Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY
PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 108 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,923,066 to it, the largest being OPEN SOCIETY ACTION FUND INC ($2,510,000). 63 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $7.6M
- Funders on record
- 108
- Grants received
- $9.9M
- Net assets
- $-1240218
What People for the American Way does
Mission
Mobilize members and activists to fight for public policies that reflect the values of freedom, fairness, and equal opportunity.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Communications and research - provide information to media, activists and general public educating them about organizational issues, positions, activities and publications through events, multimedia outreach strategies, press releases, distribution of op-eds and editorial memoranda. Educate members and activists to engage in organizational campaigns at the local, state and national levels.
$1,039,199 spentof which $50 as grants43% of program spendingProgram management and oversight - short and long term strategic planning on organizational issues as well as coordinating activities between various programs.
$681,865 spentof which $1,738 as grants28% of program spendingCampaigns and programs - to mobilize community and cultural leaders to advance people for's core priorities.
$575,410 spentof which $125,000 as grants24% of program spendingGovernment affairs - conduct research analysis to promote and defend constitutional liberties as well as provide educational support on various public policy issues which also support constitutional liberties.
$147,535 spent6% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,444,009.
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.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2022 to 2023, from $2.2M to $6.7M (+205%).
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.
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
Svante Myrick
President & CEO
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 22 funders to 37 funders, grant income rose $489k → $1.8M.
1 of 108 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 3% 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: $4.3M from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest People for the American Way Foundation). These are real filings, and they are not money PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY raised.
From the IRS filings of PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 108 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
PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 25% 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
37% 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 PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 45% · 2018 34% · 2019 25% · 2020 16% · 2021 56% · 2022 32% · 2023 55% — 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
34% of PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 58% 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
PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY draws 92% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 24 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $271k arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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.
Organizations like PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY
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
38% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 30 states
Part of a family of 3 related entities
- People for the American Way Foundation · exempt
- People for the American Way Voters Alliance · exempt
- People for the American Way Action Fund · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY: 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 PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY?
- PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 108 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,923,066 to it, the largest being OPEN SOCIETY ACTION FUND INC ($2,510,000). 63 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY have?
- IRS filings report 108 organizations giving $9,923,066 in grants to PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY, 63 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY?
- OPEN SOCIETY ACTION FUND INC is the largest funder on record, with $2,510,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY 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 108 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