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
Select...
Elections and Voting
General and Field Building
Governance
Just and Inclusive Society
President's Office
Public Square
Strategies
Select...
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
  • Rural Digital Youth Resiliency Project Inc.
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2021

The Rural Digital Youth Resiliency Project is an independent nonprofit investigative reporting and research organization. They are producing the workshop series Building a Community of Practice: Reporting on Extremism for Small Newsrooms and Independent Journalists.

Project:

Reporting on Extremism

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Aug 2021 to Jul 2022

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Refugees International
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2023

The Refugee Advocacy Lab is an initiative hosted at Refugees International and co-founded with the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), International Rescue Committee (IRC), and Refugee Congress. They support the advocacy community by developing strategic communications resources, championing inclusive policies, and building capacity for the field.

Project:

Refugee Advocacy Lab

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation, Civic Participation/Naturalization and Immigrant Civic Integration

Grant Length:

Nov 2023 to Oct 2024

Strategy:

Power Building in Marginalized Communities
  • Oklahoma Media Center
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2023

The Oklahoma Media Center (OMC) supports and strengthens Oklahoma’s local journalism ecosystem. A nonpartisan 501(c)(3), OMC includes over 25 news outlets, ranging from broadcast to nonprofit to Indigenous and Black-owned media outlets to longstanding newspapers. They provide funding, best-practices training to elevate the industry, and collaborative support for local newsrooms.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Jul 2023 to Jun 2026

Strategy:

News & Information Ecosystems
  • Native American Journalists Association
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2022

The Native American Journalists Association supports their members through trainings, networking, and scholarship opportunities, while holding the media accountable in their portrayals of Native American and Indigenous communities.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Jun 2022 to Nov 2023

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Social Science Research Council
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2020

To support scholarship at the intersection of critical race, digital studies, and social media platforms; especially as it relates to discriminatory targeting, hateful activities, content governance, and human / civil rights protections in the United States, with a particular focus on people of color and women.

Project:

Critical Race, Digital Studies, & Social Media Platforms

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Apr 2020 to Apr 2023

Strategy:

Digital Democracy
  • Local Independent Online News Publishers Inc.
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2022

LION Publishers strengthens the local news industry by helping independent news publishers build more sustainable businesses. They provide teaching, resources, and community to independent news entrepreneurs.

Project:

General Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Nov 2022 to Oct 2023

Strategy:

News & Information Ecosystems
  • More in Common Inc.
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2022

More in Common’s (MiC) is conducting a three-part research strategy to better understand and diagnose the challenges around American identity, civic and cultural norms, race, polarization and violence mitigation. They will test and refine messaging to identify approaches that can reach and resonate with a majority of Americans.

Project:

American Identity Research & Messaging Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Other

Grant Length:

Sep 2022 to Nov 2023

Strategy:

Power Building in Marginalized Communities
  • Student Press Law Center
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2022

Founded in 1974, the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) promotes, supports and defends the First Amendment and free press rights of student journalists and their advisers.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy, Media

Grant Length:

Jul 2022 to Jun 2023

Strategy:

Press Freedom
  • Instituto Lab LLC
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • President's Office
  • 2023

Instituto’s mission is to build sustained political power with low-income and communities of color in Arizona. They believe that every community has the inherent leadership, capacity, and resources to create their own solutions, and that all it takes to build power is to facilitate connections and training.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Other

Grant Length:

Dec 2023 to Nov 2024

Strategy:

General
  • University of Chicago
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • President's Office
  • 2021

Bright Line Watch, a project of the Chicago Center on Democracy at University of Chicago, conducts research, including longitudinal studies, on the health of American democracy.

Project:

Bright Line Watch

Foundation Center Topic:

Other

Grant Length:

Jun 2021 to May 2025

Strategy:

General
  • National Association of Black Journalists
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2022

The National Association of Black Journalists supports their members through trainings, networking, and scholarship opportunities. They also hold the media accountable for recruitment and retention of black journalists as well as their portrayals of the black community through media narratives.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism, Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Jun 2022 to May 2023

Strategy:

Journalism & Power Building
  • Asian Americans Journalists Association
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2022

To build organizational capacity to continue Asian Americans Journalists Association’s support of members through trainings, networking, and scholarship opportunities, while partnering with media to ensure responsible and diverse coverage of AAPI communities.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism, Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Jul 2022 to Jun 2023

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • NAHJ Association
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2022

Through professional development services and scholarships, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ) works to diversify mainstream newsrooms, so they better represent the communities they serve. NAHJ also advocates for the accurate representation of Latinos/Hispanic in news.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism, Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Oct 2022 to Sep 2023

Strategy:

Journalism & Power Building
  • People's Parity Project
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Governance
  • 2023

The People’s Parity Project is a nationwide network of law students and new attorneys organizing to unrig the legal system and build a justice system that values people over profits.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Judicial Selection and Performance

Grant Length:

Nov 2023 to Oct 2024

Strategy:

State and Local Accountability
  • Solutions Journalism Network
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2021

The Democracy SOS Fellowship will provide training and resources to journalists in order to build a practice of more engagement, trust, and equity in civics, elections, and political reporting.

Project:

Democracy SOS

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism, Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Aug 2021 to Apr 2022

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • International Women's Media Foundation
  • $150,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2020

International Women’s Media Foundation’s Black Journalists Therapy Relief Fund offers stipends to women-identifying Black journalists facing financial hardship to access critical mental health services.

Project:

Black Journalists Therapy Relief Fund

Foundation Center Topic:

Media

Grant Length:

Oct 2020 to Jan 2022

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Press On South Inc
  • $150,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2021

Press On is a Southern media collective that catalyzes change and advances justice through the practice of movement journalism.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Dec 2021 to Dec 2022

Strategy:

Ecosystem News
  • New York University
  • $151,800.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2018

This grant will support a project of GovLab, a program within the Tandon School of Engineering at New York University, to develop a handbook for congressional offices with techniques for increasing citizen voice in the policymaking process and improving constituent engagement through new technologies. The grant also will allow GovLab to pilot projects with several congressional offices for using open source software to test some of the techniques outlined in the handbook. 

Project:

GovLab Congressional CrowdLaw Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance

Grant Length:

Oct 2018 to Jan 2020

Strategy:

Empowering Congress
  • Institute for Nonprofit News
  • $156,230.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2019

The Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) will create and revise resources on libel and defamation insurance for nonprofit news organizations. INN will expand their insurance program and partner with nonprofit organizations to develop short- and long-term solutions to lowering the cost of insurance for nonprofit journalists so that they are protected against lawsuits related to their reporting.

Project:

Nonprofit News Insurance Program

Foundation Center Topic:

Media, Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Nov 2019 to Jan 2023

Strategy:

Press Freedom
  • The Equity Alliance
  • $160,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2023

The Equity Alliance is the leading Black-led grassroots organization in Tennessee promoting intentional, unapologetic, innovative, and culturally relevant year-round civic engagement among Black communities, while providing their communities with the tools and knowledge they need to be self-determining and create sustainable change.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation, Civic Participation/Issue-based Participation, Civic Participation/Public Participation, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting Access

Grant Length:

Dec 2023 to May 2025

Strategy:

Voting Power
Democracy Fund
1200 17th Street NW Suite 300,
Washington, DC 20036