Grants for civil rights and social justice organizations

3,348 civil rights and advocacy organizations received at least $478.8 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 5,717 grants made from 3,145 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 3,145 foundations, 72% made just a single grant to social justice orgs, and 6% made grants to four or more social justice orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$478,808,449
Total grant dollars given to civil rights and social justice organizations
5,717
Number of grants made annually to civil rights and social justice organizations
3,145
Number of grantmakers funding civil rights and social justice organizations
$1,000
Median grant size to civil rights and social justice organizations

Foundations that support civil rights and advocacy organizations

Out of all grants made to civil rights and social justice organizations, 78% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 59% of the dollar-value of grants to social justice orgs. Foundations funding social justice orgs also made grants to legal aid societies, multiservice human service organizations, civil rights organizations, international humanitarian organizations, and christian organizations.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
2,455
Medium
 
375
Large
 
314
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
 
72
Private
 
2,668
Corporate
 
137
Other
 
268

Grants made

Grants made to social justice orgsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
2,285
2-3
 
662
4-10
 
163
11+
 
35

Top 10 foundations supporting civil rights and advocacy organizations

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to social justice orgsNumber of grants made to social justice orgsMedian grant size
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.1%107$470
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.2%96$209
Seattle FoundationWAState0.2%83$1,500
Arkansas Community FoundationARState0.3%78$1,257
Salesforce Com FoundationCANational0.0%57$50
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.3%54$475
Liberty Hill FoundationCAMetro1.0%46$1,750
Baird FoundationWINational0.7%43$333
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)NJNational0.0%35$500
Synchrony FoundationCTNational0.1%34$200

Civil rights and advocacy organizations grantees

Civil rights and social justice organizations with more than $5 million in total revenues received 92% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 45% of all social justice orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
5,654
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
63

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,448
$100k-$500k
 
$1,200
$500k-$1M
 
$1,500
$1M-$5M
 
$1,406
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
New York
 
1,213
District of Columbia
 
775
California
 
698
Virginia
 
391
Other
 
2,640

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
1,200
Washington DC
 
1,117
San Francisco
 
331
Los Angeles
 
241
Other
 
2,679

Top 25 grants made to civil rights and social justice organizations

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
International Republican Institute (IRI)$33,696,723Democracy AssistanceConsortium For Elections and Political Process Strengthening
Fwdus$27,465,560ActualChan Zuckerberg Initiative Advocacy
America Votes$27,150,000Civil Rights, Social Action, AdvocacySixteen Thirty Fund
American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ)$20,363,950Litigation/legal ResAmerican Center for Law and Justice / Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism Inc
International Republican Institute (IRI)$18,333,281Democratic Governance & Political PartiesNational Endowment for Democracy
Fwdus$14,173,310General OperationsChan Zuckerberg Initiative Advocacy
Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Rights$13,351,733To Support Readi Chicago Year 2The Chicago Community Trust
The Broad Center$13,025,400Education - To Develop and Support Leaders and Managers of Public School Districts, Charter Management Orgs and State and Federal Education AgenciesThe Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation
Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP)$12,775,573FMVStand Together Trust
Americans for Prosperity Foundation (AFP)$12,775,573Market ValueStand Together Trust
Aarp$12,544,586Charitable Work Conducted on Behalf of Aarp FoundationAARP Foundation
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
Texas Women's Foundation$11,387,516General SupportThe Dallas Foundation
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)$11,101,612Revenue Based Allocation MethodACLU Foundation
National Rifle Association (NRA)$11,088,682Cash ValueNRA Foundation
National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA)$9,000,000To Provide Covid-19 SupportBlue Meridian Partners
Center for American Progress Action Fund$8,847,495Public Education & AdvocacyCenter for American Progress (CAP)
League of Conservation Voters$8,000,000Environmental ProgramsSixteen Thirty Fund
UnidosUS$7,637,657Support the Racial Equity Anchor Institutions in Advancing Racial Equity and Racial Healing Thru Increase Civic Engagement in Communities of Color and the Development and Deployment of Effective Multiracial NarrativesW.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF)
The Martin Luther King Jr Center For Nonviolent Social Change$6,541,000National Park Foundation (NPF)
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)$6,197,240Fte Based Allocation MethodologyACLU Foundation
Voters Not Politicians$6,000,000Civil Rights, Social Action, AdvocacySixteen Thirty Fund
Center for Community Change (CCC)$5,500,000Economic Justice ProjectThe JPB Foundation
Naral Pro-Choice America$5,347,412FMVNaral Pro-Choice America 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 rights and social justice organizations" category for this page is determined by the "R00: Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy: General" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.