Funding search · EIN 202466871 · Fort Worth, TX

The 85 Fund

Name: The 85 Fund grants, 2022–2024
Creator: PaperOrbit
License: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt-organization-public-disclosure-and-availability-requirements

A grantmaking public charity (files IRS Form 990, Schedule I). Charities like this often run real grant programs with application cycles.

116
grants reported: $323.5M
total given: 2022–2024
filing years: $110,000
median grant

Based on grants this organization reported to the IRS for tax years 2022–2024. This is what they filed, not a complete record of their giving, and recent years may be incomplete because filings lag.

What they fund

only

Full IRS filings ↗How this is built Report an error

Funding pattern

What this funder pays for, at what size, and how to position adjacent work. Read from their filings, with every number checked against the record.

Where the money goes

Pass-through gifts to donor-advised funds, chiefly Donors Trust
Conservative legal advocacy: religious liberty, civil rights, campus speech
Free-market and limited-government policy institutes in DC and Virginia
Health policy research opposing government-run coverage
Religious and social conservative organizations, including Catholic and pro-Israel groups
State-level policy networks and legislative model-bill groups

Typical grant

Median grant is $110,000, with the middle half falling between roughly $44,000 and $400,000. The enormous checks are not program grants at all: $67.9M to $92M a year goes to Donors Trust and $39M went to the Knights of Columbus Charitable Fund, both intermediary funds, so nearly all real programmatic money sits under $2.5M. Repeat giving is the norm at the top of the roster, with Ethics and Public Policy Center at $1.3M three years running and Hawthorn Foundation, Independent Women's Forum, ALEC, and Americans for Limited Government funded every year.

Their words

Phrases from their own grant descriptions, worth speaking back to them.

“General Support”
“501c3 Activities Only”
“Foundation”
“Institute”
“Policy”

Positioning adjacent work

Anchor to a named funded theme: health markets, equal-rights litigation, energy, or campus expression, not general research.
Ask in the $100,000 to $400,000 band; that is where nearly every non-pass-through grant lands.
Request unrestricted general support; almost every grant is coded that way rather than project-restricted.
Work through an existing grantee or Donors Trust rather than seeking a direct first-time relationship.

Worth knowing: This is a directed-giving vehicle, not an open funder: two intermediaries absorbed over 90 percent of the $323M, and the remaining recipients are a tight, repeating circle of conservative policy and legal organizations concentrated in DC and Northern Virginia. Grants appear relationship-driven and network-based, so unaffiliated researchers, including at universities, are nearly absent from the list, with Cornell's $80,000 in 2024 the rare exception.

Top recipients

Repeat recipients are the strongest signal of whether a funder has an open door or quietly re-funds the same organizations.

Donors Trust3 grants · $251.9M
Knights of Columbus Charitable Fund1 grant · $39.0M
Ethics and Public Policy Center3 grants · $3.9M
Federalist Society2 grants · $3.0M
Club for Growth Foundation2 grants · $3.0M
Hawthorn Foundation3 grants · $2.3M
Foundation for Individual Rights in Expression1 grant · $2.1M
Paragon Health Institute2 grants · $2.0M
American Legislative Exchange Counsel3 grants · $1.4M
Independent Womans Forum3 grants · $950,000

Giving over time

$104.0M

2022

$101.4M

2023

$118.2M

2024

Grant history

The 100 largest of 116 grants.

