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
  • 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
  • Yale University
  • $250,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2018

This grant is to provide flexible funding support to the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale University Law School at Yale University, including support for the Media Freedom Information Access Clinic’s annual conference titled Access and Accountability 2018: A Conference for Transparency Advocates.

Project:

Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic

Foundation Center Topic:

Other, Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Oct 2018 to Jan 2024

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
  • National Black Tech Ecosystem Association
  • $260,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2023

The National Black Tech Ecosystem Association (dba Black Tech Futures Research Institute builds a national network of city-based researchers and practitioners conducting research on sustainable local black tech ecosystems. The outcomes of this work are actionable policy recommendations and a national public data archive.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Oct 2023 to Sep 2025

Strategy:

Civil & Human Rights Online
  • Internews Network
  • $260,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2020

The Listening Post Collective, a project of Internews, uses strategy and capacity building for local and community news primarily led by and serving Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, to build engaged and trusted journalism. Their programs focus on news deserts and place-based community media systems.

Project:

Listening Post Collective

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Dec 2020 to Jun 2022

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education
  • $260,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2016

This grant provides MIJE resources to relaunch programs and advocacy around diversity in journalism. MIJE is fresh off a round of strategic planning where they worked with over a dozen journalism professionals to identify needs within the field and devise ways to build on those opportunities for change. The purpose of this grant is to help the organization reestablish itself so that it can begin to take on the roles outlined from their human centered design strategic planning process.  

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Dec 2016 to May 2018

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Women's Congressional Policy Institute
  • $260,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Governance
  • 2015

The purpose of the grant is to support the Womens Policy Inc whose mission is to bring women policymakers together to work across party lines on issues of importance to women and their families.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance

Grant Length:

Dec 2015 to Nov 2017

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
  • Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
  • $274,745.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2014

The News Measures Research Project will provide a foundation for the Democracy Fund and the field in general to assess the state of national and local journalism content, audience needs at a local level and the state of the local news media infrastructure.

Project:

Support News Measures Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Aug 2014 to Sep 2016

Strategy:

Ecosystem News
  • Sojourners
  • $275,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2023

Sojourners is an ecumenical Christian media and advocacy organization that works towards social and racial justice. Sojourners publishes an award-winning magazine, produces daily news and commentary on sojo.net, and mobilizes people of faith for social justice through its advocacy initiative SojoAction.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting, Government/Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Civic Participation/Issue-based Participation, Civic Participation/Naturalization and Immigrant Civic Integration, Media, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voter Education, Registration, and Turnout

Grant Length:

May 2023 to Apr 2025

Strategy:

General
  • New York University
  • $275,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2017

The Dutch news site, De Correspondent – which has solved the sustainability problem by becoming a world leader in member-supported journalism — wants to bring its formula to the US. This grant would fund a year of research and incubation at NYU and would create a laboratory to test De Correspondent’s models and lessons in the American context and focus on sharing those lessons throughout nonprofit news in the United States.

Project:

Membership Puzzle Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Apr 2017 to Sep 2018

Strategy:

Investigative Journalism
  • Faith in Public Life, Inc.
  • $275,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2023

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

Grant Length:

Aug 2023 to Jul 2025

Strategy:

General
  • The Project on Government Oversight, Inc.
  • $275,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2015

The purpose of this grant is to foster bipartisan expert collaboration among several organizations in the field on providing to congressional staff needed training on conducting oversight of the executive branch as part of the regular, civil function of government.

Project:

Collaboration on Congressional Oversight Training

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance, Government

Grant Length:

Dec 2015 to Nov 2017

Strategy:

Empowering Congress
  • Southern Coalition for Social Justice
  • $275,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2019

To provide general operating support for SCSJ.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting Access

Grant Length:

Nov 2019 to Apr 2022

Strategy:

Pro-Voter Reform
  • Center for Election Innovation & Research
  • $280,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2017

The purpose of this grant is to provide support for the Center for Election Innovation & Research, a new organization created by David Becker and Amy Cohen formerly with the Pew Charitable Trusts. CEIR will work to continue improving election administration by studying new trends in elections, working with election officials to ensure confidence in elections, help improve communication with voters, and streamline the administration of elections with technological advances. 

Project:

Support for Center for Election Innovation & Research

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election Administration

Grant Length:

Apr 2017 to Mar 2018

Strategy:

Pro-Voter Reform
  • University of Chicago
  • $280,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2018

To support the Center for Effective Government at the University of Chicago, which will bring together a diverse array of political practitioners, scholars, journalists and others and will facilitate relationship building among these actors through engagement with political reforms that strengthen American democracy.

Project:

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

Foundation Center Topic:

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

Grant Length:

Oct 2018 to Jul 2021

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
  • Women's Congressional Policy Institute
  • $290,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Governance
  • 2019

General support for Women’s Policy, Inc. 

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

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

Grant Length:

Dec 2019 to Jun 2023

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
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