Washington, D.C. · Nonprofit
THE SENTENCING PROJECT
THE SENTENCING PROJECT (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 141 organizations whose IRS filings report $20,528,945 to it, the largest being WELLSPRING PHILANTHROPIC FUND INC ($3,700,000). 73 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2025
- $4.8M
- Funders on record
- 141
- Grants received
- $21M
- Net assets
- $9.9M
What The Sentencing Project does
Mission
Research and education on criminal justice policy issues, and advocacy for criminal justice reform.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
Extreme sentencing: the organization plays a leadership role in sentencing reform activities: publishing research, educating media, lawmakers, and the public, and advocating for change to address the substantial increase in the prison population over the last 50 years. The organization has prioritized the study of life imprisonment in the united states and understanding its impact on prison population increases, aging behind bars, and the consequences of lifelong imprisonment on young people and emerging adults. The organization works in coalition with other organizations to promote additional opportunities for sentence reduction to address unfairness in the system. In response to the evolving second look movement, the organization launched the second look network (the network) in march 2023.
$1,758,785 spentof which $60,000 as grants$3,805 earned by the program49% of program spendingYouth justice: the organization works to safeguard youth from the ravages of the adult criminal legal system and explore alternatives to youth involvement in both the juvenile and adult justice system. The organization publishes reports on the numbers of youth impacted by the criminal legal system and on best practices for diverting youth from future engagement in the justice system. The organization advocates for policies to protect youth in the justice system and speaks at conferences and with the media to educate audiences about the need for reform.
$857,897 spentof which $25,513 as grants24% of program spendingVoting rights: the organization is a leader in national efforts to educate the public about the disenfranchisement of justice-involved people, the racially disparate impacts of current felony disenfranchisement laws and jail practices, and the need to implement universal suffrage for all citizens in order to end the role of the criminal legal system in mediating the central right of voting in a democracy. The organization publishes and distributes research estimating the number of people impacted by state felony disenfranchisement laws and other related topics, hosts an annual conference of national advocates, and it works to advocate for full voting rights for individuals in jail, prison, and the community regardless of conviction status.
$857,527 spentof which $10,000 as grants$10,885 earned by the program24% of program spendingResearch and public education: the organization monitors the criminal justice system and produces research and policy analyses to educate the public about the impact of criminal justice laws, policies, and practices. Findings are shared through highly visible public education campaigns that include earned media, webinars, newsletters, action alerts, and social media. Policy priorities include extreme sentencing, voting rights, youth justice, and racial and ethnic disparities.
$63,656 spent2% of program spendingPolicy reform advocacy: the organization advocates at the federal, state, and local level for reducing the use of incarceration to address crime, decreasing the number of people in prison in favor of more community-based solutions, reforming sentencing policies that produce mass incarceration and racial, gender or economic injustice, expanding and restoring voting rights to americans with convictions, and protecting youth from the adult criminal legal system.
$27,615 spent1% of program spending
The 5 programs described on its FY2025 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $3,565,480.
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 2023 to 2024, from $7.3M to $10M (+43%).
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.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 3 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
Kara Gotsch
Executive director
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 22 funders to 54 funders, grant income rose $893k → $4.2M.
25 of 141 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 31% 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 SENTENCING PROJECT’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 141 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 SENTENCING PROJECT has a broad base — no single funder exceeds 18% 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
37% 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 SENTENCING PROJECT.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 24% · 2018 39% · 2019 24% · 2020 29% · 2021 30% · 2022 22% · 2023 18% — 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
42% of THE SENTENCING PROJECT's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 52% 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 SENTENCING PROJECT draws 95% of its grant income from funders outside Washington, D.C., across 26 states in all.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $6.4M arriving through sponsors registered in 15 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 THE SENTENCING PROJECT receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $183 on record.
- DIRECT STATE SERVICES - NON-SALARY$183
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 SENTENCING PROJECT
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
74% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
60%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 36 states
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE SENTENCING PROJECT: 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 SENTENCING PROJECT?
- THE SENTENCING PROJECT (Washington, D.C.) receives grants from 141 organizations whose IRS filings report $20,528,945 to it, the largest being WELLSPRING PHILANTHROPIC FUND INC ($3,700,000). 73 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE SENTENCING PROJECT have?
- IRS filings report 141 organizations giving $20,528,945 in grants to THE SENTENCING PROJECT, 73 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE SENTENCING PROJECT?
- WELLSPRING PHILANTHROPIC FUND INC is the largest funder on record, with $3,700,000 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE SENTENCING PROJECT 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 141 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