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.
- North Carolina Community Foundation, Inc.
- $950,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2017
The purpose of this grant is to support North Carolina’s local news and information ecosystem. The grant will create the North Carolina Local News Lab Fund at the North Carolina Community Foundation to support building a networked news ecosystem that is audience-centered, trusted, collaborative, and resilient.
Project:
North Carolina Local News Lab FundFoundation Center Topic:
Media/Journalism Education and Training, Media/JournalismGrant Length:
Nov 2017 to Nov 2019Strategy:
Ecosystem News- Congressional Management Foundation
- $950,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Governance
- 2019
General Operating Support
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Government/Legislative Branch PerformanceGrant Length:
Dec 2019 to Jan 2024Strategy:
Empowering Congress- Democracy Works Inc.
- $950,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Elections and Voting
- 2019
Democracy Works and their subdivision of TurboVote explores low-cost ways to increase civic engagement and voting through new civic technology and improving processes and data. Their aim is to make voting easier through use of technology and support for elections administrators and voters.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election Administration, Civic Participation/Public ParticipationGrant Length:
Dec 2019 to Jan 2023Strategy:
Voter-Centric Election Administration- News Revenue Hub Inc.
- $970,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Public Square
- 2018
This general operating grant will support the growth and expansion of the News Revenue Hub, which helps nonprofit newsrooms develop reader support models and build sustainable membership programs. Through this grant the News Revenue Hub will be able to build on its successful pilot year and further institutionalize the model they have developed, setting up a learning lab, brining on new clients and developing resources that serve the entire nonprofit journalism community.
Project:
News Revenue Hub RenewalFoundation Center Topic:
Media/JournalismGrant Length:
Nov 2018 to Oct 2022Strategy:
Ecosystem News- Voter Registration Project
- $973,000.00
- General Operating Support
- President's Office
- 2023
Voter Registration Project’s (VRP) works to create a more representative democracy by narrowing the registration gap between Black, Indigenous, LatinX, Hispanic, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander voters and white voters. VRP funds and coordinates non-partisan voter registration efforts and works with in-state, community-based organizations and 501(c)(3) civic engagement tables.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Campaigns, Elections, and Voting, Civic Participation, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voter Education, Registration, and Turnout, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting AccessGrant Length:
Dec 2023 to Mar 2025Strategy:
General- Santa Fe Community Foundation
- $975,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2023
The New Mexico Local News Fund at the Santa Fe Community Foundation is working to create a healthy news and information ecosystem that serves the news and information needs of all New Mexicans.
Project:
New Mexico Local News FundFoundation Center Topic:
Media/Journalism Education and TrainingGrant Length:
Nov 2023 to Oct 2026Strategy:
News & Information Ecosystems- North Carolina Local News Lab Fund
- $975,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2023
The North Carolina Local News Lab Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of NEO Philanthropy, Inc., is a pooled fund working to repair and transform the state’s news and information ecosystem. They envision a North Carolina where everyone can find, trust, and use the news and information they need to thrive.
Project:
North Carolina Local News Lab FundFoundation Center Topic:
Media/JournalismGrant Length:
Nov 2023 to Nov 2026Strategy:
News & Information Ecosystems- University of Southern California
- $975,000.00
- Project
- Elections and Voting
- 2019
The California Civic Engagement Project (CCEP) at the University of Southern California will design, release, and host the Vote Center Siting Tool in three states: Colorado, Arizona, and Texas. The development of the tool in these three states will help election officials make informed decisions about where to locate polling places and how to better target other services to the voters and potential voters they serve.
Project:
Election Siting ToolFoundation Center Topic:
Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election AdministrationGrant Length:
Sep 2019 to Nov 2021Strategy:
Voter-Centric Election Administration- Free Press
- $1,000,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2023
Free Press’ Media 2070 project calls for the policies needed to make media reparations a reality, falling within the historical lineage of calls for repair of anti-Black harm. Media 2070’s vision is to achieve a future where Black people have the capital and power necessary to own and control their own stories, from ideation to production, through to distribution.
Project:
Media 2070Foundation Center Topic:
Media/Journalism, MediaGrant Length:
Nov 2023 to Dec 2026Strategy:
Journalism & Power Building- The Miami Foundation Inc.
