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.
- MuckRock Foundation, Inc.
- $200,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Public Square
- 2017
This general operating support grant is to continue the development of the Muckrock platform and staffing capacity as they seek to broaden user base and interface capability.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
OtherGrant Length:
Sep 2017 to Aug 2019Strategy:
Press Freedom- Field Foundation of Illinois Inc.
- $200,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2018
To support efforts to create a healthy local news ecosystem via a grant program that supports community-based journalism and media organizations in Chicago, with a focus on community-based journalism organizations led by people of color.
Project:
Chicago Local News Field FundFoundation Center Topic:
Media, Media/Journalism, Media/Journalism Education and TrainingGrant Length:
Dec 2018 to Nov 2019Strategy:
Ecosystem News- Bipartisan Policy Center, Inc.
- $200,000.00
- Project
- Elections and Voting
- 2019
The Bipartisan Policy Center’s Elections Project will convene three task forces focused on different aspects of the elections process to develop updated recommendations to address challenges in election administration, as well as identify ongoing gaps where states have yet to adopt PCEA recommendations.
Project:
Elections ProjectFoundation Center Topic:
Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election AdministrationGrant Length:
Jul 2019 to Jun 2020Strategy:
Pro-Voter Reform- POPVOX LegiDash Fund
- $200,000.00
- Project
- Governance
- 2019
The POPVOX LegiDash Fund, a project of the Tides Foundation, will develop a communications and legislative resources dashboard for use by congressional staff. The free product, called LegiDash, will provide staff with an improved constituent communications portal they can use to view and respond to messages delivered to Congress by POPVOX, increasing the efficiency of that process.
Project:
POPVOX LegiDash FundFoundation Center Topic:
Government/Legislative Branch PerformanceGrant Length:
May 2019 to Apr 2020Strategy:
Empowering Congress- The Pew Charitable Trusts
- $200,000.00
- Project
- Governance
- 2015
Programatic support for the Pew Safe Spaces Project to create a regular, bipartisan convening of House Chiefs of Staff to allow for diverse perspectives to be shared on effective management practices and encourage bipartisan lawmaking on the staff level.
Project:
Pew Safe Spaces ProjectFoundation Center Topic:
Government/Legislative Branch PerformanceGrant Length:
Oct 2015 to Dec 2017Strategy:
Empowering Congress- The Campaign Finance Institute
- $200,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Elections and Voting
- 2016
The Campaign Finance Institute will support scholarship to assess the current conditions and features of campaign finance systems and determine and investigate the most important research questions associated with those systems. Answers to those questions can help inform the field of campaign finance reform with the respected nonpartisan information and analysis.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Campaign FinanceGrant Length:
Aug 2016 to Jul 2018Strategy:
Previous Strategy- National Security Archive Fund Inc
- $200,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Governance
- 2017
This grant will provide general operating support for the National Security Archive Fund that will allow them to increase their over-all capacity as an organization. The Archive has launched ten new openness and accountability initiatives to challenge the new administration. To accommodate this increased scale of work, the Archive must hire a full-time in-house litigator.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Government/Open Government and TransparencyGrant Length:
Apr 2017 to Apr 2019Strategy:
Oversight and Accountability- The Niskanen Center Inc.
- $200,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Governance
- 2017
General operating support provided by this grant will help to expand the Niskanen Center’s operations. Ultimately, the center seeks to drive and shape a public conversation on the importance of democracy and the best way to defend it through a series of published works by leading thinkers. With the support provided by this grant, the center will be expanding existing initiatives and creating new ones.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Government/Open Government and Transparency, Government/Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, GovernmentGrant Length:
Jul 2017 to Jun 2019Strategy:
Oversight and Accountability- Civic Culture Coalition
- $200,000.00
- Project
- Elections and Voting
- 2019
To support the efforts of the Civic Culture Coalition’s I Am A Voter campaign, fiscally sponsored by the Entertainment Industry Foundation, in organizing a meeting of major media leaders and increasing the number of artists and influencers participating in the campaign.
Project:
Support for I Am A Voter campaign activitiesFoundation Center Topic:
Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voter Education, Registration, and TurnoutGrant Length:
Aug 2019 to Jan 2021Strategy:
Pro-Voter Reform- The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York
- $200,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2016
This is a renewal grant to CJR’s United States Project to support experimentation in building local journalism capacity in the areas of collaboration, innovation, impact, and funding in target states.
Project:
US States Project RenewalFoundation Center Topic:
Media/JournalismGrant Length:
Sep 2016 to Dec 2017Strategy:
Previous Strategy- U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Inc.
