California · Nonprofit
Teach Democracy
Teach Democracy (California) receives grants from 71 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,221,528 to it, the largest being THE AHMANSON FOUNDATION ($672,000). 45 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $5.4M
- Funders on record
- 71
- Grants received
- $3.2M
- Net assets
- $11M
What Teach Democracy does
Mission
Teach Democracy inspires lifelong civic engagement through interactive programs and resources for teachers and youth because our democracy depends on informed participation by all. Teach Democracy envisions a society in which all young people become lifelong, knowledgeable, and confident participants in our democracy.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Civic Action Program (CAP): CAP provides lessons that engage students in analyzing issues, learning about public policy, and choosing and addressing an issue that matters to them. CAP embeds research-based practices in civic learning. Over 600 teachers throughout the nation register on the CAP website annually.
$611,986 spentof which $15,556 as grants30% of program spendingMock Trial: Teach Democracy develops a hypothetical criminal case each year for local and state competitions. Teams of students prepare to take the roles of attorneys, witnesses, clerks, and bailiffs and present either a prosecution or defense case presided over by volunteer judges and scored by volunteer attorneys. Over 8,000 students participate annually, along with hundreds of volunteers.
$282,829 spent$266,730 earned by the program14% of program spendingExpanding Horizons Institute (EHI): EHI provides seminars and paid internships for first-generation, college bound youth in Los Angeles. Local businesses and agencies sponsor interns at their job sites.
$185,658 spentof which $2,329 as grants9% of program spendingTeach Democracy is known for a wide range of ongoing, direct programming for students from all types of communities. In these programs, we emphasize active learning through civil discourse, media literacy, dialogue across differences, deliberation, discussion, simulations, and role play. These activities and lessons not only allow them to understand our founding documents and principles, but also engage students in developing the lifelong knowledge, skills, and competencies that inspire them to be active and engaged citizens.
$960,033 spentof which $845 as grants$7,819 earned by the program47% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $2,040,506.
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 2024 to 2025, from $8.5M to $12M (+36%).
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: 2017 7% · 2018 7% · 2019 4% · 2020 21% · 2021 15% · 2022 16% · 2023 7% · 2024 16% · 2025 9%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 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
Stephanie Doute
Chief Executive Officer (start 1/25)
Board chair
Jason Lo
Board Chair
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 11 funders to 31 funders, grant income rose $79k → $598k.
12 of 71 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 21% 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 Teach Democracy’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 71 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
Teach Democracy has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 21% of grant income, and it takes 6 funders to reach half.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 6 funders to its left
32% 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 Teach Democracy.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 43% · 2019 22% · 2020 16% · 2021 63% · 2022 22% · 2023 21% — 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
34% of Teach Democracy's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 63% 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
85% of Teach Democracy's grant income comes from California funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $662k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 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.
Government funding Teach Democracy receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.4M on record.
- Department of Education$1.2M
- National Endowment for the Humanities$199k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like Teach Democracy
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
69% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
65%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Teach Democracy: 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 Teach Democracy?
- Teach Democracy (California) receives grants from 71 organizations whose IRS filings report $3,221,528 to it, the largest being THE AHMANSON FOUNDATION ($672,000). 45 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does Teach Democracy have?
- IRS filings report 71 organizations giving $3,221,528 in grants to Teach Democracy, 45 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Teach Democracy?
- THE AHMANSON FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $672,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Teach Democracy 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 FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 71 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