Grants Database

Democracy Fund collaborates with our grantees, donors, and other partners to strengthen and expand the movement for an inclusive, multiracial democracy. We are proud to have supported more than 400 organizations doing this work.

Program Areas
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Elections and Voting
General and Field Building
Governance
Just and Inclusive Society
President's Office
Public Square
Strategies
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Civil & Human Rights Online
Constructive Politics
Digital Democracy
Ecosystem News
Empowering Congress
Engaged Journalism
Equitable Civic Infrastructure
General
Investigative Journalism
Journalism & Power Building
News & Information Ecosystems
Oversight and Accountability
Power Building in Marginalized Communities
Press Freedom
Preventing Authoritarian Abuse of Power
Previous Strategy
Pro-Voter Reform
Representative Institutions
Representative Leadership
Resilient Elections
Rights and Dignity
Roadmap for American Democracy
State and Local Accountability
Trust in Elections
Voter-Centric Election Administration
Voting Power
Organization Name (A-Z) Grant Amount Type Program Area Year
  • The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2022

The National Association of LGBTQ Journalists is a journalist-led association working within the news media to advance fair and accurate coverage of LGBTQ+ communities and issues. They promote diverse and inclusive workplaces by holding the industry accountable and providing education, professional development and mentoring.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism, Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

May 2022 to Apr 2023

Strategy:

Journalism & Power Building
  • Journalism & Women Symposium
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2022

The Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS) is expanding their regional programming and diversifying their membership to support their mission to empower and grow the number of women in journalism.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism, Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Jul 2022 to Dec 2023

Strategy:

Journalism & Power Building
  • Chalkbeat Inc.
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2022

Votebeat is a nonpartisan news organization covering local election administration and voting access year-round.

Project:

Votebeat

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Sep 2022 to Feb 2023

Strategy:

General
  • The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2023

The National Association of LGBTQ Journalists is a journalist-led association working within the news media to advance fair and accurate coverage of LGBTQ+ communities and issues. They promote diverse and inclusive workplaces by holding the industry accountable and providing education, professional development and mentoring.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Jul 2023 to May 2025

Strategy:

Journalism & Power Building
  • Business Forward Foundation
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2019

To activate Business Forward’s network of business leaders across the U.S. to protect the rule of law. This grant will support their efforts to identify, train, and support leaders who will speak in favor of the rule of law and who will be prepared to push back against attacks on democratic norms or institutions. 

Project:

Business Leaders for the Rule of Law

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Civil Liberties and Rule of Law

Grant Length:

Nov 2019 to Oct 2022

Strategy:

Oversight and Accountability
  • Faith in Public Life, Inc.
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2022

Faith in Public Life is a national movement of clergy and faith leaders united in the prophetic pursuit of justice, equality and the common good. Together, they are leading the fight to advance just policies at the local, state and federal levels.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation, Government/Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Civic Participation/Public Participation, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting Access

Grant Length:

Aug 2022 to Jul 2023

Strategy:

General
  • More in Common Inc.
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2021

More in Common’s three-part research strategy seeks to understand the challenges around American identity, civic and cultural norms, race, polarization, and violence mitigation. They will identify messaging and approaches that resonate with a majority of Americans.

Project:

American Identity Research & Messaging Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Other

Grant Length:

Sep 2021 to Sep 2022

Strategy:

General
  • Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2020

This grant supports research development through the Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The Senior Fellow and expert in the program will produce a research paper on transitional justice lessons from abroad for advancing racial reconciliation in the United States.

Project:

Support for Transitional Justice Research

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation, Government/Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Media, Civic Participation/Public Participation, Other

Grant Length:

Dec 2020 to Oct 2021

Strategy:

General
  • The Horizon Forum
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2022

The Horizon Forum, a fiscally sponsored project of Proteus Fund, works to identify best practices, explore case studies, and develop solutions to address the problem of racist, dangerous, and xenophobic activity being funded through the philanthropic sector.

