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.
- Multicultural Media & Correspondents Association
- $785,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Public Square
- 2023
The Multicultural Media & Correspondents Association (MMCA) is a growing group of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) media stakeholders, advocates, and allies resolved to get more content, more ownership, more impact, and more control of our story and of where, when and how its told.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Media/Media Access and PolicyGrant Length:
Oct 2023 to Sep 2026Strategy:
Equitable Civic Infrastructure- American Oversight, Inc.
- $525,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Governance
- 2023
American Oversight is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog that uses public records requests backed by litigation to fight corruption, drive accountability, and defend democracy. They believe transparency is a critical tool to promote integrity in government and to protect justice, truth, and the rule of law.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Government/Open Government and TransparencyGrant Length:
Sep 2023 to Aug 2025Strategy:
State and Local Accountability- Scalawag
- $465,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Public Square
- 2023
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Durham, NC, Scalawag is a Southern media organization that builds social and political consciousness through journalism and storytelling. Their mission is to work in solidarity with oppressed communities in the South to disrupt and shift the narratives that keep power and wealth in the hands of the few.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Media/JournalismGrant Length:
Oct 2023 to Sep 2026Strategy:
Journalism & Power Building- Media Democracy Fund
- $650,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2023
The Digital Equity and Opportunity Initiative at Media Democracy Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of New Venture Fund, is a major opportunity for national, state, and place-based funders to engage with one of the most significant digital equity opportunities in history: the implementation of the broadband portions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
Project:
Digital Equity and Opportunity InitiativeFoundation Center Topic:
Media/Media Access and PolicyGrant Length:
Oct 2023 to Sep 2025Strategy:
Equitable Civic Infrastructure- Union Theological Seminary
- $65,000.00
- Project
- Just and Inclusive Society
- 2023
The Kairos Center, housed at Union Theological Seminary, is a national organization committed to building a movement to end poverty, led by the poor. In the Fall of 2023, The Kairos Center will hold a convening of the Confronting White Christian Nationalism Initiative, in partnership with MoveOn Education Fund.
Project:
Countering Christian Nationalism ConveningFoundation Center Topic:
Civic Participation/Issue-based Participation, OtherGrant Length:
Aug 2023 to Nov 2023Strategy:
General- 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 SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Media/Journalism Education and Training, Media, OtherGrant Length:
Sep 2023 to Aug 2025Strategy:
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 SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Media/Media Access and PolicyGrant Length:
Oct 2023 to Sep 2025Strategy:
Civil & Human Rights Online- Montclair State University Foundation, Inc.
- $900,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2023
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 MediaFoundation Center Topic:
Media/JournalismGrant Length:
Sep 2023 to Aug 2026Strategy:
News & Information Ecosystems- Common Cause Education Fund
- $525,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Elections and Voting
- 2023
Common Cause Education Fund strives to uphold the core values of American democracy by working to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Civic Participation, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election Administration, Civic Participation/Public Participation, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting AccessGrant Length:
Oct 2023 to Mar 2025Strategy:
Voting Power- Center for Media Justice
- $1,050,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Public Square
- 2023
MediaJustice (formerly Center for Media Justice) is building a powerful grassroots movement for a more just and participatory media — fighting for racial, economic, and gender justice in a digital age.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Media/Media Access and PolicyGrant Length:
Oct 2023 to Sep 2026Strategy:
Equitable Civic Infrastructure- Mi Familia Vota Education Fund
- $300,000.00
- Project
- Elections and Voting
- 2023
Mi Familia Vota Education Fund’s develops and implements non-partisan field programs and strategies for the diverse Latino population to promote citizenship, increase voter registration, and increase voter participation. Their Election Administration Outreach program increases the communities’ understanding to foster trust in the electoral process among Latino voters.
Project:
Election Administration OutreachFoundation Center Topic:
Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election AdministrationGrant Length:
Dec 2023 to Nov 2025Strategy:
Resilient Elections- The Horizons Project
- $100,000.00
- Project
- Just and Inclusive Society
- 2023
The Horizons Project, a fiscally sponsored project of New Venture Fund, advances research on weakening and dismantling authoritarianism in the United States.
Project:
Anti-Authoritarian StrategeryFoundation Center Topic:
OtherGrant Length:
Aug 2023 to Jun 2024Strategy:
General- The Chicago Community Trust
- $100,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2023
Press Forward Chicago, a funder collaborative housed at The Chicago Community Trust, helps to right-size independent, community news outlets and set them up for long-term sustainability. This initiative infuses the Chicago journalism ecosystem with renewed financial vitality, fortifying the multitude of independent outlets serving the diverse local communities.
Project:
Press Forward ChicagoFoundation Center Topic:
Media/JournalismGrant Length:
Nov 2023 to Dec 2025Strategy:
News & Information Ecosystems- Local Solutions Support Center
- $200,000.00
- Project
- Governance
- 2023
Local Solutions Support Center (LSSC), a project of the New Venture Fund, is a national hub that connects, coordinates, and creates efforts to both counter the increasing misuse of preemption, and to strengthen local democracy. Preemption is when higher levels of government restricts the authority of a lower level of government to act on a particular issue.
Project:
Local Solutions Support CenterFoundation Center Topic:
Government/Civil Liberties and Rule of LawGrant Length:
Oct 2023 to Sep 2024Strategy:
State and Local Accountability- Local Independent Online News Publishers Inc.
- $600,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Public Square
- 2023
LION Publishers strengthens the local news industry by helping independent news publishers build more sustainable businesses. They provide teaching, resources, and community to independent news entrepreneurs.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Media/Journalism Education and TrainingGrant Length:
Nov 2023 to Oct 2026Strategy:
News & Information Ecosystems- 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:
OpenNewsFoundation Center Topic:
Media/JournalismGrant Length:
Nov 2023 to Oct 2025Strategy:
Journalism & Power Building- Kairos Fellowship Inc.
- $1,050,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Public Square
- 2023
Kairos works toward an inclusive, multi-racial democracy by changing how pro-justice organizations see, use, and imagine the future of the internet. Kairos recognizes that understanding the internet as a place, and reshaping governance of the internet as a public square, are essential to strengthening democracy and building a healthier digital media ecosystem.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Media/Media Access and PolicyGrant Length:
Nov 2023 to Sep 2026Strategy:
Civil & Human Rights Online- Foundation for City College
- $100,000.00
- Project
- Just and Inclusive Society
- 2023
The Leadership Center for Democracy and Social Justice is a leadership development initiative housed within the City University of New York to harness the potential of leaders of color working in the democracy reform and social justice sectors.
Project:
Leadership Center for Democracy and Social JusticeFoundation Center Topic:
Civic Participation/Civic Education and LeadershipGrant Length:
Nov 2023 to Sep 2024Strategy:
General- President and Fellows of Harvard College
- $300,000.00
- Project
- Just and Inclusive Society
- 2023
Tthe Practicing Democracy Project at Harvard Kennedy School of Government believes that equipping people with the collective capacity to contest political, economic, and cultural power — that is, by enabling organization — people can realize the promises of democracy. The project will establish an endowed program in democratic organizing at Harvard University.
Project:
Practicing Democracy ProjectFoundation Center Topic:
Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation/Public ParticipationGrant Length:
Nov 2023 to Oct 2026Strategy:
General- Hope CommUnity Center, Inc.
- $500,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Just and Inclusive Society
- 2023
The Hope CommUnity Center in Apopka, Florida fosters diverse, empowered, learning communities engaged in personal and societal transformation. Through service and advocacy, they stand with immigrants and others who are tenacious and courageous in the face of all systems of oppression.