Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH
THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 64 organizations whose IRS filings report $17,867,427 to it, the largest being ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC ($2,550,000). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $3.5M
- Funders on record
- 64
- Grants received
- $18M
- Net assets
- $4.2M
What The Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth does
Mission
To catalyze the just and equitable treatment of children in the united states by demanding a ban on life without parole and other extreme sentences for children who cause harm; advancing alternative responses that focus on their unique characteristics as children, including their capacity for change; and creating opportunities for formerly incarcerated youth to thrive as adults and lead in their communities.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Movement building - cfsy serves as the national hub for all those working to end the practice of sentencing youth to die in prison. Cfsy prioritizes outreach, engagement, and leadership development for those who are directly impacted by the policies. Cfsy also works to achieve reforms by engaging those juveniles serving life without parole, their families, and the families of victims of violence committed by youth in the process. This includes the incarcerated children's advocacy network ("ican"), a first-of-its-kind national network of individuals formerly incarcerated as youth. These individuals are experts who demonstrate through their advocacy and public education efforts that children - even those convicted of serious crimes - can mature and become positive members of society. Alongside ican members, cfsy convenes and coordinates, among its partners around the country, in order to ensure all those involved in this effort have the opportunity to communicate and work together strategically toward a common goal.
$1,589,282 spentof which $67,803 as grants53% of program spendingLegal and policy - cfsy partners with advocacy organizations and individuals pursuing fair, age-appropriate alternatives to life-without-parole for youth. Cfsy organizes calls; travels to relevant states for meetings; provides tools such as campaign strategy advice, talking points, infographics, and communications trainings; and otherwise brings to bear its issue expertise, technical assistance, research and studies to support the case for reform. Cfsy prioritizes efforts in jurisdictions where it sees an opportunity for national precedent to be set and where its value-add can make a significant difference. In these jurisdictions, cfsy works alongside its partners to implement effective reform strategies. Cfsy also partners with attorneys pursuing fair, age-appropriate alternatives to life-without-parole for youth. Cfsy provides partners with amicus support, resources and tools, media relations support, and sharing of best practices.
$845,850 spentof which $75,100 as grants28% of program spendingCommunications - cfsy uses public education tools that include its website, social media, op/eds, and print media to strategically educate decision makers and those that influence them about the practice of sentencing children to die in prison, and the need for age-appropriate alternatives. Cfsy coordinates with partner organizations to ensure a shared strategy that maximizes its impact.
$370,959 spent12% of program spendingStrategic partnerships - cfsy brings diverse partners proximate to ican and other communities directly impacted by extreme sentencing to provide the resources necessary for people who are returning home from lengthy incarcerations, and their families and neighborhoods, to enable them to thrive. In addition, cfsy develops partnerships that increase access to a range of relevant support to restore communities that have been adversely impacted by the practice of extreme prison sentencing of youth.
$210,143 spent7% of program spendingEquity leadership - cfsy recognizes that racism, misogyny, and class and gender oppression are embedded in the very foundation of the united states - this includes the social, economic, and political institutions; but especially within the juvenile and criminal legal systems. Because cfsy is an equity driven organization, cfsy offers and requires diversity, equity, inclusion trainings, workshops, and shared learning exercises for cfsy staff and board members. Equity-driven values are infused into each program area and all functions of cfsy. Therefore, it is not listed as a separate program on the statement of functional expenses.
The 5 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,016,234.
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 2019 to 2020, from $2.3M to $3.2M (+41%).
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: 2021 8% · 2022 13% · 2023 5% · 2024 4% · 2025 1%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (93% 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
Xavier Mcelrath-Bey
Executive director
Board chair
Anita Colon
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 $705k → $2.2M.
19 of 64 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 38% 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 THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 64 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
THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 14% 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
42% 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 CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 21% · 2018 31% · 2019 31% · 2020 29% · 2021 25% · 2022 33% · 2023 23% — broadly stable.
“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
63% of THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 67% 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
THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH draws 88% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 12 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $6.8M arriving through sponsors registered in 12 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
THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 852 crime & legal nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 852 crime & legal nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2025
Organizations like THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH
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
69% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
82%
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 CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH: 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 CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH?
- THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 64 organizations whose IRS filings report $17,867,427 to it, the largest being ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC ($2,550,000). 43 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH have?
- IRS filings report 64 organizations giving $17,867,427 in grants to THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH, 43 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH?
- ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC is the largest funder on record, with $2,550,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE CAMPAIGN FOR THE FAIR SENTENCING OF YOUTH 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 64 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