Grants for voter registration groups

560 voter registration and education organizations received at least $164.0 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 606 grants made from 461 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,500. Of these 461 foundations, 84% made just a single grant to voter orgs, and 2% made grants to four or more voter orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$163,956,114
Total grant dollars given to voter registration groups
606
Number of grants made annually to voter registration groups
461
Number of grantmakers funding voter registration groups
$1,500
Median grant size to voter registration groups

Foundations that support voter registration and education organizations

Out of all grants made to voter registration groups, 68% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 87% of the dollar-value of grants to voter orgs. Foundations funding voter orgs also made grants to legal aid societies, youth development programs, universities, land conservation groups, and multiservice human service organizations.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
317
Medium
 
62
Large
 
81
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
 
15
Private
 
374
Corporate
 
25
Other
 
47

Grants made

Grants made to voter orgsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
388
2-3
 
60
4-10
 
12
11+
 
1

Top 10 foundations supporting voter registration and education organizations

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to voter orgsNumber of grants made to voter orgsMedian grant size
Seattle FoundationWAState0.0%19$1,000
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%9$350
Liberty Hill FoundationCAMetro0.2%8$2,000
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.0%7$200
All Hands on Deck NetworkMANational0.5%6$5,000
Alliance for Youth ActionDCNational6.2%6$5,000
The Double E-FoundationCONational24.3%6$1,000
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.0%6$720
Sixteen Thirty FundDCNational38.5%5$5,000
The Ford FoundationNYNational0.0%5$2,575

Voter registration and education organizations grantees

Voter registration groups with more than $5 million in total revenues received 99% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 45% of all voter orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
587
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
19

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,250
$100k-$500k
 
$2,000
$500k-$1M
 
$2,500
$1M-$5M
 
$1,500
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
District of Columbia
 
163
New York
 
92
California
 
65
Virginia
 
43
Other
 
243

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
Washington DC
 
194
New York City
 
93
Los Angeles
 
24
Seattle
 
23
Other
 
268

Top 25 grants made to voter registration groups

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
International Republican Institute (IRI)$33,696,723Democracy AssistanceConsortium For Elections and Political Process Strengthening
America Votes$27,150,000Civil Rights, Social Action, AdvocacySixteen Thirty Fund
International Republican Institute (IRI)$18,333,281Democratic Governance & Political PartiesNational Endowment for Democracy
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
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)
League of Conservation Voters$5,100,000Enviromental Education, Capacity Building, & EngagementLeague of Conservation Voters Education Fund
Accountable Us$4,649,850Civil Rights, Social Action, AdvocacyNew Venture Fund
Accountable Us$4,649,850Civil Rights, Social Action, AdvocacyNew Venture Fund
League of Conservation Voters$4,500,000EducationalCenter for American Progress Action Fund
Working Families Organization (WFO)$4,488,120Project SupportTides Foundation
Voter Registration Project$4,000,000Enviromental Education, Capacity Building, & EngagementLeague of Conservation Voters Education Fund
March for Our Lives Foundation$3,803,650Support General Operating Around Promoting Activism, Civic Engagement and Gun Violence PreventionEverytown for Gun Safety Support Fund
The Voter Participation Center$3,647,000Civil ParticipationSilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
League of Conservation Voters$3,150,000Program GrantNEO Philanthropy
League of Conservation Voters$3,000,000Environment/healthTides Advocacy
Voter Registration Project$2,500,000DemocracyProteus Fund
TurboVote$2,500,000GeneralQuadrivium
League of Conservation Voters$5,000Cash PaidFederation of State Conservation Voter Leagues
Young Invincibles (YI)$5,000Support the Young Invincibles 10th Anniversary Celebration in Washington, DC, on June 11, 2019Annie E Casey Foundation (AECF)
Charlottesville Tomorrow$5,000The Insight Project on Education EquityCharlottesville Area Community Foundation
Virginia Civic Engagement Table (VCET)$5,000Advocacy Work for the 2020 Census in the Cacf Service AreaCharlottesville Area Community Foundation
Institute for Community Empowerment$5,000General OperatingSarah I Schieffelin Residuary Trust#
League of Women Voters of Iowa$5,000Grant Distribution for 19th Amendment Centennial CommemorationCommunity Foundation of Greater Des Moines
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 "Voter registration groups" category for this page is determined by the "R40: Voter Education, Registration" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.