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
  • Committee for Economic Development
  • $250,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2014

Provide two year grant support to the Committee for Economic Development to run a project to get business leaders more engaged in the money in politics discussion.

Project:

Build State Business Leaders Concerned about Money in Politics

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Campaign Finance

Grant Length:

Dec 2014 to Dec 2016

Strategy:

Previous Strategy
  • Partnership for Public Service Inc.
  • $250,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Governance
  • 2016

The Partnership for Public Service builds trust and better relationships between the branches of the federal government, enhances accountability for Congressional stewardship for the Executive Branch, and increases general understanding of the challenges facing the government.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance, Government/Executive Branch Performance

Grant Length:

Apr 2016 to Mar 2018

Strategy:

Empowering Congress
  • The Aspen Institute Inc
  • $250,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2018

The Aspen Institute-Rodel Fellowships in Public Leadership identifies and brings together promising young political leaders to explore the underlying values and principles of western democracy, the relationship between individuals and their community, and the responsibilities of public leadership.

Project:

Strengthening the Rodel Fellowship Program’s Role in Bipartisan and Civil American Politics

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance

Grant Length:

Jul 2018 to Dec 2020

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
  • Online News Association
  • $250,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2018

To support journalism schools as laboratories for innovation through the ONA Challenge Fund for Innovation in Journalism Education. The competitive Challenge Fund supports “live news experiments” that further the development of teaching hospital models in journalism education. The Fund aims to hack the journalism ecosystem to encourage more collaborative local news coverage, community engagement, and digital innovation.

Project:

Renewal for the Challenge Fund for Innovation in Journalism Education

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training, Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Dec 2018 to Jan 2021

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Montclair State University Foundation, Inc.
  • $250,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2018

To support a peer learning and collaboration fund and capacity building at the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. For this project, Center for Cooperative Media will create a program to support peer learning and network building between organizations and individuals who embody the values of collaboration and ecosystem building. It also provides support for the Center for Cooperative Media to undertake capacity building activities, including strategic planning, staff development and training, and board recruitment and training.

Project:

Peer Learning and Collaboration Fund

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Dec 2018 to Mar 2021

Strategy:

Ecosystem News
  • The OpenGov Foundation
  • $250,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Governance
  • 2017

This grant will provide OpenGov Foundation with additional resources to help Congress modernize its technological infrastructure. Such modernizations hold the promise to improve the legislative capacity of congressional staff and make communications between constituents and member offices more efficient, effective, and satisfying for all parties.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance

Grant Length:

Dec 2017 to Nov 2019

Strategy:

Empowering Congress
  • Chalkbeat Inc.
  • $250,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2018

The purpose of this grant is to support Chalkbeat’s community driven local news bureau model across the United States. This general operating grant will support Chalkbeat’s efforts to create a scalable and sustainable model for local journalism that serves communities while sharing costs across geographic bureaus in order to make the work maximally sustainable.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Oct 2018 to Mar 2020

Strategy:

Ecosystem News
  • US Vote Foundation
  • $250,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2013

The End-to-End Verifiable Internet Voting Specification and Feasibility Assessment Study will examine a form of remote voting that enables a so-called “end-to-end verifiability” (E2E) property. A unique team of experts in computer science, usability, and auditing together with a selection of local election officials from key counties around the U.S. will assemble for this study.

Project:

End-to-End Verifiable Internet Voting Specification and Feasibility Assessment Study

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election Administration

Grant Length:

Nov 2013 to May 2015

Strategy:

Voter-Centric Election Administration
  • Common Cause Education Fund
  • $250,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2014

Common Cause Education Fund is one of the major institutions supporting democratic reform in the United States. They work in election administration and campaign finance, with strong state chapters that emphasize building local, bipartisan coalitions for reform.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Campaign Finance, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election Administration

Grant Length:

Oct 2014 to Sep 2015

Strategy:

Voter-Centric Election Administration
  • Solutions Journalism Network
  • $250,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2017

The purpose of this grant is to support Solutions Journalism Network in training journalists to develop solutions stories that investigate situations and provide reporting on alternate options to challenges unearthed within the investigations.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Aug 2017 to Jul 2019

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Morgan State University Foundation Incorporated
  • $250,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2017

This grant will provide support for the Morgan Initiative. The Morgan Initiative demonstrates how universities can lead collaborative reporting projects that challenge local newsrooms to shift their practices to better create journalism that is meaningful to communities and responsive to their needs.