- $200,000.00
- Project
- Governance
- 2017
In response to an alarming rise of divisive rhetoric aimed at Muslims in the United States, this grant supports outreach efforts by Congressional leaders to their Muslim constituents. To build greater understanding between Muslim-Americans and non-Muslim neighbors, an earned media campaign will be used to amplify the outreach activities.
Project:
Outreach to Muslim-American CommunitiesFoundation Center Topic:
Civic Participation/Public Participation, Civic Participation/Naturalization and Immigrant Civic Integration, Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Media/Media Access and Policy, Media, Government/Legislative Branch PerformanceGrant Length:
Jun 2017 to May 2018Strategy:
Constructive Politics- Mozilla Foundation
- $200,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2018
To support the Coral Project in the development and implementation of tools and platforms that encourage a culture of audience-driven storytelling in newsrooms. The grant will largely focus on expanding adoption of Coral Project’s tools in newsrooms, which will consist of training, outreach, and work around shifting culture inside newsrooms to be more transparent.
Project:
Coral ProjectFoundation Center Topic:
Media/JournalismGrant Length:
Aug 2018 to Jul 2019Strategy:
Engaged Journalism- NAHJ Association
- $200,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Public Square
- 2019
This is a general operating grant to the National Association of Hispanic Journalists that will increase their support of members through trainings, networking, and scholarship opportunities, while holding the media accountable in their portrayals of the diverse and evolving Hispanic community in the United States.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Media/Journalism Education and Training, Media/JournalismGrant Length:
May 2019 to Apr 2020Strategy:
Engaged Journalism- Center for Civic Design
- $200,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Elections and Voting
- 2016
The purpose of this grant is to provide general operating capacity for Center for Civic Design, a key (and overlooked) player in the elections field. Center for Civic Design supports many of our grantees and other organizations we work with. It needs assistance to expand its work this election year, which includes designing election materials, experimentation, and usability testing.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election AdministrationGrant Length:
Jun 2016 to May 2018Strategy:
Voter-Centric Election Administration- American Journalism Project
- $200,000.00
- Project
- President's Office
- 2018
To support the American Journalism Project, a fiscally sponsored project of the Institute for Nonprofit News, in their efforts to develop a $50 million fund to accelerate the growth of the nonprofit journalism sector.
Project:
AJP Operating FundsFoundation Center Topic:
Media/JournalismGrant Length:
Dec 2018 to Nov 2019Strategy:
Investigative Journalism- Piece By Piece Strategies, LLC
- $200,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2023
Piece by Piece (PxP) supports the community of practice for Ecosystem Builders, a network of leaders in the local news space, including distributing funding to some participants to expand and sustain their work.
Project:
Ecosystem Builders FundFoundation Center Topic:
Media/Journalism Education and TrainingGrant Length:
Jun 2023 to May 2024Strategy:
News & Information Ecosystems- TPF Special Assets Fund, DBA The Lenfest Institute for Journalism
- $200,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2017
This grant will help establish The Community Listening and Engagement Fund at the The Lenfest Institute. The Fund will subsidize the costs of adopting new community engagement tools for newsrooms who want to deepen their connections to their audience. By making engagement tools more accessible to a broader array of newsrooms the Fund will help accelerate the adoption of journalism practices and models that make newsrooms more responsive to their communities.
Project:
The Community Listening and Engagement FundFoundation Center Topic:
Media/JournalismGrant Length:
Dec 2017 to Jun 2019Strategy:
Engaged Journalism- National Governors Association Center for Best Practices
- $200,000.00
- Project
- Elections and Voting
- 2018
The purpose of this grant is to support the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Homeland Security & Public Safety Division, in their efforts to expand the participation of state executives in the dialogue around election security. The primary way this will occur is through the execution of a year-long cybersecurity policy academy with a cohort of five to seven states.
Project:
Implementing Election Security GovernanceFoundation Center Topic:
Campaigns, Elections, and VotingGrant Length:
Dec 2018 to Jan 2020Strategy:
Trust in Elections- Georgetown University
- $200,000.00
- Project
- Just and Inclusive Society
- 2018
To support the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection’s (ICAP) litigation, public education, and efforts in support of vulnerable communities.
Project:
Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law CenterFoundation Center Topic:
OtherGrant Length:
Nov 2018 to Oct 2019Strategy:
General- The Campaign Finance Institute
- $200,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Elections and Voting
- 2014
The Campaign Finance Institute serves to provide balanced, thoughtful policy analysis related to solving some of the challenges associate with money in our political system.