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
  • Center for Secure and Modern Elections
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2023

The Institute for Responsive Government at the Center for Secure and Modern Elections, a fiscally sponsored project of New Venture Fund, is a public policy hub of policy experts, fellows, and advisory board members to drive research, policy recommendations, press engagement, and more.

Project:

Institute for Responsive Government

Foundation Center Topic:

Campaigns, Elections, and Voting/Election Administration

Grant Length:

Dec 2023 to Nov 2024

Strategy:

Resilient Elections
  • Democratizing Philanthropy Project
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Elections and Voting
  • 2022

The #PowerProgress campaign is a unique collaboration between philanthropy, nonprofits, and the Democratizing Philanthropy Project that is part program, part capacity building, and part public awareness. The campaign will support dozens of historically excluded frontline organizations working in their communities on critical issues.

Project:

Support for #PowerProgress

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation

Grant Length:

Nov 2022 to Oct 2023

Strategy:

Pro-Voter Reform
  • Democracy 2076
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • General and Field Building
  • 2023

Democracy 2076, a fiscally sponsored project of NEO Philanthropy, Inc., is convening organizers, state legislators, those running campaigns to amend the US Constitution, and legal scholars to envision what a Constitution for 2076 needs to include to ensure an effective, responsive, and representative democracy.

Project:

Democracy 2076

Foundation Center Topic:

Other

Grant Length:

Nov 2023 to Oct 2024

Strategy:

General
  • The Aspen Institute Inc
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2017

This grant will support the Aspen Institute’s Socrates Program American Values Series. These events will seek to promote American democratic values and civil discourse and understanding among the American people. These events will build off the successful Socrates learning model from the Aspen Institute. 

Project:

Socrates Program - American Values Seminar

Foundation Center Topic:

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

Grant Length:

Dec 2017 to Nov 2018

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
  • The Andrew Goodman Foundation Inc.
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2017

Grantor will provide support for the Student Ambassador’s Program of the Andrew Goodman Foundation. This program engages student leaders in the electoral process and educates college students on the important issues facing our democracy. 

Project:

Support Vote Everywhere Student Ambassador Program

Foundation Center Topic:

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

Grant Length:

Dec 2017 to Nov 2018

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
  • Arizona State University Foundation for a New American University
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2017

This grant supports the establishment of the News Literacy Lab at Arizona State University. The project’s focus is on developing newsrooms as leaders in news literacy through education, research, and engagement. 

Project:

Co/Lab News Literacy Project

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Nov 2017 to May 2019

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Business Forward Foundation
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2017

To organize business leaders and earned media, in specific areas, to educate the public and policymakers about the importance of respecting and protecting vulnerable communities.  

Project:

Business Leaders for Vulnerable Communities

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy, Media, Government/Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Civic Participation/Naturalization and Immigrant Civic Integration, Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership

Grant Length:

Sep 2017 to Aug 2018

Strategy:

General
  • Voice of San Diego
  • $100,000.00
  • General Operating Support
  • Public Square
  • 2017

This is a general operating grant to support Voice of San Diego’s work providing critical local reporting to the citizens of their region. 

Project:

General Operating Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Nov 2017 to Oct 2018

Strategy:

Ecosystem News
  • Free Press
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2019

To support Free Press in their work to create a new deal for the digital age with a focus on racial and gender equity. This grant will advance the work of Change the Terms, a coalition co-founded and co-led by Free Press, in organizing stakeholders from civil society, government, and technology to hold platforms accountable through a public-facing campaign aimed at pressuring companies to make changes on a range of issues, including content moderation and advertising policies.  

Project:

Change the Terms

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Jul 2019 to Jun 2020

Strategy:

Digital Democracy
  • University of Oregon Foundation
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2016

The purpose of this grant is to support the University of Oregon School of Journalism’s Agora Journalism Center to create workshops to strengthen the community of practice of Engaged Journalism. This grant builds on Knight’s larger grant that supports building a web-tool, with our emphasis on creating robust connections within the field.

Project:

Building out the Community of Practice

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism Education and Training

Grant Length:

Nov 2016 to Apr 2018

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Georgetown University
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2017

The purpose of this grant is to support the “Constructive Voices for the Common Good” dialogue series – promoting bipartisanship and civility in public life – hosted by the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life (“the Initiative”) based at Georgetown University. The Initiative will lead one major event in Washington, D.C. and multiple smaller events focused on Latino leaders and young professionals during the grant period.

