The 85 Fund
Fort Worth, TX · EIN 20-2466871. Reported 144 grants totalling $403.4M to 74 organizations across tax years 2021-2024, 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 The 85 Fund, by its IRS classification it is an alliance or advocacy organization in crime & legal (NTEE I01).
- How spread out its giving is. 74 distinct organizations, with 80% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is extreme concentration. A grantmaker sending three quarters of its money to one organization is in practice a support fund for that organization, whatever its classification says, and an unsolicited request is very unlikely to go anywhere.
- How much its list changes. 56% 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 $110,000. Half of what it reported fell between $40,000 and $379,500; the smallest was $6,000 and the largest $92.0M. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Donors Trust Inc | Alexandria, VA | $323.1M | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Knights of Columbus Charitable Fund Inc | New Haven, CT | $39.0M | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Federalist Society for Law & Public Policy Studies | Washington, DC | $6,600,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Ethics and Public Policy Center Inc | Washington, DC | $5,330,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Club for Growth Foundation Inc | Washington, DC | $3,250,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Hawthorn Foundation Inc | Harvard, MA | $2,300,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression Inc | Philadelphia, PA | $2,066,667 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Paragon Health Institute | Arlington, VA | $2,000,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| American Legislative Exchange Council | Arlington, VA | $1,540,412 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Independent Womens Forum | Winchester, VA | $1,300,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Becket Fund | Washington, DC | $1,200,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Freedom Foundation | Flower Mound, TX | $973,330 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Fidelis Center for Law and Policy | Carmel, IN | $925,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Maine Heritage Policy Center | Portland, ME | $760,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Library of Congress | Washington, DC | $750,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| National Review Institute | New York, NY | $730,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Center for Equal Opportunity | Washington, DC | $700,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Manhattan Institute for Policy Research Inc | New York, NY | $650,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Hawthorn Foundation I Inc | Springfield, MA | $600,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Center for Law and Policy | Washington, DC | $550,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Turning Point USA Inc | Indianapolis, IN | $515,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Triton Research Institute | Saco, ME | $500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Tikvah Fund | New York, NY | $450,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy | Pasadena, CA | $445,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Political Economy Research Center Inc | Bozeman, MT | $400,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Health Markets Policy Network | Washington, DC | $381,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Center for Individual Rights | Washington, DC | $350,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program | Malvern, PA | $350,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Heritage Foundation | Washington, DC | $300,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| National Center for Public Policy Research Inc | Washington, DC | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sam Inc | Alexandria, VA | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Americans for Limited Government Research Foundation Inc | Fairfax, VA | $280,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Americans for Limited Government Inc | Fairfax, VA | $250,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Central Fund of Israel | Cedarhurst, NY | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| National Civic Art Society | Washington, DC | $250,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Speech First Inc | Washington, DC | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| American Alliance for Equality | Richmond, TX | $225,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Litigators for Liberty Network | Phoenix, AZ | $225,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Legal Insurrection Foundation | Barrington, RI | $200,000 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Neuro Kids Inc | Fairfax, VA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| American Conservative Union Foundation | Alexandria, VA | $194,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Cornell University | Ithaca, NY | $190,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Eagles Wings International Inc | Clarence, NY | $180,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Tholos Foundation | Washington, DC | $173,500 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Institute for Free Speech | Washington, DC | $172,500 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Conscience Project | Mc Lean, VA | $151,500 | 4 | 4 | 2024 |
| Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty Inc | Milwaukee, WI | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| The Free State Foundation Inc | Potomac, MD | $145,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| American Energy Institute | Austin, TX | $125,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Concerned Women for America | Alexandria, VA | $125,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| CO2 Coalition Inc | Fairfax, VA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Youth Leadership Foundation Inc | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Faith Wins | Prosperity, SC | $90,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| American Accountability Foundation | Washington, DC | $75,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Orrin G Hatch Foundation | Salt Lake Cty, UT | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| State Policy Network | Arlington, VA | $70,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Energy & Environment Legal Institute | Mclean, VA | $55,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Elm Institute Inc | New Haven, CT | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Heritage Action for America | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Network of Enlightened Women Inc | Indianapolis, IN | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Chicago Freedom Trust | Chicago, IL | $45,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Georgia Community Foundation Inc | Peachtree Cor, GA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Tea Party Patriots Foundation Inc | Woodstock, GA | $40,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Witherspoon Institute Inc | Princeton, NJ | $39,338 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| March for Life Education and Defense Fund | Washington, DC | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Young Americans for Liberty Foundation | Austin, TX | $27,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Americans for Tax Reform | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Colorado Christian University | Lakewood, CO | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Council for National Policy | Washington, DC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| National Center for Justice and Liberty Inc | Chicago, IL | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Family Research Council Inc | Washington, DC | $20,300 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Douglass Leadership Institute Inc | Montgomry Vlg, MD | $17,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Faith and Freedom Coalition Inc | Lawrenceville, GA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Buckeye Institute | Columbus, OH | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
39 of 74 (53%) 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 kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 67 of 74 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 28 | $79.9M | $135,000 |
| 2022 | 39 | $104.0M | $110,000 |
| 2023 | 38 | $101.4M | $115,000 |
| 2024 | 39 | $118.2M | $110,000 |
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
82% 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 $110,000 -- 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 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 The 85 Fund's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2021-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 36 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 3 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: 201 Main Street Ste 1375, Fort Worth, TX, 76102.
EIN 20-2466871 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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