Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC
PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 106 organizations whose IRS filings report $37,875,960 to it, the largest being Democracy Fund Inc ($6,800,000). 62 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $8.1M
- Funders on record
- 106
- Grants received
- $38M
- Net assets
- $12M
What Project on Government Oversight Inc does
Mission
The project on government oversight (pogo) is a nonpartisan, independent watchdog that investigates, exposes, and champions reforms on systemic corruption, abuse of power, and waste.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
General program and policy: pogo's general program and policy work is directed toward protecting and strengthening anti-corruption and good government mechanisms at the federal level. A government that is responsive to the needs of the people it serves helps strengthen our democracy over the long term. Our work includes ensuring that our government's institutional checks and balances function properly, and that government oversight and accountability offices remain independent.
$1,707,200 spent$105,352 earned by the program25% of program spendingThe constitution project at pogo seeks to safeguard our constitutional rights when the government exercises power in the name of national security and domestic policing, including ensuring our institutions serve as a check on that power.
$821,515 spent12% of program spendingPogo investigates: pogo's investigations expose waste, fraud, injustice, and abuse of power in the federal government. Our journalists and researchers work independently from our policy and advocacy teams.
$900,712 spent13% of program spendingOther programs including: program integrity alliance, center for defense information, pentagon accountability.
$3,500,429 spentof which $50,000 as grants51% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $6,929,856.
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 $12M to $13M (+13%).
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.
93% of PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC’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. 2 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
Danielle Brian
President/exec. Director
Board chair
Lisa Baumgartner Bonds
Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 16 funders to 44 funders, grant income rose $2.2M → $6.0M.
20 of 106 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 15% 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 PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC’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
PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% 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 33% · 2018 34% · 2019 30% · 2020 18% · 2021 32% · 2022 16% · 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
49% of PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC'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
PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC draws 75% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 22 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $5.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 13 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
PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC 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 PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC
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
77% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
66%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 38 states
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- Pogo Action · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC: 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 PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC?
- PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 106 organizations whose IRS filings report $37,875,960 to it, the largest being Democracy Fund Inc ($6,800,000). 62 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC have?
- IRS filings report 106 organizations giving $37,875,960 in grants to PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC, 62 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC?
- Democracy Fund Inc is the largest funder on record, with $6,800,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PROJECT ON GOVERNMENT OVERSIGHT INC 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 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