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
  • Law Forward Inc.
  • $200,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2024

Law Forward is a legal nonprofit working to defend ballot access, led the fight for fair districts, protected separation of powers, advocated for the judiciary’s constitutional role, and convened broad coalitions—including key Wisconsin nonprofits, government officials, and national allies to resist election subversion and ensure fair, free elections.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Other

Grant Length:

Jun 2024 to May 2025

Strategy:

Resilient Elections
  • Native American Rights Fund, Inc.
  • $200,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2019

The Native American Rights Fund (NARF) is a part of the Native American Voting Rights Coalition, which fosters partnerships with tribal governments across the country to tackle systemic challenges to voter participation for tribal communities. 

Project:

Voter Registration Basics in Indian Country: Addresses, POBs, & GIS

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting Access

Grant Length:

Dec 2019 to Jul 2024

Strategy:

Voter-Centric Election Administration
  • Online News Association
  • $200,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2022

The Online News Association (ONA) works to build a stronger journalism field that serves an engaged and informed public. Their programs for digital journalists and related fields include professional development, community-building, shared learning, and more.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Jun 2022 to May 2023

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
  • $200,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2022

The Maynard Institute was founded to promote diversity and antiracism in the news media through improved coverage, hiring and business practices. They challenge the systemic lack of diversity in the news industry through training, collaborations and convenings.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Aug 2022 to Jul 2023

Strategy:

Journalism & Power Building
  • Center for a New American Security Inc.
  • $200,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2020

The Center for New American Security’s project will engage a task force of experts to inform the development of policy recommendations to be published alongside policy explainers that examine the scope of the Dept. of Homeland Security’s mission.

Project:

DHS Oversight & Accountability

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Government/Executive Branch Performance, Government/Open Government and Transparency

Grant Length:

Oct 2020 to Sep 2022

Strategy:

Oversight and Accountability
  • Red Canary Song
  • $200,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2021

Red Canary Song, a fiscally sponsored project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs Inc., convenes migrant workers and provides mutual aid, including reproductive health and ob-gyn services for a growing population of migrant women. Their work includes outreach to those communities to make it feel safe for them to access these services in the first place.

Project:

RAD Support of Red Canary Song

Foundation Center Topic:

Other

Grant Length:

Dec 2021 to May 2023

Strategy:

General
  • Narrative Initiative
  • $200,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2023

Narrative Initiative, a fiscally sponsored project of New Venture Fund, works with social movements and changemakers to envision and strategize for narrative change that embodies a movement’s aspirations.

Project:

Narrative Initiative

Foundation Center Topic:

Other

Grant Length:

Nov 2023 to Oct 2024

Strategy:

Power Building in Marginalized Communities
  • The Aspen Institute Inc
  • $200,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2020

To support the Inclusive America Project at The Aspen Institute. 

Project:

Support for the Inclusive America Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership

Grant Length:

Apr 2020 to Mar 2022

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
  • Welcoming America Inc.
  • $200,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2023

Welcoming America is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that leads a movement of inclusive communities becoming more prosperous by ensuring everyone belongs. Through the Welcoming Network, they help communities develop the roadmap they need to create welcoming policies and share new approaches to creating an environment where everyone can truly thrive.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Naturalization and Immigrant Civic Integration

Grant Length:

Nov 2023 to Oct 2024

Strategy:

Power Building in Marginalized Communities
  • Generation Justice
  • $200,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2023

Generation Justice, a fiscally sponsored project of New Mexico Community Foundation, is a multiracial, multicultural project that trains youth to harness the power of community and raise critical consciousness through leadership development, civic engagement, media production and narrative shift.

