Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
The 51st
The 51st (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $55,096 to it, the largest being The Tiny News Collective Inc ($50,096). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $903k
- Funders on record
- 2
- Grants received
- $55k
- Net assets
- $573k
What The 51st does
Mission
The 51st is an information source that makes living in the District of Columbia easier, more fun, and more equitable for all residents. We provide news as a public service, educate readers, and build community through engagement events.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The Journalism program provides independently researched and rigorously fact-checked local news to DC residents: more than 400 articles, 60 newsletters, and 1 million website visits in 2025. Tenant advocates and social workers said they frequently shared the organizations D.C. Explained guides with clients, noting the clear and accessible writing. The 51st received several grants to support stories holding people in power accountable. One focused on a DC Water policy change where, instead of placing a lien when a buildings owner failed to pay the water bill, the agency started shutting off tenants water. Four days after that story published, DC Council amended regulations to say tenants must receive 30 days notice before water is shut off. Another accountability story from the previous year was recognized with a Pulitzer Prize as part of a broader project in partnership with The New York Times, Baltimore Banner, and Big Local News.
$420,472 spent90% of program spendingThe Outreach program strengthens community bonds through in-person relationship building and curated experiences. In 2025, The 51st secured a grant to continue the work of its first Community Connector, focused on assessing the information needs of Ward 7 residents. With that expansion, the organization contracted two additional Ward 7 residents as organizers; hosted small-scale events to bring people together; and shared what they learned from community members with The 51sts newsroom -- leading to nearly two dozen stories featuring Ward 7 people, places, and issues. Building off of that model, The 51st added another Community Connector to focus on relationships with D.C. natives throughout the region. This included launching a video series highlighting individual D.C. natives and partnering with Black.Native.Creative. to host a recurring live game show to celebrate local history and culture: Ask A D.C. Native, Live.
$46,021 spent10% of program spending
The 2 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $466,493.
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. 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 2024 to 2025, from $268k to $724k (+170%).
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.
97% of The 51st’s revenue is contributions — more reliant on donations than three-quarters of its peers (64% 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.
Chief executive
Christina Sturdivant Sani
Executive Director
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.
From the IRS filings of The 51st’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
The 51st leans on a few funders — its largest provides 91% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
91% 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 The 51st.
“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
The 51st draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 2 states in all.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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
The 51st runs a healthier operating margin than three-quarters of the 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,634 arts & culture nonprofits $100k–$1M, FY2025
Organizations like The 51st
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
78% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
100%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for The 51st: 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 The 51st?
- The 51st (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 2 organizations whose IRS filings report $55,096 to it, the largest being The Tiny News Collective Inc ($50,096). 0 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does The 51st have?
- IRS filings report 2 organizations giving $55,096 in grants to The 51st.
- Who is the largest funder of The 51st?
- The Tiny News Collective Inc is the largest funder on record, with $50,096 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like The 51st 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 2 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