The Sunrise Project Inc
Wilmington, DE · EIN 87-2370083. Reported 128 grants totalling $34.4M to 93 organizations across tax years 2022-2024, 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 Sunrise Project Inc, the IRS classifies it under environment rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE C60) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 93 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. 67% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 1 year-to-year transition. 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 $165,000. Half of what it reported fell between $100,000 and $300,000; the smallest was $10,000 and the largest $2,500,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potential Energy Coalition Inc | New York, NY | $2,750,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Democracy Forward Foundation | Washington, DC | $2,350,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Windward Fund | Washington, DC | $1,500,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Sierra Club Foundation | Oakland, CA | $1,480,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Sustainable Markets Foundation | New York, NY | $1,270,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Ceres Inc | Boston, MA | $1,250,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Public Citizen Foundation Inc | Washington, DC | $1,160,000 | 3 | 3 | 2024 |
| Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund | Washington, DC | $1,100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Majority Action | Silver Spring, MD | $1,000,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Georgetown University | Washington, DC | $840,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Ffwd | San Francisco, CA | $825,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis Inc | Valley City, OH | $800,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility | New York, NY | $760,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Stand | San Francisco, CA | $760,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc | New York, NY | $715,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| As You Sow | El Cerrito, CA | $700,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Eden Project USA Inc | New York, NY | $650,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| New York Communities for Change Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $590,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Acce Institute | Los Angeles, CA | $530,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Climate Cabinet Action | San Francisco, CA | $500,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Centerline Liberties Inc | Washington, DC | $450,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| New York University | New York, NY | $450,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| US Sif Foundation Ltd | Washington, DC | $400,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Oil Change International | Washington, DC | $386,500 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Social Good Fund Inc | Richmond, CA | $385,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Training for Change Inc | Philadelphia, PA | $380,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| New York Communities Organizing Fund Inc | Brooklyn, NY | $360,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Mighty Earth Inc | Washington, DC | $350,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Third Act Initiative Inc | Nassau, NY | $330,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Global 2050 Inc | Old Lyme, CT | $320,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| President and Fellows of Harvard College | Cambridge, MA | $305,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Good Nation Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $305,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Climate Finance Action Inc | Boston, MA | $300,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Earthworks | Washington, DC | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Fair Shot Texas | Austin, TX | $300,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Powerpac Foundation | San Francisco, CA | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rainforest Action Network | San Francisco, CA | $300,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Oil & Gas Action Network | Berkeley, CA | $295,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Tides Center | San Francisco, CA | $290,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Peoples Action Institute | Chicago, IL | $280,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Amaericas Future Project | Mesa, AZ | $270,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Center for Media and Democracy Inc | Madison, WI | $250,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Congregations Caring for Creation | Minneapolis, MN | $250,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Evergreen Collaborative | Washington, DC | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Voices for a Sustainable Future Inc | Takoma Park, MD | $250,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| The United Nations Office for Project Services | New York, NY | $236,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Connecticut Citizen Research Group Inc | Hartford, CT | $220,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Calstart Inc | Pasadena, CA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Earth Quaker Action Team | Philadelphia, PA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| For the Long Term | Washington, DC | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| More Perfect Union Foundation | Alexandria, VA | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University | Stanford, CA | $175,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Hack Foundation | W Hollywood, CA | $155,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| 350 Seattle | Seattle, WA | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Carbon Tracker Initiative Inc | Austin, TX | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Climate Group Inc | New York, NY | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Trustees of Columbia University | New York, NY | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Friends of the Earth | Washington, DC | $145,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Fossil Free California | Berkeley, CA | $140,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Ground Game Fund | Manchaca, TX | $126,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated | New York, NY | $125,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Florida Rising Together Inc | Miami, FL | $125,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Virginia New Majority Education Fund | Alexandria, VA | $125,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| 350 Org | Washington, DC | $120,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| A Strong Economy for All Coalition | New York, NY | $110,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Invest Ahead Inc | Ft Washington, PA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Just Capital Foundation Inc | New York, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Neo Philanthropy Inc | New York, NY | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Oxfam-America Inc | Boston, MA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rise Economy | San Francisco, CA | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| The Aspen Institute Inc | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| World Resources Institute | Washington, DC | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Unkitawa | Kent, WA | $85,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Amazon Watch | Oakland, CA | $80,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Capital & Main | Los Angeles, CA | $75,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| 350 Colorado | Boulder, CO | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| American Sustainable Business Institute Inc | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Centerline Action Inc | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Communications Workers of America Afl-Cio Clc | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Empowerment Works Inc | Santa Barbara, CA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Greenfaith | New York, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Institute for Public Affairs | Chicago, IL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Movement Alliance Project | Philadelphia, PA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| New Venture Fund | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rutgers the State University | Piscataway, NJ | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| National Caucus of Environmental Legislators | Washington, DC | $45,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Accelerate Change Inc | Boston, MA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Regents Univ of California | Los Angeles, CA | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Earth Island Institute Inc | Berkeley, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Texas Campaign for the Environment Fund | Austin, TX | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Waterkeeper Alliance Inc | New York, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Ayni Institute Inc | Revere, MA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Virginia Organizing Inc | Charlottesvle, VA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
34 of 93 (37%) received money in more than one year over the 3 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.
- Public Citizen Foundation Inc
TO ADVOCATE FOR SUSTAINABLE INVESTING
What kind of organizations it funds
By each recipient's own IRS classification, for the 81 of 93 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2 | $680,000 | $340,000 |
| 2023 | 51 | $16.4M | $200,000 |
| 2024 | 75 | $17.3M | $150,000 |
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
29% 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
Find more funders like The Sunrise Project Inc
We read newly filed IRS returns and email you the grantmakers whose giving matches your state and cause, as they are published. Free.
No spam, unsubscribe in one click. We never sell or share your address.
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 $165,000 -- 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 The Sunrise Project Inc's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 3 returns (tax years 2022-2024). Nothing here is scraped, inferred or estimated.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 70 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 5 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: 800 N King Street Suite 304 1228, Wilmington, DE, 19801.
EIN 87-2370083 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
Is something here wrong about your organization? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.