Project:

Generation Justice

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Oct 2023 to Sep 2025

Strategy:

Civil & Human Rights Online
  • Campaign For Accountability Inc.
  • $200,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2023

Campaign for Accountability (CfA) is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Oct 2023 to Sep 2025

Strategy:

Civil & Human Rights Online
  • William J. Brennan, Jr. Center for Justice, Inc.
  • $200,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2023

The Governance and Judiciary project is part of the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program. This project focuses on the erosion of confidence in democratic institutions; specifically, long-established guardrails that have protected the rule of law and the integrity of federal and state policy making, and the increasing hostility of federal courts to protecting civil and democratic rights.

Project:

Governance and Judiciary project

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Executive Branch Performance, Government, Government/Judicial Selection and Performance

Grant Length:

Nov 2023 to Oct 2024

Strategy:

State and Local Accountability
  • Values United d/b/a Whistleblower Aid
  • $200,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Governance
  • 2023

Whistleblower Aid’s mission is to report and fix government and corporate lawbreaking — without breaking the law. Their lawyers help clients to stay safe while making impactful disclosures that change policies, because should have to risk their career or their freedom to follow their conscience.

Project:

Whistleblower Aid

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Open Government and Transparency

Grant Length:

Dec 2023 to Nov 2024

Strategy:

Preventing Authoritarian Abuse of Power
  • National Association of Black Journalists
  • $200,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2017

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is executing its new Strategic Plan 2017-2020. In an effort to help leverage opportunities from the wealth of information derived from the plan, this grant will support partial funding for operational support to secure NABJ’s infrastructure.

Project:

Management Capacity

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Sep 2017 to Aug 2019

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Montclair State University Foundation, Inc.
  • $200,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2019

To support the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University Foundation, Inc.’s New Jersey News Commons project. As part of this grant, Center for Cooperative Media will support the local news ecosystem in New Jersey by providing various resources and support, such as training, collaboration support, and research.

Project:

Center for Cooperative Media

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Nov 2019 to Oct 2020

Strategy:

Ecosystem News
  • The Governance Lab
  • $200,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2019

GovLab, a fiscally-sponsored project of the Fund for the City of New York, is developing pilot projects with congressional committees to utilize open-source software and online resources to solicit expert and constituent opinion at key moments of the legislative process.

Project:

GovLab Congressional CrowdLaw Pilot Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance

Grant Length:

Aug 2019 to Jul 2020

Strategy:

Empowering Congress
  • The New School
  • $200,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2016

This grant will strengthen The New School’s ability to seize this moment of experimentation around the format and content of journalism, using their unique design thinking methodology. This grant will also provide funds to take this unique way of thinking around the country to regions we focus on through the Ecosystem News strategy. 

Project:

Design & Systems Thinking Workshops

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Dec 2016 to Dec 2018

Strategy:

Ecosystem News
  • National Immigration Law Center
  • $200,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2018

The purpose of this grant is to support litigation and legal services around issues pertaining to vulnerable communities – specifically MASA and immigrant communities.

Project:

Support Immigration Litigation and Legal Services

Foundation Center Topic:

Other, Media/Media Access and Policy, Government/Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Civic Participation/Naturalization and Immigrant Civic Integration

Grant Length:

Dec 2018 to Nov 2019

Strategy:

General
  • National Issues Forum Institute
  • $200,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2018

This grant will support National Issues Forum Institute (NIFI) and its partner –the Institute for Democratic Engagement and Accountability (IDEA) at The Ohio State University — in developing and promoting a new, deliberative town hall meeting module for use by congressional offices online. NIFI will develop materials for the modules and coordinate with IDEA and other partners to produce and distribute modules and monitor project progress.

Project:

Connecting to Congress

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance, Civic Participation/Public Participation

Grant Length:

Dec 2018 to Nov 2019

Strategy:

Empowering Congress
  • Trinity Forum, Inc
  • $200,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Governance
  • 2019

To disseminate Trinity Forum’s research on the contributions Christianity can make in a pluralistic society through writing and other outreach, events, and convenings.

Project:

Trinity Forum Religious Pluralism Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation, Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership

Grant Length:

Nov 2019 to Oct 2020

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
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