The Democracy Funders Network (DFN) is a community for donors who want to learn together, build and strengthen relationships, and ultimately identify opportunities for coordination and collaboration. We convene and connect funders, curate programs, develop informational materials, and advise donors on their democracy investments. DFN serves new and existing funders in the democracy field.



operating principles

DFN’s work is guided by four key operating principles:

  • We provide learning and engagement opportunities for individual philanthropists and donor advisors (not just institutional foundation professionals) who are motivated to support democracy work.

  • We are cross-ideological, helping to disrupt hyperpolarization and to maintain a cross-ideological commitment to fundamental democratic norms, values, and institutions.

  • We elevate authentic relationship building as a key component of effective long-term field building.

  • We are partnership-oriented and aim to animate, rather than divert attention from, aligned and effective donor networks.

 

The Democracy Innovation Project:

We live in complex, uncertain, and rapidly changing times. Democracy in the United States is being buffeted and challenged by this disruptive context. Yet disruption poses opportunities as well as challenges, and American civil society has begun to understand the insufficiency of a mainly defensive strategy when it comes to democracy.

How can we build momentum to develop an aspiring affirmative vision of what American democracy's next chapter could be, and then how can we coalesce a broad constituency to bring those better futures into being?

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Interested in learning how to invest your resources in American democracy?