About Fund for Nonviolence
The Fund for Nonviolence concentrates on systemic criminal-justice and civil-rights reform through policy advocacy and strategic litigation support. Its grants strongly favor organizations working to end the death penalty, advance racial and economic justice, and influence public policy at state and national levels. Giving is concentrated and strategic — large awards to a small set of advocacy and legal organizations rather than many small community grants.
Focus Areas
Death penalty abolition and defense (strategic litigation and support for capital defense work)Criminal justice reform and decarceral policy advocacyRacial and economic justice policy advocacy at state and national levels
Who They Fund
people facing the death penalty / capital defendantsBlack communities and faith communities of colorcrime survivors and victim-advocatesorganizers and movement groups (e.g., BLM chapters, Liberation Ventures)residents/advocacy networks in Florida and the Deep South
About Fund for Nonviolence
Fund for Nonviolence centers its giving on ending the death penalty, with recurring support for litigation, policy advocacy, and movement-building organizations working on capital punishment reform. The pattern is clear in its largest recent awards: PolicyLink received $1,000,000 in 2025 for program support, and Equal Justice USA received $1,000,000 in 2025 for program support after also receiving $1,000,000 in 2024 for general support. That combination points to a funder that backs both long-running institutions and targeted projects tied to criminal-justice and civil-rights change. Its portfolio also reaches organizations working on racial justice, reparations, accountability, healing, and public safety reform, but the dominant thread is legal and policy work aimed at reducing state violence. The foundation’s grants often support advocacy infrastructure rather than direct service, including communications, strategic litigation, and coalition work. Named recipients include the Center For Death Penalty Litigation, Ohioans to Stop Executions, TX Defender Service, and Witness to Innocence, showing a consistent emphasis on capital-defense ecosystems and the people and groups organizing around them.
What Fund for Nonviolence Funds
Death penalty abolition is the clearest throughline in the funder’s grantmaking. It gave $575,000 in 2024 to the Center For Death Penalty Litigation for the 8th Amendment Project, then followed with $472,000 and $260,000 in 2025 for program support. It also supported Ohioans to Stop Executions with $250,000 in 2023, $250,000 in 2024, and $225,000 in 2025, showing sustained backing for state-level abolition work. The foundation also funds capital litigation communications: TX Defender Service received $150,000 in 2024 for the Capital Litigation Communications Project and $250,000 in 2025 for program support. Beyond abolition, it invests in racial justice narrative work, including a $125,000 grant in 2023 to the Death Penalty Information Center for the transformative Racial Justice storytelling project, and in survivor-led reform efforts through Witness to Innocence.
How Fund for Nonviolence Gives
Typical awards cluster at a higher-grant level, with p25 at $25,000, median at $50,000, and p75 at $75,000. Recent giving also includes a much larger tier of six- and seven-figure grants, which suggests a portfolio that combines many moderate awards with a smaller set of anchor commitments. The funder is a regular funder rather than a donor-advised fund, and it funds individuals as well as organizations. Recurring support is common: several recipients appear across multiple years, including Equal Justice USA, PolicyLink, the Center For Death Penalty Litigation, Ohioans to Stop Executions, TX Defender Service, Tides Center, and Witness to Innocence. The active grant programs also show structured, ongoing funding streams such as the Legacy Fund and Opportunity Fund.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$9.5M
Total Assets
$73.2M
Total Revenue
$11.9M
Total Expenses
$11.5M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $25K and $75K, with a median of $50K.
25th Percentile
$25K
Median
$50K
75th Percentile
$75K
Geographic Reach
National24 states funded
About 33% of grants go to recipients in CA.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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