About Alliance Defending Freedom
Alliance Defending Freedom’s recent grants show a strong emphasis on legal advocacy around religious liberty, family values, and sanctity of life, with support going to law firms, policy organizations, and advocacy groups across the country. The largest recent grant in the file is $185,000 to ADF Action in Scottsdale for operations support, indicating that the foundation also funds affiliated organizational infrastructure. Other large awards include $85,000 and $65,000 to Child & Parental Rights Campaign in Norcross for family values, and $84,183 to The Family Foundation of Virginia in Richmond for sanctity of life. The grant list also includes several awards to legal counsel and public-policy organizations such as American Freedom Law Center, Cooper & Kirk PLLC, and the Religious Freedom Institute, suggesting that litigation support and policy work are central to how the foundation advances its mission. Patrick Henry College appears in consecutive years as a recipient, which points to some repeat support within the portfolio. The foundation’s giving is national, but it reaches particular concentration in organizations working on faith-based rights, parental rights, and pro-life advocacy.
What Alliance Defending Freedom Funds
Religious liberty is a major theme in the grant list. Alliance Defending Freedom gave $55,000 to American Freedom Law Center in Ann Arbor for Religious Liberty, $50,000 to DeForest Koscelnik & Berardinelli in Pittsburgh for Religious Liberty, and $40,050 to the Religious Freedom Institute in Washington, DC for the same purpose. The portfolio also includes legal representation: Cooper & Kirk PLLC in Washington, DC received $42,396 for Religious Liberty, and Wadleigh Starr & Peters PLLC in Manchester, NH received $41,406 for Religious Liberty.
Family values and parental rights are another clear area of support. Child & Parental Rights Campaign in Norcross received $85,000 in 2023 and $65,000 in 2024 for Family Values, while Hershberger Law Office in Hanover, IN received $46,835 for the same theme. On sanctity of life, awards went to Smith Appellate Law Firm PLLC in Washington, DC, Hixson & Brown PC in West Des Moines, and Charlotte Lozier Institute in Washington, DC.
How Alliance Defending Freedom Gives
Typical awards cluster around a median of $25,000, with the lower quartile at $10,532 and the upper quartile at $40,000. The recent list shows both one-off grants and repeat support: Child & Parental Rights Campaign, Patrick Henry College, Mauck & Baker LLC, Smith Appellate Law Firm PLLC, and Ethics and Public Policy Center each appear more than once across 2023 and 2024. The foundation does not fund individuals and does not make program-related investments. The largest award in the file went to an affiliated organization in Scottsdale for operations support, which fits a pattern of funding organizational capacity alongside issue advocacy and legal work.
