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
  • Field Foundation of Illinois Inc.
  • $400,190.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2019

To support the Media and Storytelling Program at the Field Foundation, which supports pivotal investments to increase the production of news and innovative content that is by, for, and about African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA) communities and helps create a more inclusive, accurate, and comprehensive narrative of Chicago.

Project:

Chicago Media and Storytelling Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Dec 2019 to Nov 2021

Strategy:

Ecosystem News
  • University of Maryland
  • $411,800.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2023

The University of Maryland Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement (CDCE) is creating an Election Talent Study Group to address the growing recruitment and retention crisis in election administration.

Project:

Election Talent Study Group

Foundation Center Topic:

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

Grant Length:

Oct 2023 to Jun 2025

Strategy:

Resilient Elections
  • The Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting
  • $412,924.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2019

To provide general support to the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting, a project of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, so that it may continue training journalists from historically marginalized backgrounds in the critical field of data and investigative journalism.

Project:

Race, Media and Public Policy: The Ida B Wells Society for Investigative Reporting

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Dec 2019 to Nov 2022

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Media Democracy Fund
  • $418,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2020

To provide support to Media Democracy Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of the New Venture Fund, to further the NetGain Partnership which supports philanthropic collaboration and leadership regarding issues of technology and society, and to support engagement of organizations led by and serving communities of color in debates around platforms, power, and the public interest.

Project:

Platforms & Civil Rights

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Apr 2020 to Apr 2023

Strategy:

Digital Democracy
  • The Pivot Fund
  • $420,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2023

The Pivot Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of Online News Association, invests in the skills, capacity, and development of BIPOC-led and serving community media and lends their expertise to the broader work of building an equitable and robust local news ecosystem.

Project:

The Pivot Fund

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Aug 2023 to Jun 2024

Strategy:

Journalism & Power Building
  • Open News
  • $420,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2023

OpenNews, a fiscally sponsored project of Community Partners, helps journalists create authentic, trusting relationships and to build a community of support. This grant supports their ongoing efforts to increase peer support and peer learning among the journalists they serve.

Project:

OpenNews

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Nov 2023 to Oct 2025

Strategy:

Journalism & Power Building
  • Online News Association
  • $420,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2023

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:

Aug 2023 to Nov 2025

Strategy:

Journalism & Power Building
  • Healthy Democracy Fund
  • $420,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2011

The Healthy Democracy Fund will organize a Citizen initiative Review in Oregon and work with leaders from other states to encourage the replication of the Citizen initiative Review outside of Oregon.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

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

Grant Length:

Dec 2011 to Dec 2014

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • National Conference of State Legislatures
  • $420,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2017

This grant will support the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Elections and Redistricting Program as it endeavors to grow and improve its elections administration programming and provide the best possible service to its members and their staffs. 

Project:

Elections & Redistricting Program Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election Administration

Grant Length:

Oct 2017 to Sep 2020

Strategy:

Voter-Centric Election Administration
  • The 65 Project
  • $425,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2023

The 65 Project, a fiscally sponsored project of Global Impact, works to protect democracy from the threat posed through abuse of the legal system by holding accountable the lawyers who bring meritless lawsuits seeking to overturn legitimate election results.

Project:

The 65 Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Other

Grant Length:

Jul 2023 to Jun 2025

Strategy:

Resilient Elections
  • Stop Online Violence Against Women
  • $425,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2023

Stop Online Violence Against Women Project (SOVAW), a fiscally sponsored project of Planetwork NGO, raises awareness and funding to stop online harassment. SOVAW addresses inadequate laws and policies that lack protections for women in particular women of color.

Project:

Stop Online Violence Against Women

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Nov 2023 to Sep 2026

Strategy:

Civil & Human Rights Online
  • Millennial Action Project
  • $425,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Governance
  • 2020

General operating support for the Millennial Action Project. 

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation/Public Participation

Grant Length:

Apr 2020 to Mar 2023

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
  • New York University
  • $425,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2019

To support the Center for Critical Race & Digital Studies’s project on Racial Targeting and Digital Marketing, which will research and disseminate findings related to the ways online environments target and potentially discriminate against non-white users. 

Project:

Researching Discriminatory Targeting

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Oct 2019 to Sep 2024

Strategy:

Digital Democracy
  • Take Back Our Republic Inc
  • $425,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2020

Take Back Our Republic (TBOR) is a non-partisan organization that advocates for conservative solutions to campaign finance and related issues through research, education, and grassroots advocacy efforts.

Project:

Take Back Our Republic

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Campaign Finance

Grant Length:

Dec 2020 to Oct 2022

Strategy:

General
  • Congressional Progressive Caucus Center
  • $435,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2020

The Congressional Progressive Caucus Center’s Legislative Reform Program conducts research on major democracy reform issues, and educates advocates, policymakers, and the public about opportunities to increase congressional capacity.

Project:

Legislative Reform Program

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance

Grant Length:

Oct 2020 to Sep 2023

Strategy:

Empowering Congress
  • Montclair State University Foundation, Inc.
  • $440,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2022

The Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University, provides critical infrastructure to the local news and information ecosystem across New Jersey. Their signature program, NJ News Commons, along with their other efforts, works to create a more collaborative local news ecosystem in New Jersey and beyond.

Project:

Center for Cooperative Media NJ News Commons

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Sep 2022 to Dec 2023

Strategy:

News & Information Ecosystems
  • Children's Defense Fund
  • $450,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2024

Children’s Defense Fund works at the intersection of well-being and racial justice for children and youth. They work alongside and amplify the power of youth and families through advocacy, community organizing, direct service, and public policy.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Sep 2024 to Sep 2027

Strategy:

Equitable Civic Infrastructure
  • The Horizons Project
  • $450,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2024

The Horizons Project, a fiscally sponsored project of New Venture Fund, advances research on weakening and dismantling authoritarianism in the United States.

Project:

The Horizons Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Other

Grant Length:

Sep 2024 to Aug 2027

Strategy:

General
  • Partnership for Public Service Inc.
  • $450,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Governance
  • 2024

The Partnership for Public Service serves as a bridge across the political aisle to build a government that meets its fundamental responsibilities to the public, no matter the political makeup of any presidential administration or Congress. They offer key solutions and performance measures that transform the way government works.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Executive Branch Performance, Government

Grant Length:

Nov 2024 to Oct 2025

Strategy:

Preventing Authoritarian Abuse of Power
  • Documented Ltd
  • $450,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2023

Documented Ltd is a non-profit news site devoted solely to covering New York City’s immigrants and the policies that affect their lives. They break the cycle of extractive immigration reporting through listening to New York’s immigrant communities. Their insights inform Documented’s work to create journalism in response to their needs.

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Oct 2023 to Sep 2026

Strategy:

Journalism & Power Building
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