- $1,000,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2023
The purpose of this grant is to grow and continue The Fund for Nonprofit News, hosted at The Miami Foundation, in support of NewsMatch, a fundraising campaign for nonprofit news.
Project:
Fund for Nonprofit News - NewsMatchFoundation Center Topic:
Media/JournalismGrant Length:
Nov 2023 to Nov 2026Strategy:
News & Information Ecosystems- Safe Voting Fund
- $1,000,000.00
- Project
- Elections and Voting
- 2020
The Safe Voting Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of New Venture Fund, centralizes and shares resources on issues such as educational efforts for policymakers on the importance of updates to voting systems in a COVID-environment and funding state-specific implementation programs.
Project:
Safe Voting FundFoundation Center Topic:
Campaigns, Elections, and Voting, Civic Participation, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voter Education, Registration, and Turnout, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting AccessGrant Length:
Jul 2020 to Dec 2020Strategy:
Pro-Voter Reform- Democracy Works Inc.
- $1,000,000.00
- Project
- Elections and Voting
- 2020
Democracy Works’ Voting Information Project, How to Vote, & Ballot Scout programs address voting and election administration issues brought about or exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Project:
Voting Information Project, How to Vote, & Ballot Scout programsFoundation Center Topic:
Campaigns, Elections, and Voting, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election AdministrationGrant Length:
Jul 2020 to Mar 2021Strategy:
Voter-Centric Election Administration- Welcoming America Inc.
- $1,000,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Governance
- 2019
Democracy Fund will provide general operating support to Welcoming America to support their work to promote more welcoming communities in the United States.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation/Naturalization and Immigrant Civic IntegrationGrant Length:
Aug 2019 to May 2023Strategy:
Constructive Politics- The Miami Foundation Inc.
- $1,020,000.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2017
The purpose of this grant is to establish The News Match Fund for Nonprofit News at Miami Foundation. The Fund is a collaboration between Knight Foundation and Democracy Fund that supports a matching gifts program designed to encourage donations to nonprofit newsrooms and expand the capacity of nonprofit journalism to build their small donor base.
Project:
News Match: Fund for Nonprofit NewsFoundation Center Topic:
Media/JournalismGrant Length:
Sep 2017 to Aug 2018Strategy:
Ecosystem News- University of Southern California
- $1,025,000.00
- Project
- Elections and Voting
- 2021
This grant provides support for the Center for Inclusive Democracy at the University of Southern California to maintain and expand the Vote Center and Ballot Drop Box Siting Tool.
Project:
USC Siting Tool ExpansionFoundation Center Topic:
Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election Administration, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voting AccessGrant Length:
Aug 2021 to Jan 2024Strategy:
Voter-Centric Election Administration- 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- 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- The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
- $1,069,382.00
- Project
- Public Square
- 2011
FlackCheck.org will use satire and deconstructions of political ads to assist reporters and the public in identifying and rejecting fear-mongering and fact-mangling in the 2012 elections.
Project:
FlackCheck.orgFoundation Center Topic:
Media/Journalism, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Voter Education, Registration, and Turnout, Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Campaign FinanceGrant Length:
Nov 2011 to Nov 2013Strategy:
Previous Strategy- Bipartisan Policy Center, Inc.
- $1,100,000.00
- General Operating Support
- General and Field Building
- 2016
General Operating Funds to support to goals of the Bipartisan Policy Center, including support of the Democracy Program, and to raise awareness among key stakeholders and the general public of the recommendations of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration and The Commission on Political Reform, and to support efforts to educate officials and the public regarding the functional benefits of adopting the best practices recommended by the commissions.
Project:
General Operating SupportFoundation Center Topic:
Government/Legislative Branch Performance, Government/Executive Branch Performance, Campaigns, Elections, and VotingGrant Length:
Jul 2016 to Jun 2017Strategy:
General- Democracy Forward Foundation
- $1,125,000.00
- General Operating Support
- Governance
- 2023
Democracy Forward Foundation is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that uses the law to build collective power and advance a bold, vibrant democracy for all people.