$92.0M
Donors Trust · Alexandria, VA · 2023
General Support
$92.0M
Donors Trust · Alexandria, VA · 2022
General Support
$67.9M
Donors Trust · Alexandria, VA · 2024
General Support
$39.0M
Knights of Columbus Charitable Fund · New Haven, CT · 2024
General Support
$2.3M
Federalist Society · Washington, DC · 2022
General Support
$2.1M
Foundation for Individual Rights in Expression · Philadelphia, PA · 2022
General Support
$1.5M
Club for Growth Foundation · Washington, DC · 2024
General Support
$1.5M
Club for Growth Foundation · Washington, DC · 2023
General Support
$1.3M
Ethics and Public Policy Center · Washington, DC · 2024
General Support
$1.3M
Ethics and Public Policy Center · Washington, DC · 2023
General Support
$1.3M
Ethics and Public Policy Center · Washington, DC · 2022
General Support
$1.1M
Hawthorn Foundation · New York City, NY · 2024
General Support
$1.0M
Paragon Health Institute · Arlington, VA · 2024
General Support
$1.0M
Paragon Health Institute · Arlington, VA · 2022
General Support
$925,000
Fidelis Center for Law and Policy · Madison, WI · 2024
General Support
$760,000
Maine Policy Institute · Portland, ME · 2024
General Support
$750,000
Federalist Society · Washington, DC · 2023
General Support
$640,000
Freedom Foundation · Flower Mound, TX · 2022
General Support
$600,000
Hawthorn Foundation · New York City, NY · 2023
General Support
$600,000
Hawthorn Foundation · New York City, NY · 2022
General Support
$576,031
American Legislative Exchange Counsel · Arlington, VA · 2023
General Support
$515,000
Turning Point USA · Indianapolis, IN · 2023
General Support
$500,000
Triton Research Institute · West Bridgewater, MA · 2024
General Support
$450,000
The Tikvah Fund · New York, NY · 2024
General Support
$450,000
Manhattan Institute for Public Research · New York City, NY · 2022
General Support
$429,881
American Legislative Exchange Counsel · Arlington, VA · 2024
General Support
$425,000
Center for Law and Policy · Washington, DC · 2023
General Support
$400,000
Becket Fund for Religious Rreedom · Washington, DC · 2024
General Support
$400,000
Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy · Pasadena, CA · 2023
General Support
$400,000
Becket Fund for Religious Rreedom · Washington, DC · 2022
General Support
$379,500
American Legislative Exchange Counsel · Arlington, VA · 2022
General Support
$350,000
Center for Individual Rights · Washington, DC · 2024
General Support
$350,000
Independent Womans Forum · Washington, DC · 2023
General Support
$350,000
Independent Womans Forum · Washington, DC · 2022
General Support
$350,000
Vanguard Charitable · Warwick, RI · 2022
General Support
$325,000
Center for Equal Opportunity · Falls Church, VA · 2023
General Support
$310,000
National Review Institute · New York, NY · 2023
General Support
$300,000
National Center for Public Policy · Washington, DC · 2024
General Support
$300,000
Smart Approaches To Marijuana · Alexandria, VA · 2024
General Support
$250,000
Central Fund of Israel · Cedarhurst, NY · 2024
General Support
$250,000
Independent Womans Forum · Washington, DC · 2024
General Support
$250,000
Library of Congress · Washington, DC · 2024
General Support
$250,000
Library of Congress · Washington, DC · 2023
General Support
$250,000
Center for Equal Opportunity · Falls Church, VA · 2022
General Support
$225,000
American Alliance for Equal Rights · Austin, TX · 2023
General Support
$225,000
Health Markets Policy Network · Washington, DC · 2023
General Support
$200,000
Manhattan Institute for Public Research · New York City, NY · 2023
General Support
$200,000
Property and Environment Research Center · Bozeman, MT · 2023
General Support
$200,000
Neuro Kids · Valley Grande, AL · 2022
General Support
$200,000
Property and Environment Research Center · Bozeman, MT · 2022
General Support
$180,000
Eagles' Wings · Clarence, NY · 2024
General Support
$150,000
Health Markets Policy Network · Washington, DC · 2022
General Support
$150,000
The Heritage Foundation · Washington, DC · 2022
