OVERVIEW: The Democracy Fund supports election reform, voting rights, government oversight, media and journalism, migrant’s rights, and other efforts toward a fair and inclusive democracy in the U.S.
IP TAKE: The Democracy Fund is a major player in the voting rights and inclusive democracy space, making over 200 grants each year to national, regional and local movements and organizations. In addition to traditional grantmaking, The Democracy Fund works collaboratively with other funders in this space, and supports national initiatives such as Press Forward, which supports local news outlets, and Courage Calls Us, a donor collaborative that defends U.S. democracy and civil society.
The Democracy Fund does not accept unsolicited proposals, so networking is key to getting on this funder’s radar. The fund is transparent; it names clear areas of focus and goals for its giving, and it provides detailed information about grants in its annual tax forms. This is an important funder to watch as democracy in the U.S. is further challenged in the coming years. In 2025, The Democracy Fund announced that it will double down on its commitments to U.S. democracy and defending vulnerable populations in the face of authoritarian creep, and indicated it will roll out new strategies and programs in 2026.
PROFILE: The Democracy Fund was established in 2011 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. Initially an Omidyar Network initiative, the Democracy Fund became an independent foundation in 2014 and remains a part of the The Omidyar Group. Its sister organization, Democracy Fund Voice, gives to 501(c)(4) organizations. Since 2014, The Democracy Fund and Democracy Fund Voice has “committed over $500 million in grants to support those working to strengthen our democracy.”
According to its mission statement, the fund “champions the pro-democracy leaders and organizations who work to shift power toward the people and counter efforts to undermine American democracy” and envisions “an inclusive, multiracial democracy that is open, just, resilient, and trustworthy.” The Democracy Fund’s current areas of focus are Elections and Voting, Governance, Just and Inclusive Society and Public Square, which prioritizes access to reliable information to increase civic participation.
Grants for Civic Engagement and Democracy, Journalism, Immigrants and Refugees
Across all four areas of focus, the Democracy Fund supports and collaborates with its grantee partners “to strengthen and expand the movement for an inclusive, multiracial democracy.“
- Its Elections and Voting program makes grants to support an election system that is trusted, fair and “makes equitable participation possible.”
- A subprogram for Resilient Elections focuses on election infrastructure, with support going to initiatives that train and support election administrators and safeguards that prevent “election deniers from undermining results.”
- A subprogram for Voting Power works to strengthen voting rights, address “inequities at our voting system’s core” and support state- and local-level organizing for communities with lower levels of voter participation.
- Grantees of the Elections and Voting program include the Free Election Fund, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Accountable U.S. and Way to Rise.
- The Governance program works at the national, state and local levels to advance pro-democracy movements and combat threats to democracy. An overarching goal involves “shifting power to the people and away from the select few.” This focus area names three areas of focus.
- Preventing Authoritarian Abuse of Power refers to the fund’s support for efforts to hold leaders accountable for “intentional flaws in government institutions that allow for corruption.” This work has focused mainly on the federal government, and the fund cites the separation of families at the southern border, the insurrection on January 6th, 2021, and “the Supreme Court’s ethical violations and disregard for precedent” as areas of pressing concern. The fund’s approach in this area involves collaboration with Congress and the courts to maintain accountability of individuals and “create robust guardrails against abuse.”
- A separate subprogram supports State and Local Accountability for “antidemocratic actions,” especially those that oppress communities of color and other marginalized groups. Grantmaking focuses on building and strengthening collaborative networks of organizations and information sharing so that communities are better able to “respond to abuses of power.”
- Giving and engagements also work to advance Representative Institutions. This focus area prioritizes “long-term transformational change” away from governmental norms that “disempower communities of color.” The program supports research, advocacy and movement building for a more representative electoral system and government. The fund specifically cites the Electoral College and the U.S. Senate structure as contributing to disempowerment and marginalization while giving “less-populated states outsized power.”
- Grantees of the Governance program include the People’s Parity Project, Democracy Rising and the Project on Government Oversight.
- The Democracy Fund’s Just and Inclusive Democracy focus area supports efforts to “crate the conditions for migrant and refugee communities to build and lead a social movement that addresses global threats.” The fund specifies that this program works “intersectionally” with communities of color, as well as refugees and migrants, to build power, solidarity and narrative change to combat white nationalism and social injustice. Grantees of this program area include the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the National Immigration Law Center, Undivided, Inc. and the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing.
- The fund supports media and journalism via its Public Square initiative. This program works nationally to ensure that all communities have “accurate information that encourages healthy, informed, and engaged lives.”
- Grantmaking for Digital Democracy prioritize efforts that “hold social media companies and policymakers accountable” to communities of color and other marginalized people. This subprogram names two main areas of interest: support for initiatives that address how tech and media companies “amplify racism and enable discrimination online and across the country” and broad support for policy that promotes “equitable access to information.”
- The fund’s Equitable Journalism focus area emphasizes the vital role of journalism in a thriving, multicultural democracy and seeks to ensure that “communities see their needs, concerns, and dreams reflected in a vibrant and diverse public square.” Grants support journalism leaders and organizations that create media that are meaningful to an inclusive, democratic society. Grants also work to strengthen and develop innovative and equitable journalistic ecosystems in target regions including but not limited to greater Chicago, Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina and Oklahoma.
- Media and journalism grantees include the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, Public Narrative and Press On South, Inc.
- Beyond its central grantmaking programs, the Democracy Fund also makes grants through several Joint Funds in partnerships with other funders. See the program page for a summary of the Democracy Fund’s current collaborative grantmaking endeavors.
Important Grant Details:
Grants range from $16,500 to several million, but most grants fall within the $100,000 to $500,000 range.
- The Democracy Fund made more than 200 grants in a recent year, mainly to well-established national and regional organizations.
- All of the fund’s giving works to support movements toward a more inclusive, multicultural democracy.
- This funder does not accept unsolicited proposals and seeks “new grantee partners from within our network of allies and contacts.”
- Sign up for email updates about the fund at the bottom of the website.
- For additional information about the Democracy Fund’s grantmaking, see its searchable grants database.
Submit questions to the Democracy Fund via its contact page or by email at info@democracyfund.org. The fund’s phone number is (202) 420-7900.
PEOPLE:
- Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
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