Grants for civil liberties organizations

Name: Top 25 grants made to civil liberties advocates and organizations
Creator: Cause IQ
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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, universities, international humanitarian organizations, food banks, and land conservation groups.

Foundation size

Foundation size	Number 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 type	Number of grantmakers
Community	26
Private	1,036
Corporate	56
Other	52

Grants made

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

Top 10 foundations supporting civil liberties advocates and organizations

Grantmaker	State	Geographic focus	Percent of grant dollars to civil liberties orgs	Number of grants made to civil liberties orgs	Median grant size
Abbvie Foundation	IL	National	0.1%	31	$170
Seattle Foundation	WA	State	0.0%	27	$1,250
JP Morgan Chase Foundation	NY	National	0.0%	24	$715
Shell Oil Company Foundation	TX	National	0.1%	23	$500
Salesforce Com Foundation	CA	National	0.0%	15	$50
Synchrony Foundation	CT	National	0.0%	13	$100
Liberty Hill Foundation	CA	Metro	0.3%	12	$1,500
Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines	IA	State	0.0%	11	$500
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)	NJ	National	0.0%	10	$437
Yelp Foundation	CA	National	0.7%	10	$125

See all grantmaking to civil liberties organizations

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 grant	Number of grants
<$10k	1,678
$10k-$25k	0
$25k-$100k	0
$100k+	17

Grant amount by grantee size

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

Grantee states

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

Grantee metros

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

Top 25 grants made to civil liberties organizations

Grantee	Grant size	Purpose	Grantmaker
American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ)	$20,363,950	Litigation/legal Res	American Center for Law and Justice / Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism Inc
National Rifle Association (NRA)	$12,073,526	Community Outreach, Training, Safety, Education, 2nd Amendment, General Shooting Program, Hunting / Conservation, Endowment Grant, Scholarships	NRA Foundation
National Rifle Association (NRA)	$12,073,526	Cash Value	NRA Foundation
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)	$11,101,612	Revenue Based Allocation Method	ACLU Foundation
National Rifle Association (NRA)	$11,088,682	Cash Value	NRA Foundation
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)	$6,197,240	Fte Based Allocation Methodology	ACLU Foundation
Voters Not Politicians	$6,000,000	Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy	Sixteen Thirty Fund
Naral Pro-Choice America	$5,347,412	FMV	Naral Pro-Choice America Foundation
National Rifle Association (NRA)	$5,000,000	Cash Value	NRA Foundation
ACLU Foundation	$4,357,450	Civil Participation	Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
National Rifle Association (NRA)	$4,109,204	Cash Value	NRA Foundation
Cause of Action (CoA)	$4,000,000	General Operating	Stand Together Trust
Naral Pro-Choice America	$3,850,039	FMV	Naral Pro-Choice America Foundation
Alabama Education Association	$2,884,966	Financial Assistance	National Education Association of the United States
Human Rights Watch	$2,706,350	International Development	Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California	$2,651,173	Cost	American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California
Floridians for a Fair Democracy	$2,650,000	Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy	Sixteen Thirty Fund
Goldwater Institute	$5,000	Assistance for Charitable Purpose	Foundation for Individual Liberty
Institute for Justice	$5,000	Assistance for Charitable Purpose	Foundation for Individual Liberty
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights	$5,000	General Support	The Holtzman Family Foundation
Family Research Council (FRC)	$5,000	Charitable Contribution	The Esther Foundation
Alliance Defending Freedom	$5,000	General Fund	Maranatha Foundation
Institute for Justice	$5,000	General Fund	The Margaret de Fleur Foundation
ACLU Foundation	$5,000	To Further the Organization's Exempt Purpose	Margaret Thomas Redmon Charitable Trust
Naral Pro-Choice America Foundation	$5,000	General	The Bonnie Ward Simon Foundation

See all grants to civil liberties organizations

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.