Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC
PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 204 organizations whose IRS filings report $45,064,374 to it, the largest being SEQUOIA CLIMATE FOUNDATION ($4,000,000). 118 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $27M
- Funders on record
- 204
- Grants received
- $45M
- Net assets
- $41M
What Public Citizen Foundation Inc does
Mission
Work for consumer rights.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Energy program - the energy program provides information to the publicon the threat of catastrophic climate change, the dangers of nuclearand fossil fuels, and the opportunities available to advance energyefficiency and develop renewable energy sources.
$4,093,335 spentof which $289,570 as grants28% of program spendingPublic information and education - the foundation is active in every public forum - congress, the courts, government agencies, and the news media. The foundation believes that full disclosure of government information empowers citizens and consumers. All of the foundation's communication and outreach efforts aim to make information about health care, transportation, climate change, international trade, nuclear waste and reactor safety, renewable energy, government and corporate accountability and related issues accessible to ordinary citizens. If necessary, the foundation uses the courts to ensure fair access to information.
$3,563,433 spentof which $179,500 as grants24% of program spendingLitigation group - litigation group attorneys have argued landmark lawsuits on behalf of citizens in federal and state courts across the country. Their efforts to represent principled, rather than profitable, positions in legal disputes have preserved the vital checks and balances of the separation of powers in the federal government, prevented the destruction of presidential records, and forced regulatory agencies to issue important health and safety standards.
$2,346,724 spent$211,175 earned by the program16% of program spendingHealth research group - the health research group fights for safe foods, drugs, and medical devices; for universal access to quality health care; and for full disclosure of information that will empower consumers and inform their personal health care decisions.
$1,227,951 spent8% of program spendingPc texas - pc texas informs texans on important energy, trade, campaign finance reform, ethics, transportation, and utility issues.
$1,110,573 spentof which $384,924 as grants7% of program spendingGlobal trade watch - acting on its belief that so called "free trade" treaties cost u.s. Jobs, reduce wages, undermine our democratic rights, and jeopardize health, safety, and the environment, global trade watch provides information to the public on the damaging impact of the corporate push for globalization through treaties such as the north american free trade agreement (nafta) and the world trade organization (wto) agreements.
$192,420 spentof which $10,000 as grants1% of program spendingAccess to medicines - public citizen's access to medicines group works with partners worldwide to improve health outcomes and save lives, through use of pharmaceutical cost-lowering measures including generic competition. They help civil society groups and public agencies overcome patent-based and other drug monopolies. Their work challenges big pharma's economic and political power.
$761,510 spentof which $90,000 as grants5% of program spendingPublications - the foundation publishes books, periodicals, special reports, and expert commentary on current issues in health and safety, the law, energy policy, climate change, transportation, and government and corporate accountability. This information is available to the public.
$1,252,258 spent$778,288 earned by the program8% of program spendingCongress watch - congress watch provides information to the public on the influence of special interest dollars that corrupt the political process and on corporate welfare expenditures that lard the federal budget; on a wide range of consumer protection measures, including health and safety standards, access to the courts, and financial services regulation.
$325,150 spentof which $33,100 as grants2% of program spending
The 9 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $14,873,354.
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 2017 to 2018, from $17M to $29M (+72%).
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: 2022 4%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
87% of PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (23% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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.
Board chair
Mark Chavez
Director, chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 40 funders to 80 funders, grant income rose $2.2M → $6.2M.
47 of 204 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 29% 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: $50k from one payer (the payer shares this organization's board, largest Public Citizen Inc). These are real filings, and they are not money PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC raised.
From the IRS filings of PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 204 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
PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 9% of grant income, and it takes 9 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 9 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 PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 18% · 2018 18% · 2019 16% · 2020 23% · 2021 15% · 2022 18% · 2023 16% — 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
46% of PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION 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
PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC draws 93% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 27 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $13M arriving through sponsors registered in 19 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
PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 144 public benefit nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 144 public benefit nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION 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
83% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
88%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 34 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION 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 PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC?
- PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 204 organizations whose IRS filings report $45,064,374 to it, the largest being SEQUOIA CLIMATE FOUNDATION ($4,000,000). 118 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC have?
- IRS filings report 204 organizations giving $45,064,374 in grants to PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC, 118 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION INC?
- SEQUOIA CLIMATE FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $4,000,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like PUBLIC CITIZEN FOUNDATION 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 204 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