Project:

The Morgan Initiative

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Oct 2017 to Sep 2019

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • The Brookings Institution
  • $250,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2017

This grant will support a two-year research project to study how primary elections impact political polarization and congressional dysfunction, explore the potential of congressional primaries as a vehicle to increase political equality, restoring public trust in the electoral system, and ultimately what gives rise to more equitable economic opportunities.

Project:

Research into Primary Elections & Congressional Dysfunction

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance, Civic Participation/Public Participation, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voter Education, Registration, and Turnout

Grant Length:

Nov 2017 to Mar 2020

Strategy:

Empowering Congress
  • Accelerate Change, Inc.
  • $250,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2022

Civic Revolution aims to transform democracy to be more responsive and representative of all communities through a coalition of digital media organizations dedicated to catalyzing civic engagement for diverse audiences.

Project:

Civic Revolution

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism, Civic Participation

Grant Length:

Sep 2022 to Aug 2023

Strategy:

General
  • Issue One
  • $250,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2020

The Rebuild Congress Initiative (RCI), a project of Issue One, seeks to better understand congressional dysfunction and aims to build bipartisan coalitions in support of congressional reform measures⁠ — especially efforts to increase congressional capacity⁠.

Project:

The Rebuild Congress Initiative

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance

Grant Length:

Jul 2020 to Jul 2023

Strategy:

Empowering Congress
  • New Venture Fund
  • $250,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2016

To strengthen the field of elections and voting research through participation in the Civic Engagement and Elections Research Collaborative Fund (“the Collaborative Fund”), which is a joint effort with other democracy funders. The Collaborative Fund seeks to provide funding for academic and policy research that supports the work of the philanthropic sector, public and nonprofit leaders and institutions, advocates, academics, and other stakeholders.

Project:

The Civic Engagement and Elections Research Collaborative Fund

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election Administration

Grant Length:

Oct 2016 to Sep 2017

Strategy:

Voter-Centric Election Administration
  • Union of Concerned Scientists Inc.
  • $250,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2023

The Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) works to strengthen the role of science within the federal civil service sector. They will develop recommendations for better hiring practices, science program leadership, and performance accountability within the federal government to help it better serve the public interest.

Project:

Center for Science and Democracy

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Executive Branch Performance, Government/Open Government and Transparency

Grant Length:

Dec 2023 to Nov 2024

Strategy:

Preventing Authoritarian Abuse of Power
  • National Association of Black Journalists
  • $250,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2019

This is a general operating grant to the National Association of Black Journalists that will build organizational capacity to continue their support of members through trainings, networking, and scholarship opportunities, while holding 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 Education and Training

Grant Length:

Nov 2019 to Oct 2021

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Wayne State University
  • $250,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2023

The Levin Center at Wayne State University works to build capacity in legislative bodies at all levels — federal, state, and abroad — to expose public and private sector abuses, ensure effective governance, and bring critical facts to light for the benefit of all.

Project:

Levin Center at Wayne Law

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Open Government and Transparency

Grant Length:

Nov 2023 to Oct 2025

Strategy:

State and Local Accountability
  • PEN American Center, Inc.
  • $250,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2020

PEN America defends press freedom and fosters local journalism. Their work includes events, organizing, and outreach with local communities, organizers and journalists to expand grassroots support for the role of the press in American democracy and the rights of all people under the First Amendment.

Project:

Press Freedom Incentive Fund

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Nov 2020 to Oct 2022

Strategy:

Press Freedom
  • Institute for Social Policy and Understanding
  • $255,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2023

The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) conducts research, raises awareness, and works with partners to better understand the American Muslim community.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Media/Journalism Education and Training, Media, Other

Grant Length:

Sep 2023 to Aug 2025

Strategy:

Power Building in Marginalized Communities
Democracy Fund
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