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
  • Human Rights First
  • $300,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2020

The Veterans for American Ideals (VFAI) project organizes veterans to speak out to counter Islamophobia, advocate for refugees, and bridge divides. This grant will also support VFAI’s veteran trainings and bi-annual convenings, service and community events, and their 29/29 Ramadan initiative.

Project:

Veterans for American Ideals

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation/Issue-based Participation, Civic Participation/Public Participation, Other

Grant Length:

Jul 2020 to Jun 2022

Strategy:

General
  • Democracy Rising
  • $300,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2022

Democracy Rising, a fiscally sponsored project of NEO Philanthropy Inc., works directly with community groups advancing democracy reform to build effective organizing, education, and advocacy strategies and to ensure just implementation.

Project:

Support for Democracy Rising

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting Access

Grant Length:

Nov 2022 to Oct 2024

Strategy:

Representative Institutions
  • Asian Law Caucus
  • $300,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2023

Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Asian Law Caucus was founded in 1972 as the nation’s first legal and civil rights organization serving low-income, immigrant, and underserved Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. They provide legal services, community empowerment, and policy advocacy to fight for immigrant justice, economic security, and a stronger democracy.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation, Government/Civil Liberties and Rule of Law

Grant Length:

Dec 2023 to Nov 2024

Strategy:

Power Building in Marginalized Communities
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College
  • $300,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2022

The Guinier Project, an initiative of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice at Harvard Law School, will examine alternative voting systems through a racial justice lens.

Project:

The Guinier Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting Access

Grant Length:

Dec 2022 to Nov 2024

Strategy:

Representative Institutions
  • FairVote
  • $300,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Governance
  • 2022

FairVote is a nonpartisan organization working for better elections for all. They research and advance voting reforms that make democracy more functional and representative for every American, with a focus on two key reforms: ranked choice voting and the Fair Representation Act.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election Administration, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting Access

Grant Length:

Nov 2022 to Oct 2024

Strategy:

Representative Institutions
  • Fight for the Future Education Fund
  • $300,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2023

Fight for the Future Education Fund is a group of artists, engineers, activists, and technologists harnessing the power of the Internet to channel outrage into action, defending people’s most basic rights in the digital age. They work to ensure that technology is a force for empowerment, free expression, and liberation rather than tyranny, corruption, and structural inequality.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Oct 2023 to Sep 2025

Strategy:

Civil & Human Rights Online
  • Youth Engagement Fund
  • $300,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2023

The Youth Engagement Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of NEO Philanthropy, brings together philanthropic and organizational decision-makers across the country to invest in youth of color organizations and leaders in the aforementioned priority states as catalysts in creating an inclusive multiracial democracy that is reflective of all people.

Project:

YEF Project Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation

Grant Length:

Nov 2023 to Oct 2025

Strategy:

Voting Power
  • The Congressional Institute, Inc.
  • $300,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2017

This grant will support the Congressional Institute’s efforts to provide educational information about Congress to the general public, and to educate Members of Congress and staff about efforts to improve the function and management of the institution.

Project:

Congressional Reform Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance

Grant Length:

Dec 2017 to Nov 2019

Strategy:

Empowering Congress
  • Media Democracy Fund
  • $302,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2023

NetGain at Media Democracy Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of New Venture Fund, supports philanthropic collaboration and leadership on issues of technology and society, and supports engagement of organizations led by and serving communities of color in debates around platforms, power, and the public interest.

Project:

MDF NetGain

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Oct 2023 to Sep 2026

Strategy:

Civil & Human Rights Online
  • Sojourners
  • $315,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2021

Sojourners is an independent, award-winning print and online magazine of faith, culture, and politics.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting, Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, 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, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting Access

Grant Length:

May 2021 to Apr 2023

Strategy:

General
  • Center for Internet Security Inc.
  • $315,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2021

This grant supports the Center for Internet Security’s (CIS) Election Security Best Practices team’s development of security-focused tools and guidance for election officials and election technology providers.

