Funders & Donors
A reference list of the foundations and individuals who fund voting-rights, civil-liberties, and grassroots democracy work — for transparency and research, not solicitation.
21 funders found.
Arnold Ventures (John and Laura Arnold)
Good-government/criminal justice reform, redistricting litigation; funded Campaign Legal Center gerrymandering litigation ($694,872, 2016-2018) and broad criminal justice research portfolio
Carnegie Corporation of New York
Democratic citizenship, voting rights, civic/youth education; funds League of Women Voters Education Fund ($1M) and Brennan Center for Justice ($700K core support)
Charles Koch (Koch network / Charles Koch Foundation)
NOTE - overlapping but distinct political angle: funds criminal-justice/overcriminalization and policing reform research (FSU $6.5M, ASU Academy for Justice $6.5M, Duke ~$5M) and libertarian legal advocacy (e.g., Institute for Justice, a separate 501c3 not directly confirmed as Koch-funded in this research pass) rather than voting-rights or campaign-finance-reform groups like ACLU/Brennan Center/Common Cause, which the Koch network has historically opposed on campaign finance policy
Craig Newmark
Craigslist founder; more than $250M donated overall to protect democracy, with focused giving on trustworthy journalism, voter protection, and election-integrity reporting; funded ProPublica's Electionland voter-experience tracking project ($1M)
Democracy Fund
Voting rights, election administration, campaign finance, civics/media; sole funder is Pierre Omidyar; has committed $550M+ since 2014 including support to Campaign Legal Center
Ford Foundation
Civil liberties, voting rights, government accountability; funds ACLU, Brennan Center, Campaign Legal Center; $60M democracy commitment announced 2026
George Soros
Founder/chairman of Open Society Foundations; personally transferred $18B of his fortune to OSF in 2017 (nearly 80% of his wealth at the time), funding democratic accountability and civil liberties work worldwide including the U.S.
Joyce Foundation
Voting rights and elections, redistricting/fair representation, census accuracy, focused on Great Lakes region and national policy
JPB Foundation
Multi-racial democracy, protecting democratic institutions, civic engagement; funds Brennan Center for Justice
Kathryn Murdoch
Co-founder/president of Quadrivium Foundation; personally the majority funder of Unite America's PAC ($3.8M of $5.1M in 2019 contributions); Quadrivium funds Unite America Institute, Represent.Us, Democracy Works, and Voting Rights Lab on election-reform and voter-participation issues
Knight Foundation
Trust in media/democracy, civic information tools; funded League of Women Voters' VOTE411 voter information platform ($100K)
Laura and John Arnold
Co-founders of Arnold Ventures (see Arnold Ventures foundation entry); personal Giving Pledge signatories directing their fortune into evidence-based criminal justice and democracy-adjacent reform
MacArthur Foundation
Voting rights litigation, money-in-politics, redistricting reform; $100M 'Strengthening American Democracy' commitment; funded Campaign Legal Center ($10M) and Common Cause Education Fund ($500K)
MacKenzie Scott
Unrestricted, no-strings gifts identified via internal 'quiet research' and open-call processes to nonprofits serving underrepresented communities; confirmed gifts include a landmark unsolicited gift to Democracy Works (nonpartisan voting-information infrastructure nonprofit) and an open-call award to ACLU of Alabama
Open Society Foundations
Voting rights, criminal justice reform, civil rights litigation, democratic participation; funds ACLU, Brennan Center for Justice, Center for Community Change
Pierre Omidyar
eBay founder; sole funder of Democracy Fund and Democracy Fund Voice ($550M+ committed since 2014) covering voting rights, election administration, campaign finance and civics/media; also founded Luminate (civic tech, independent media, data & digital rights)
Piper Fund (Proteus Fund)
Money-in-politics/campaign finance reform, judicial integrity, protest/civil liberties rights; pooled fund mobilizing donors for state-level democracy grassroots groups
Rockefeller Brothers Fund (Democratic Practice-United States)
Equitable voting/election administration, civil liberties, self-determination, anti-corruption/rule of law, disrupting concentrated political power; $18M committed to the program 2020-2025
Solidaire Network
Pooled donor network for progressive movements including voting rights narrative/messaging campaigns and movement legal-defense funding (Movement Protection Fund)
Wallace Global Fund
Campaign finance reform, election finance, tax policy tied to democracy, civic engagement/voting expansion; historic funder of Common Cause and Public Citizen
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation (Madison Initiative / U.S. Democracy program)
Campaign finance, congressional capacity, political process reform; funded Brennan Center for Justice and Campaign Legal Center; $150M committed 2014-2021