Public Wise Inc
New York, NY · EIN 84-2296539. Reported 106 grants totalling $6,815,937 to 66 organizations across tax years 2020-2024, 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 Public Wise Inc, the IRS classifies it under civil rights rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE R40) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 66 distinct organizations, with 8% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 39% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 4 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 57% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% private foundations manage. A list that turns over this much is one a newcomer can realistically join.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $50,000. Half of what it reported fell between $25,000 and $75,000; the smallest was $10,000 and the largest $400,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Way to Win | Walnut, CA | $550,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| National Redistricting Action Fund | Washington, DC | $525,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Public Wise Pac | Washington, DC | $400,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| America Votes | Washington, DC | $352,268 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Way to Win Action Fund Incorporated | Washington, DC | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Beyond Impact | W Hollywood, CA | $225,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Sheriff Accountability Action | Durham, NC | $224,000 | 5 | 3 | 2024 |
| Fair Fight Action Inc | Atlanta, GA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Mi Familia Vota | Phoenix, AZ | $175,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| New Georgia Project Action Fund | Atlanta, GA | $175,000 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| Common Cause | Washington, DC | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Demos a Network for Ideas and Action Ltd | New York, NY | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Down Home North Carolina | Greensboro, NC | $150,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Fight for the Base Ltd | New York, NY | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Black Male Voter Project Ef Inc | Atlanta, GA | $125,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Care in Action Inc | New York, NY | $125,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Free Speech for People Inc | Austin, TX | $125,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Black Voters Matter Fund Inc | Atlanta, GA | $115,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Progress North Carolina Action | Raleigh, NC | $115,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| League of Conservation Voters Inc | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| North Fund | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Organize Pennsylvania | Pittsburgh, PA | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Rural Arizona Action | Coolidge, AZ | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Working Families Organization Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Asian American Advocacy Fund Inc | Norcross, GA | $85,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| The Watershed Center Inc | Millerton, NY | $80,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Advance Democracy Inc | Mclean, VA | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| American Oversight Inc | Washington, DC | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Center for Community Change Action | Washington, DC | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Common Defense Civic Engagement | New York, NY | $75,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Entertain Impact Advocacy Alliance Inc | New York, NY | $75,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Ncaat in Action | Raleigh, NC | $75,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| State Democracy Action | Washington, DC | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Generation Vote Action | Woodside, NY | $70,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Vote Rev Action Fund | Washington, DC | $65,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Black Men Vote Civic Action Fund | Washington, DC | $55,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Accountable US | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Adrc Action | Tempe, AZ | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Arizona Advocacy Network | Phoenix, AZ | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Black Girls Vote 4 H E R Inc | Towson, MD | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Campaign for Accountability & Transparency Inc | Phoenix, AZ | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Campaign for Accountability Inc | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Center for Common Ground | Ruther Glen, VA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Democracy North Carolina | Morrisville, NC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Drag Out the Vote | New York, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Living United for Change in Arizona | Phoenix, AZ | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| One Pennsylvania Inc | Philadelphia, PA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Our Missouri Inc | Kansas City, MO | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Promote the Vote Fund | Lansing, MI | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Siembra Nc | Charlotte, NC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Vote Org | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Voter Formation Project | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| William J Brennan JR Center for Justice Inc | New York, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Alliance for Youth Action | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Americas Future Project Action Fund | Mesa, AZ | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Arizona Winsl | Phoenix, AZ | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Federation of State Conservation Voter Leagues Inc | Ann Arbor, MI | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Instituto Power | Phoenix, AZ | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Lincoln Democracy Institute Service | Portland, OR | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Neo Philanthropy Action Fund Inc | New York, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| New American Leaders Action Fund Inc | New York, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| New York Immigration Coalition Inc | New York, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sister District Action Network | Covina, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| National Asian Pacific American Womens Forum | Chicago, IL | $24,669 | 2 | 1 | 2020 |
| Michigan Civic Action Fund | Madison Hts, MI | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Democracy Sentry | Foxboro, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
23 of 66 (35%) received money in more than one year over the 5 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 kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 50 of 66 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 | 15 | $1,358,669 | $75,000 |
| 2021 | 16 | $1,130,000 | $50,000 |
| 2022 | 27 | $1,895,975 | $50,000 |
| 2023 | 21 | $1,155,000 | $50,000 |
| 2024 | 27 | $1,276,293 | $50,000 |
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
36% of its giving went to organizations in District of Columbia. 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.
Down to the city
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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 $50,000 -- 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 District of Columbia.
- 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 Public Wise Inc's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 270 Lafayette St, New York, NY, 10012.
EIN 84-2296539 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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