California · Nonprofit
POLICYLINK
POLICYLINK (California) receives grants from 157 organizations whose IRS filings report $292,293,239 to it, the largest being BLUE MERIDIAN PARTNERS INC ($50,596,656). 87 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $48M
- Funders on record
- 157
- Grants received
- $292M
- Net assets
- $111M
What Policylink does
Mission
Policylink is a national research and action institute working to build a future where all people in the united states of america can participate in a flourishing multiracial democracy, prosper in an equitable economy, and live in thriving communities of opportunity.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Thriving communities - the thriving communities portfolio aims to create communities where all children and families prosper through equitable infrastructure, affordable housing, quality education, human services delivery, and clean water. Thriving communities honor the dignity of every person, promote physical and economic mobility, and protect residents from legal and environmental harm.
$9,350,914 spentof which $2,009,100 as grants$42,753 earned by the program19% of program spendingFlourishing democracy - the flourishing democracy portfolio aims to build towards a flourishing democracy fueled by governing standards that advance the power and well-being of all people in all placesgoverning for all. This includes establishing government bodies and governing structures that can advance and protect human, social, environmental, spatial, and political rights.
$4,204,396 spentof which $150,110 as grants$111,511 earned by the program9% of program spendingEquitable economy - the equitable economy portfolio aims to create an economy in which all people have good jobs, dignified and rising standards of living, and increased voice, power, and ownership. This work focuses on establishing standardsparticularly corporate and industrial policy standardsdesigned to ensure the market serves all people, where the government produces and regulates the flow of money as commodity that is available to all, where work is honored with compensation that affords self-determination and mobility, and where wealth produced by the many is enjoyed by the many.
$2,968,671 spentof which $461,000 as grants$301,143 earned by the program6% of program spendingThe crosscutting strategies portfolio includes initiatives that provide an underlying service to all areas of Policylink's work, creating an enabling environment for policy change, supporting and growing the equity movement, and building new alliances and partnerships. These include:a. Data + research - developing data and research to equip community leaders and policymakers with the tools necessary to advance equitable growth and to inform community action.b. Communications - establishing a national voicethrough narrative, arts, and cultureto advance policy and catalyze the imagination necessary to envision alternative futures and build the will to make them real.c. Impact - leveraging results-based accountability to measure the effectiveness of our work and drive continuous improvement of our programs and internal operations.d. Other programs - included here are: the equity summitheld every few yearswhich assembles thousands of leaders to co-design and chart the course of the equity movement; fiscal sponsorship of projects aligned with Policylink's mission; our podcasts; and consulting engagements.
$31,801,849 spentof which $10,821,339 as grants$887,536 earned by the program66% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $48,325,830.
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 $67M to $114M (+69%).
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.
Government-grant reliance: 2019 0% · 2021 2% · 2023 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
88% of POLICYLINK’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (61% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Michael A Mcafee
Chief executive officer
Board chair
Sandra Gasca
Board chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 23 funders to 68 funders, grant income rose $9.2M → $52M.
37 of 157 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 27% 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 POLICYLINK’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 157 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
POLICYLINK has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 17% of grant income, and it takes 8 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 8 funders to its left
47% 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 POLICYLINK.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 24% · 2018 15% · 2019 13% · 2020 40% · 2021 13% · 2022 21% · 2023 27% — 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
48% of POLICYLINK's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 55% 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
POLICYLINK draws 74% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 25 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $80M 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
POLICYLINK is better cushioned than half of the 659 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 659 community improvement nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2024
Organizations like POLICYLINK
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
71%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 42 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Policylink Equity Action Network · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for POLICYLINK: 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 POLICYLINK?
- POLICYLINK (California) receives grants from 157 organizations whose IRS filings report $292,293,239 to it, the largest being BLUE MERIDIAN PARTNERS INC ($50,596,656). 87 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does POLICYLINK have?
- IRS filings report 157 organizations giving $292,293,239 in grants to POLICYLINK, 87 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of POLICYLINK?
- BLUE MERIDIAN PARTNERS INC is the largest funder on record, with $50,596,656 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like POLICYLINK find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 157 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