Institute for Responsive Government

About Institute for Responsive Government

The Institute for Responsive Government Inc’s largest recent award went to Clark County Election Department in Las Vegas for $1.35 million in general support, which captures the funder’s practical orientation toward election operations. Its recent grants favor county and city election offices, along with intermediary groups that help jurisdictions share administrative tools, design support, and voter-facing infrastructure. The foundation also backs nonpartisan civic information and legal advocacy tied to voting access and election administration. In 2025, the Institute for Responsive Government Inc made large general-support grants to Cities Forward Inc, Partnership for Large Election Jurisdict, Informing Democracy Education Fund, and Strong Democracy Foundation. Those awards sit alongside a broader set of grants to local election departments and municipal governments, including Bernalillo County, the City of Detroit, and Washoe County. The pattern suggests a funder focused on operational capacity rather than project-specific pilots. Its portfolio points to an interest in how elections are run at the local level: staffing, administration, civic technology, public information, and legal support. The grants are overwhelmingly directed to U.S. recipients and are structured as general support.

What Institute for Responsive Government Funds

A central theme in the Institute for Responsive Government Inc’s grantmaking is election administration capacity. It gave $350,000 to Bernalillo County for general support, $350,000 to the City of Detroit for general support, and $100,000 to Mesa County Elections for general support. These awards indicate a preference for helping local offices maintain core functions. The foundation also funds intermediaries that work across jurisdictions. Cities Forward Inc received $1.3 million in general support, and Partnership for Large Election Jurisdict received $856,000 in general support. Those grants suggest attention to coordination, shared practice, and support for large election systems. A third strand is civic information and public-rights work. Informing Democracy Education Fund received $600,000, while Public Rights Project received $250,000, both in general support. The presence of these organizations shows that the funder supports voter-facing information and legal infrastructure alongside administrative capacity.

How Institute for Responsive Government Gives