Project:

Election Security Tools

Foundation Center Topic:

Other

Grant Length:

Jun 2021 to May 2023

Strategy:

Trust in Elections
  • Movement Law Lab
  • $320,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2017

To support Movement Law Lab, an innovation hub bringing lawyers together with other change-makers to implement novel and bold solutions for some of America’s toughest justice related problems. 

Project:

Support for Movement Law Labs

Foundation Center Topic:

Other, Media, Civic Participation

Grant Length:

Nov 2017 to Oct 2019

Strategy:

General
  • Institute for Local Self Reliance Inc
  • $325,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2023

The Institute for Local Self-Reliance is a national research and advocacy organization building local power to fight corporate control. The Tribal Broadband Bootcamp project builds Tribal capacity to take advantage of federal investment and coordination with states on new broadband networks.

Project:

Tribal Broadband Bootcamp

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Oct 2023 to Sep 2025

Strategy:

Equitable Civic Infrastructure
  • Hearken
  • $325,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2023

The Election SOS project at Hearken, a fiscally sponsored project of Policy Impact, provides training, coaching, and capacity support to journalists for more engaged, trusted, and responsive elections coverage.

Project:

Election SOS

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism, Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Dec 2023 to May 2025

Strategy:

General
  • Demand Progress Education Fund
  • $325,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2019

To support Demand Progress Education Fund, a project of the New Venture Fund, to investigate and highlight potential improvements to congressional legislative, oversight, and administrative capacity for audiences on and off Capitol Hill. Grant funds will support Demand Progress Education Fund’s execution of written reports and newsletters, participation in public events, and meetings with stakeholders that cumulatively contribute expert, substantive ideas in support of congressional reform. 

Project:

Legislative Capacity Project at Demand Progress Education Fund, a project of the New Venture Fund

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance

Grant Length:

Dec 2019 to Dec 2022

Strategy:

Empowering Congress
  • Sojourners
  • $325,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Governance
  • 2019

Sojourners is an independent, award-winning print and online magazine of faith, culture, and politics.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voter Education, Registration, and Turnout, Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Government/Civil Liberties and Rule of Law

Grant Length:

Aug 2019 to Jul 2020

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
  • Poynter Institute for Media Studies, Inc.
  • $325,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2013

A grant to the Poynter Institute will foster a public conversation within media  about the role of pundits in our democracy, reduce the level of deception from pundits through highly visible fact checking of pundits, and demonstrate the value of using non-partisan fact checking of media pundits to reduce deception and misinformation.

Project:

PundiFact & Civility Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voter Education, Registration, and Turnout

Grant Length:

Sep 2013 to Aug 2015

Strategy:

Digital Democracy
  • Center for Internet Security Inc.
  • $330,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2019

The Center for Internet Security’s (CIS) Election Security Best Practices team will develop security-focused tools and guidance for election officials and election technology providers.

Project:

Election Security Tools and Training

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election Administration

Grant Length:

Aug 2019 to Jan 2021

Strategy:

Trust in Elections
  • Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
  • $330,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2018

The purpose of this grant is to fund Project DATA at the University of Wisconsin, which involves research and analysis of online political advertisements. Through this research and analysis, the project will explore the extent of “dark money” online advertising campaigns. The project will seek to analyze online advertising data collected in 2016 to assess who is behind online political advertising, the information that is disseminated online, who is targeted, and the effects produced by the targeted campaigns. Potential outcomes are publication of the findings in peer-reviewed academic journals, as well as a white paper, and the project lead – Professor Young Mie Kim – engaging in public service activities to disseminate the findings.

Project:

Project DATA: Digital Ad Tracking & Analysis

Foundation Center Topic:

Government, Civic Participation, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting

Grant Length:

Jan 2018 to Jun 2021

Strategy:

Oversight and Accountability
  • Wayne State University
  • $337,500.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2019

To support the activities of the Levin Center at Wayne Law to promote bipartisan, fact-based oversight. The Levin Center will conduct oversight trainings for congressional staff, promote scholarly research on oversight, host conferences and symposia on oversight topics, and strengthen the public narrative around the importance of meaningful oversight. 

Project:

Levin Center at Wayne Law

Foundation Center Topic:

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

Grant Length:

Nov 2019 to Oct 2023

Strategy:

Oversight and Accountability
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