Texas · Nonprofit
THE ELECTION CENTER
THE ELECTION CENTER (Texas) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,662,565 to it, the largest being The Pew Charitable Trusts ($3,922,725). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $5.0M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $6.7M
- Net assets
- $4.8M
What The Election Center does
Mission
To promote and support continuous improvement in the administration of elections and voter registration through research, professional education, conferences, and consulting.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Events: conducting and supervising our networking conferences and workshop events, primarily our four events hosted annually around the country.
$1,520,723 spent44% of program spendingCertified elections registration administrator (cera) certification: conducting accredited certification courses offered in person at eight different locations annually around the country and online monthly.
$1,314,708 spentof which $274,000 as grants$1,367,538 earned by the program38% of program spendingConsulting: designing and implementing programs built on best practices for training and administration for election offices around the country.
$488,179 spent$554,478 earned by the program14% of program spendingMembership: serving our 2200+ members in the election administration field as the foundation of our organization.
$161,738 spent$336,022 earned by the program5% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,485,348.
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 2022 to 2023, from $2.5M to $4.6M (+85%).
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: 2020 5%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
53% of THE ELECTION CENTER’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (48% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 of the last 7 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
Tom Wilkey
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base broadened from 1 funder to 4 funders, grant income rose $1k → $5.3M.
From the IRS filings of THE ELECTION CENTER’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 ELECTION CENTER leans on a few funders — its largest provides 59% of grant income and the top three 96%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2022 100% · 2023 66% — 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.
Where its funders are
THE ELECTION CENTER draws 68% of its grant income from funders outside Texas, across 5 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
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 ELECTION CENTER holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 11,752 education nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 11,752 education nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Government funding THE ELECTION CENTER receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $19k on record.
- NJ$12k
- VT$4k
- DE$3k
- OK$350
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 THE ELECTION CENTER
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 Texas
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
81%
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 ELECTION CENTER: 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 ELECTION CENTER?
- THE ELECTION CENTER (Texas) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $6,662,565 to it, the largest being The Pew Charitable Trusts ($3,922,725). 4 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE ELECTION CENTER have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $6,662,565 in grants to THE ELECTION CENTER, 4 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE ELECTION CENTER?
- The Pew Charitable Trusts is the largest funder on record, with $3,922,725 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE ELECTION CENTER find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Texas. 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 FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 6 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