Grants for civil liberties organizations

626 civil liberties advocates and organizations received at least $119.5 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 1,695 grants made from 1,170 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 1,170 foundations, 80% made just a single grant to civil liberties orgs, and 3% made grants to four or more civil liberties orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$119,517,275
Total grant dollars given to civil liberties organizations
1,695
Number of grants made annually to civil liberties organizations
1,170
Number of grantmakers funding civil liberties organizations
$1,000
Median grant size to civil liberties organizations

Foundations that support civil liberties advocates and organizations

Out of all grants made to civil liberties organizations, 78% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 97% of the dollar-value of grants to civil liberties orgs. Foundations funding civil liberties orgs also made grants to legal aid societies, international humanitarian organizations, colleges, religious organizations, and educational service providers.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
921
Medium
 
130
Large
 
119
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation typeNumber of grantmakers
Community
 
26
Private
 
1,036
Corporate
 
56
Other
 
52

Grants made

Grants made to civil liberties orgsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
938
2-3
 
194
4-10
 
30
11+
 
8

Top 10 foundations supporting civil liberties advocates and organizations

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to civil liberties orgsNumber of grants made to civil liberties orgsMedian grant size
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.1%31$170
Seattle FoundationWAState0.0%27$1,250
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%24$715
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.1%23$500
Salesforce Com FoundationCANational0.0%15$50
Synchrony FoundationCTNational0.0%13$100
Liberty Hill FoundationCAMetro0.3%12$1,500
Community Foundation of Greater Des MoinesIAState0.0%11$500
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)NJNational0.0%10$437
Yelp FoundationCANational0.7%10$125

Civil liberties advocates and organizations grantees

Civil liberties organizations with more than $5 million in total revenues received 91% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 61% of all civil liberties orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
1,678
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
17

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$2,000
$100k-$500k
 
$1,000
$500k-$1M
 
$1,000
$1M-$5M
 
$1,000
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
New York
 
516
District of Columbia
 
290
California
 
140
Virginia
 
124
Other
 
625

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
520
Washington DC
 
411
Phoenix
 
75
San Francisco
 
67
Other
 
602

Top 25 grants made to civil liberties organizations

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ)$20,363,950Litigation/legal ResAmerican Center for Law and Justice / Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism Inc
National Rifle Association (NRA)$12,073,526Community Outreach, Training, Safety, Education, 2nd Amendment, General Shooting Program, Hunting / Conservation, Endowment Grant, ScholarshipsNRA Foundation
National Rifle Association (NRA)$12,073,526Cash ValueNRA Foundation
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)$11,101,612Revenue Based Allocation MethodACLU Foundation
National Rifle Association (NRA)$11,088,682Cash ValueNRA Foundation
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)$6,197,240Fte Based Allocation MethodologyACLU Foundation
Voters Not Politicians$6,000,000Civil Rights, Social Action, AdvocacySixteen Thirty Fund
Naral Pro-Choice America$5,347,412FMVNaral Pro-Choice America Foundation
National Rifle Association (NRA)$5,000,000Cash ValueNRA Foundation
ACLU Foundation$4,357,450Civil ParticipationSilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
National Rifle Association (NRA)$4,109,204Cash ValueNRA Foundation
Cause of Action (CoA)$4,000,000General OperatingStand Together Trust
Naral Pro-Choice America$3,850,039FMVNaral Pro-Choice America Foundation
Alabama Education Association$2,884,966Financial AssistanceNational Education Association of the United States
Human Rights Watch$2,706,350International DevelopmentSilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California$2,651,173CostAmerican Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California
Floridians for a Fair Democracy$2,650,000Civil Rights, Social Action, AdvocacySixteen Thirty Fund
Goldwater Institute$5,000Assistance for Charitable PurposeFoundation for Individual Liberty
Institute for Justice$5,000Assistance for Charitable PurposeFoundation for Individual Liberty
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights$5,000General SupportThe Holtzman Family Foundation
Family Research Council (FRC)$5,000Charitable ContributionThe Esther Foundation
Alliance Defending Freedom$5,000General FundMaranatha Foundation
Institute for Justice$5,000General FundThe Margaret de Fleur Foundation
ACLU Foundation$5,000To Further the Organization's Exempt PurposeMargaret Thomas Redmon Charitable Trust
Naral Pro-Choice America Foundation$5,000GeneralThe Bonnie Ward Simon Foundation
Methodology: To determine grants and grantees, Cause IQ analyzes electronically-filed Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF financial disclosure documents, matching grantees to specific organizations using EINs and fuzzy matching logic. The "Civil liberties organizations" category for this page is determined by the "R60: Civil Liberties Advocacy" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.