, 19 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE?
- FREEDOM TOGETHER FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $8,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like LIVING CITIES INC THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE 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 26 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