Grants for civil rights organizations

1,437 civil rights organizations received at least $81.7 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 2,364 grants made from 1,549 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,200. Of these 1,549 foundations, 82% made just a single grant to civil rights orgs, and 3% made grants to four or more civil rights orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$81,717,890
Total grant dollars given to civil rights organizations
2,364
Number of grants made annually to civil rights organizations
1,549
Number of grantmakers funding civil rights organizations
$1,200
Median grant size to civil rights organizations

Foundations that support civil rights organizations

Out of all grants made to civil rights organizations, 74% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 94% of the dollar-value of grants to civil rights orgs. Foundations funding civil rights orgs also made grants to multiservice human service organizations, youth development programs, legal aid societies, educational service providers, and scholarship organizations.

Foundation size

Foundation size Number of grantmakers
Small
 
1,158
Medium
 
200
Large
 
191
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
 
52
Private
 
1,268
Corporate
 
85
Other
 
144

Grants made

Grants made to civil rights orgs Number of grantmakers
1
 
1,278
2-3
 
216
4-10
 
33
11+
 
22

Top 10 foundations supporting civil rights organizations

Grantmaker State Geographic focus Percent of grant dollars to civil rights orgs Number of grants made to civil rights orgs Median grant size
JP Morgan Chase Foundation NY National 0.0% 67 $300
Abbvie Foundation IL National 0.1% 44 $250
Salesforce Com Foundation CA National 0.0% 31 $100
Westrock Foundation GA National 0.1% 26 $15
Shell Oil Company Foundation TX National 0.1% 21 $450
Carmax Foundation VA National 0.1% 21 $200
Arkansas Community Foundation AR State 0.1% 19 $1,114
Seattle Foundation WA State 0.0% 17 $3,000
Ticket to Dream Foundation CA National 5.6% 17 $2,125
Liberty Hill Foundation CA Metro 0.3% 17 $1,200

Civil rights organizations grantees

Civil rights organizations with more than $5 million in total revenues received 77% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 35% of all civil rights orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grant Number of grants
<$10k
 
2,352
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
12

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenue Median grant size
<$100k
 
$1,500
$100k-$500k
 
$1,093
$500k-$1M
 
$1,800
$1M-$5M
 
$1,500
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of grantee Number of grants
New York
 
403
California
 
382
District of Columbia
 
201
Virginia
 
190
Other
 
1,188

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee Number of grants
New York City
 
390
Washington DC
 
363
San Francisco
 
164
Los Angeles
 
163
Other
 
1,203

Top 25 grants made to civil rights organizations

Grantee Grant size Purpose Grantmaker
Heartland Alliance for Human Needs and Rights $13,351,733 To Support Readi Chicago Year 2 The Chicago Community Trust
Aarp $12,544,586 Charitable Work Conducted on Behalf of Aarp Foundation AARP Foundation
Texas Women's Foundation $11,387,516 General Support The Dallas Foundation
National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) $9,000,000 To Provide Covid-19 Support Blue Meridian Partners
The Martin Luther King Jr Center For Nonviolent Social Change $6,541,000 National Park Foundation (NPF)
Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) $5,275,000 President's Fund David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Borealis Philanthropy $4,567,500 Transform Racial Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the Philanthropic Field By Building the Strong Sector's Capacity To Integrate Racial Equity Within Institutions Serving the Infrastructure of Philanthropy Through Support of Efforts of A Funding Collaborative W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF)
Essie Justice Group $3,281,000 Public Safety Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Women Donors Network (WDN) $3,010,000 General Operating Support The Chicago Community Trust
The National Council for Incarcerated An D Formerly Incarcarated Women and Girls $2,875,000 Public Safety Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Kentucky Youth Advocates $2,550,000 See PT Iii, Line 4B Kosair Charities Committee
Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) $2,500,000 To Provide Covid-19 Support Blue Meridian Partners
Brave Trails $5,000 Public Support of Organization's Mission The Ernest G Herman Foundation
Lambda Legal $5,000 Charitable Purpose The Hello Beautiful Foundation
Root Social Justice Center $5,000 Support Social Justice Programs The Webs Foundation
Court Appointed Special Advocates of Santa Cruz County $5,000 2015 Discretionary Grant Kenneth Rainin Foundation
Court Appointed Special Advocates of Santa Cruz County $5,000 2015 Discretionary Grant Kenneth Rainin Foundation
Court Appointed Special Advocates of Denton County $5,000 Court Advocates for Children in Denton County. Mike A Myers Foundation
Basic Rights Oregon $5,000 General Operating Support L and H Foundation
Lifetime Advocacy Plus $5,000 Unrestricted General Osberg Family Trust
Virginia Beach Court Appointed Special Advocates $5,000 Annual Gala Sponsorship Monarch Charities
Northeast Texas Casa $5,000 Furtherance of Exempt Purpose The Bobbie A Atkinson Foundation
Williamson County CASA $5,000 Operational Funding Request Hca Healthcare Foundation
Virginia Faith and Freedom Coalition $5,000 Financial Assistance Faith and Freedom Coalition
Casa New Orleans $5,000 General Assistance Zurich Classic of New Orleans
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 organizations" category for this page is determined by the "R20: Civil Rights, Advocacy for Specific Groups" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.