Project:

Constructive Voices for the Common Good Dialogue Series

Foundation Center Topic:

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

Grant Length:

Sep 2017 to Dec 2018

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
  • POPVOX LegiDash Fund
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2018

The POPVOX LegiDash Fund, a project of the Tides Foundation, will develop a communications and legislative resources dashboard for use by congressional staff. The free product, called LegiDash, will provide staff with an improved constituent communications portal they can use to view and respond to messages delivered to Congress by POPVOX, increasing the efficiency of that process.

Project:

POPVOX LegiDash Fund

Foundation Center Topic:

Government/Legislative Branch Performance

Grant Length:

Jun 2018 to May 2019

Strategy:

Empowering Congress
  • iCivics Inc.
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2018

This grant will support iCivics’ strategic planning efforts to coordinate a network of presidential library foundations and the National Archives Foundation to work collaboratively to establish a common set of measurement tools, support opportunities to develop joint civics programming, and explore a national communications strategy to promote and enhance civic education. 

Project:

Planning Grant for Civic Education Network

Foundation Center Topic:

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

Grant Length:

Oct 2018 to Mar 2019

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
  • Center for Media Justice
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2019

To support the Center for Media Justice (CMJ) in their work to create a new deal for the digital age with a focus on racial and gender equity. This grant will support CMJ’s involvement in the Change the Terms coalition, with a focus on using educational events, corporate accountability actions, and cultural strategies to shift corporate practices and policies to eliminate white supremacist hate speech from platforms and strengthen civil rights protections for people of color. 

Project:

Change the Terms: Reducing Hate Online

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Media Access and Policy

Grant Length:

Jul 2019 to Jun 2020

Strategy:

Digital Democracy
  • Pacific News Service
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2016

General support for organization.

Project:

NAM Strategic Support

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism, Media

Grant Length:

Nov 2016 to Oct 2017

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • ReThink Media, Inc.
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Just and Inclusive Society
  • 2018

The purpose of this grant to provide project support to Rehink Media Inc.’s Security and Rights team to address anti-Muslim bigotry through strategic communications, rapid response messaging, and spokesperson training.  

Project:

Rapid response communications support for MASA communities

Foundation Center Topic:

Other

Grant Length:

Sep 2018 to Aug 2019

Strategy:

General
  • Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Governance
  • 2019

To support Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) in their efforts to promote engagement at the intersection of faith and democracy through a pilot pooled funding program — the “Faith In/ And Democracy” fund — to engage faith leaders and communities, bridge across lines of difference, and support faith-based civic engagement efforts to overcome polarization.

Project:

Support for Joint Fund on Faith-Based Civic Engagement

Foundation Center Topic:

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

Grant Length:

Jun 2019 to May 2020

Strategy:

Constructive Politics
  • President and Fellows of Harvard College
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • President's Office
  • 2017

This grant will support the Senior Practice Fellow in American Democracy at the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School.

Project:

Harvard Kennedy School Ash Center Senior Practice Fellowship in American Democracy

Foundation Center Topic:

Civic Participation/Civic Education and Leadership, Civic Participation

Grant Length:

Dec 2017 to Nov 2018

Strategy:

General
  • Outlier Media
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2018

To support Outlier Media via its fiscal agent, Investigative Reporters and Editors, Inc, in its charitable efforts to to identify, report, and deliver high value information that empowers Detroit communities in need to create accountability around the issues that most impact their lives. The purpose of this grant is to support Outlier Media as they work to further develop this charitable practice of service journalism and identify avenues to teach their methods to other news creators.

Project:

Outlier Media

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Dec 2018 to May 2020

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
  • Spaceship Media
  • $100,000.00
  • Project
  • Public Square
  • 2019

To support the pilot of Spaceship Local in Douglas, Arizona, rebuilding a news and information system through community engagement in a border town where reliable news sources are scarce. In addition to supporting this community, Spaceship Media is collecting valuable lessons on how their dialogue journalism model for engagement can be deployed more widely in geographic areas with similar needs.

Project:

Spaceship Local

Foundation Center Topic:

Media/Journalism

Grant Length:

Nov 2019 to Oct 2020

Strategy:

Engaged Journalism
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