Alliance Defending Freedom
Scottsdale, AZ · EIN 54-1660459. Reported 110 grants totalling $12.7M to 67 organizations across tax years 2020-2023, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For Alliance Defending Freedom, the IRS classifies it under civil rights rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE R600) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 67 distinct organizations, with 68% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is concentrated. Most of the money has a settled destination, and the remainder is what is realistically in play.
- How much its list changes. 52% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 3 year-to-year transitions. That is about the 57% median for grantmaking charities -- noticeably lower than the 67% private foundations manage. Organizations like this one rotate more of their list each year, which is where an opening for a newcomer tends to be.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $22,995. Half of what it reported fell between $10,089 and $41,406; the smallest was $5,310 and the largest $8,611,085. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alliance Defending Freedom International | Lansdowne, VA | $8,611,085 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Adf Action | Scottsdale, AZ | $1,007,186 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Child & Parental Rights Campaign Inc | Norcross, GA | $248,125 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Charis Lex Pc | Pasadena, CA | $160,078 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Liberty Counsel Inc | Orlando, FL | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mauck & Baker LLC | Chicago, IL | $136,450 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Ethics and Public Policy Center Inc | Washington, DC | $119,200 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Deforest Koscelnik & Berardinelli | Pittsburgh, PA | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Religious Freedom Institute Inc | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Family Foundation | Richmond, VA | $94,980 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Patrick Henry College | Purcellville, VA | $93,219 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Dalton & Tomich Plc | Detroit, MI | $90,818 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Indiana Family Institute Inc | Noblesville, IN | $89,145 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Womens Liberation Front | Washington, DC | $80,015 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Association of Pro Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists in | Fort Wayne, IN | $80,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Susan B Anthony List Inc Education Fund | Arlington, VA | $79,920 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Ellis Li & Mckinstry Pllc | Seattle, WA | $73,890 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Wadleigh Starr & Peters Pllc | Manchester, NH | $71,681 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| American Freedom Law Center Inc | Phoenix, AZ | $70,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Mitchell Law Pllc | Austin, TX | $62,255 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Institute for Patients Rights Inc | New York, NY | $60,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Smith Appellate Law Firm Pllc | Washington, DC | $58,010 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Kellum Law Firm | Memphis, TN | $55,062 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Boyden Gray Pllc | Washington, DC | $55,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cooper & Kirk Pllc | Washington, DC | $52,485 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| County Citizens Defending Freedom USA Foundation Inc | Mulberry, FL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The International Organization for the Family Inc | Rockford, IL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Hershberger Law Office | Hanover, IN | $46,835 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Shreffler Law Pllc | Lakeville, MN | $42,982 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Smith Haughey Rice & Roegge | Grand Rapids, MI | $41,147 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Adf Foundation | Scottsdale, AZ | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| American College of Pediatricians | Atlanta, GA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Life on Belay Inc | Ofallon, MO | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Nussbaum Speir Gleason Pllc | Austin, TX | $33,810 | 2 | 1 | 2021 |
| Center for Client Safety Inc | Louisville, KY | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Hixson & Brown Pc | West Des Moines, IA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Kriegshauser Ney Law Group | Topeka, KS | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Mckenry Dancigers Dawson Pc | Virginia Beach, VA | $28,109 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Kaempf Law Firm Pc | Portland, OR | $26,039 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Live Action | Arlington, VA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Burke Law Group | Houston, TX | $24,935 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Spero Law LLC | Charleston, SC | $24,598 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| John Paul II Shrine and Institute Inc | New Haven, CT | $23,634 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Claremont Inst for the Study of Statesmanship & Polit Philosophy | Claremont, CA | $23,490 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| National Center for Public Policy Research Inc | Washington, DC | $22,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Frontline Policy Council | Newnan, GA | $20,928 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Adams & Graham Llp | Harlingen, TX | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Canopy Global Foundation Inc | Naples, FL | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Orndorff Mowen Pllc | Scott Depot, WV | $18,304 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Center for Arizona Policy Inc | Phoenix, AZ | $17,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Law Offices of Jonathan R Whitehead LLC | Lees Summit, MO | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Demetrios K Stratis LLC | Fair Lawn, NJ | $13,798 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Phelps Dunbar Llp | Baton Rouge, LA | $13,128 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| J Michael Considine JR Pc | Philadelphia, PA | $12,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Nelson Madden Black Llp | New York, NY | $10,610 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Campbell Miller Payne Pllc | Dallas, TX | $10,060 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Charitable Allies Inc | Indianapolis, IN | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak Pllc | Haymarket, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Kristina S Heuser Pc | Locust Valley, NY | $9,280 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Hostetter Law Group Llp | Enterprise, OR | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Martin Law & Mediation Pllc | Phoenix, AZ | $7,950 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| National Museum of American Religion Inc | Purcellville, VA | $7,850 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Miller Johnson | Grand Rapids, MI | $7,677 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Just Law International Pc | Fairfax, VA | $6,800 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Ashbrook Byrne Kresge LLC | Cincinnati, OH | $6,244 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Boat People S O S Inc | Falls Church, VA | $5,783 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Law Office of Nic Cocis | Murrieta, CA | $5,610 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
27 of 67 (40%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- Mitchell Law Pllc
Sanctity of Life , Religious Liberty - Spero Law LLC
Family Values and Sanctity of Life - J Michael Considine JR Pc
Sanctity of Life and Religious Liberty
What kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 25 of 67 recipients we could match to a registered organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 20 | $750,296 | $24,764 |
| 2021 | 26 | $814,918 | $25,000 |
| 2022 | 29 | $847,532 | $20,766 |
| 2023 | 35 | $10.3M | $15,200 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
70% of its giving went to organizations in Virginia. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are the strongest signal available that two funders have overlapping priorities -- and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $22,995 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in Virginia.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Alliance Defending Freedom's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 13 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 22 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 15100 North 90TH Street, Scottsdale, AZ, 85260.
EIN 54-1660459 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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