Project:

The Horizon Forum

Foundation Center Topic:

Other

Grant Length:

Dec 2022 to Nov 2024

Strategy:

General
  • Charlottesville Tomorrow
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2023

Charlottesville Tomorrow is a community-driven, socially conscious news organization. They serve their neighbors by connecting them to each other and to the issues that affect them most.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Oct 2023 to Sep 2024

Strategy:

News & Information Ecosystems
  • University of Oregon Foundation
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2020

Gather is a project that supports community-minded journalists and other engagement professionals through an online platform that’s a hub for critical tools, resources, and conversations for journalists.

Project:

Gather

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Dec 2020 to Mar 2025

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • University of Chicago
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2023

The Democracy Reform Primers series, a project of the Center for Effective Government at the University of Chicago, provides unbiased remarks by trusted voices on problems and possible solutions to democratic issues. Each Primer focuses on a particular reform, clarifies its intended purposes, and then critically evaluates what the most compelling research has to say about it.

Project:

The Center for Effective Government

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting, Government/Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election Administration, Government, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Redistricting, Government/Judicial Selection and Performance, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voter Education, Registration, and Turnout, Government/Legislative Branch Performance, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting Access, Government/Open Government and Transparency

Grant Length:

Dec 2023 to Nov 2024

Strategy:

Representative Institutions
  • BRIDGE Infrastructure Fund
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2021

A fiscally sponsored project of NEO Philanthropy, Inc., BRIDGE Infrastructure Fund’s Spark Accelerator program provides funding, training, and other resources to organizers, founders, startup nonprofit organizations, and existing grassroots organizing and social justice advocacy groups working in under-resourced communities.

Project:

BRIDGE Infrastructure Fund

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voter Education, Registration, and Turnout, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting Access

Grant Length:

Nov 2021 to Apr 2023

Strategy:

Pro-Voter Reform
  • Over Zero
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2017

To provide support to Over Zero in it’s aim to bring about the reduction and prevention of violence and to create societal resilience to violence in the United States.  

Project:

Support for Over Zero

Foundation Center Topic:

Other

Grant Length:

Nov 2017 to Oct 2018

Strategy:

General
  • Human Rights First
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2017

This grant will support Vets for American Ideals (“VFAI”). VFAI will continue to organize support amongst its chapters of veterans to speak out against anti-Muslim rhetoric. VFAI do so by with expanded capacity in the form of a field coordinator and a junior communications associate. 

Project:

Vets countering islamophobia

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism, Civic Participation/Public Participation, Civic Participation/Issue-based Participation, Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation

Grant Length:

Nov 2017 to Oct 2018

Strategy:

General
  • University of Chicago
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2017

University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy will host a conference and a series of supporting meetings and events featuring a bipartisan cohort of political consultants and academic leaders. These gatherings will focus on discussing and finding potential solutions to the political polarization that negatively impacts the ability of Congress to function. The Grantee will also conduct research to support these convenings.

Project:

The Harris School of Public Policy's Project on Political Reform

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Executive Branch Performance, Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership

Grant Length:

Oct 2017 to Sep 2018

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
  • Healthy Democracy Fund
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2016

The purpose of this grant is to continue our support of Healthy Democracy Fund as they enter a new phase, and seek to build out an online infrastructure for the replication and adoption of CIR in new areas with more ease. 

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Public Participation

Grant Length:

Dec 2016 to Nov 2018

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • OpenSecrets
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2019

To obtain and analyze digital ad data from digital platforms and to translate it into a more accurate, useful dataset for partners. Ultimately, this work would lead to a more comprehensive and accessible data source for the press and public.

Project:

Political Ad Transparency

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Nov 2019 to Mar 2021

Strategy:

Digital Democracy
  • American Press Institute
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2020

The Trusting News project works with journalists across the country to develop, test, and implement strategies in reporting and publishing that builds trust with audiences.

Project:

Trusting News

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Jun 2020 to May 2021

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2017

This grant will expand CRFB’s fact-checking capabilities to monitor and analyze (in real time) the various statements and positions put forth by the president, his staff, and administration representatives.

Project:

Encouraging Transparency & Accountability in the New Administration

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Open Government and Transparency, Government/Budgeting, Civic Participation/Issue-based Participation

Grant Length:

Apr 2017 to Apr 2019

Strategy:

Oversight and Accountability
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