Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND
STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,515,992 to it, the largest being NORTH MAIN STREET FUND ($2,628,136). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $14M
- Funders on record
- 16
- Grants received
- $9.5M
- Net assets
- $2.4M
What State Democracy Defenders Fund D/B/A Democracy Defenders Fund does
Mission
State democracy defenders fund fills three key gaps in the fight against election sabotage and autocracy: our all-star team goes on offense against democracy deniers who break the law, including through our innovative program of outside public support for criminal prosecutions. We work with national, state and local allies across the country to defend in real-time the foundation of our democracy - free and fair elections. We help shape the long-term strategy to defeat autocracy.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Legal: upholding the rule of law, which includes litigation and amicus briefs to defend the constitution and existing regulations
$3,292,978 spentof which $400,000 as grants32% of program spendingRapid response coordination hub: an independent, nonpartisan hub to combat complex and targeted attacks against actors in the pro-democracy and civil rights ecosystem
$3,261,115 spentof which $2,194,755 as grants$266,814 earned by the program31% of program spendingElection: safeguarding free and fair elections, which includes litigation and policy work to ensure voter access and the independence of election processes
$754,791 spentof which $265,075 as grants7% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$3,075,876 spentof which $2,961,842 as grants30% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $10,384,760.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2024, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2024, 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.
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.
98% of STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (30% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 0 of the last 2 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
Norman Eisen
Executive chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
Grant support over time, funder by funder — shade shows the grant size each year.
7 of 16 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 32% 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 STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 15 of 16 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
STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND leans on a few funders — its largest provides 28% of grant income and the top three 74%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
60% 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 STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND.
“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.
Where its funders are
STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 7 states in all.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $3.1M arriving through sponsors registered in 5 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
STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND runs a healthier operating margin than half of the 132 public benefit nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 132 public benefit nonprofits $10M–$100M, FY2025
Organizations like STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND
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
86% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Part of a family of 1 related entity
- State Democracy Defenders Action · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND: 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 STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND?
- STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 16 organizations whose IRS filings report $9,515,992 to it, the largest being NORTH MAIN STREET FUND ($2,628,136). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND have?
- IRS filings report 16 organizations giving $9,515,992 in grants to STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND.
- Who is the largest funder of STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND?
- NORTH MAIN STREET FUND is the largest funder on record, with $2,628,136 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like STATE DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND D/B/A DEMOCRACY DEFENDERS FUND 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 2024–2025), and the filings of 16 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