General Support
$140,000
Americans for Limited Government · Fairfax, VA · 2023
501c3 Activities Only
$125,000
American Energy Institute · Austin, TX · 2023
General Support
$125,000
Center for Law and Policy · Washington, DC · 2022
General Support
$110,000
Americans for Limited Government · Fairfax, VA · 2024
501c3 Activities Only
$110,000
Georgia Community Foundation · Peachtree Corners, GA · 2024
General Support
$110,000
The Heritage Foundation · Washington, DC · 2024
General Support
$110,000
Americans for Limited Govt Foundation · Fairfax, VA · 2022
General Support
$110,000
National Review Institute · New York, NY · 2022
General Support
$105,000
Tholos Foundation · Washington, DC · 2023
General Support
$100,000
Youth Leadership Foundation · Washington, DC · 2024
General Support
$100,000
Concerned Women for America · Washington, DC · 2023
General Support
$100,000
Co2 Coalition · Arlington, VA · 2022
General Support
$100,000
Juris Link · Phoenix, AZ · 2022
General Support
$80,000
Cornell University · Ithaca, NY · 2024
General Support
$80,000
Cornell University · Ithaca, NY · 2022
General Support
$75,000
National Civic Art Society · Washington, DC · 2024
General Support
$75,000
National Civic Art Society · Washington, DC · 2023
General Support
$75,000
Orrin G Hatch Foundation · Salt Lake City, UT · 2023
General Support
$70,000
Americans for Limited Govt Research Foundation · Fairfax, VA · 2024
General Support
$68,500
Tholos Foundation · Washington, DC · 2022
General Support
$65,000
The Free State Foundation · Potomac, MD · 2023
General Support
$60,000
Americans for Limited Govt Research Foundation · Fairfax, VA · 2023
General Support
$60,000
Conscience Project · McClean, VA · 2023
General Support
$55,000
Energy & Environmental Legal Institute · Washington, DC · 2022
General Support
$50,000
Conscience Project · McClean, VA · 2024
General Support
$50,000
Legal Insurection Foundation · Warwick, RI · 2024
General Support
$50,000
American Accountability Foundation · Washington, DC · 2023
General Support
$50,000
Heritage Action for America · Washington, DC · 2023
501c3 Activities Only
$50,000
Legal Insurection Foundation · Warwick, RI · 2023
General Support
$50,000
Legal Insurection Foundation · Warwick, RI · 2022
General Support
$50,000
National Civic Art Society · Washington, DC · 2022
General Support
$50,000
State Policy Network · Arlington, VA · 2022
General Support
$47,500
Georgia Community Foundation · Peachtree Corners, GA · 2022
General Support
$45,000
Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy · Pasadena, CA · 2024
General Support
$40,000
The Free State Foundation · Potomac, MD · 2024
General Support
$40,000
Tea Party Patriots Foundation · Woodstock, GA · 2023
General Support
$40,000
The Heritage Foundation · Washington, DC · 2023
General Support
$40,000
The Free State Foundation · Potomac, MD · 2022
General Support
$39,338
Witherspoon Institute · Princeton, NJ · 2022
General Support
$32,000
Conscience Project · McClean, VA · 2022
General Support
$25,000
American Accountability Foundation · Washington, DC · 2024
General Support
$25,000
American Juris Link · Phoenix, AZ · 2024
General Support
$25,000
Council for National Policy · Washington, DC · 2024
501c3 Activities Only
$25,000
Elm Institute · New Haven, CT · 2024
General Support
$25,000
Center for American Rights · Chicago, IL · 2023
General Support
$25,000
Elm Institute · New Haven, CT · 2023
General Support
$25,000
American Conservative Union Foundation · Alexandria, VA · 2022
General Support

View all 116 grants →

Who else funds this kind of work

Grants already paid are the record; PaperOrbit reads your paper and finds the funders whose record matches it — then explains why.

Search funders like this one

Source: IRS Form 990, Schedule I, as filed by this organization. These are grants already paid. Grants paid directly to individuals are reported to the IRS only as totals, so they do not appear as named lines here.