Foundations Sound Alarm as 2026 Election Protection Funding Lags Behind
March 30, 2026 · 2 min read
Claire Cummings
Major foundations are mobilizing hundreds of millions of dollars for 2026 midterm election protection—but grassroots organizers warn the money isn't arriving fast enough.
The MacArthur Foundation's $100 million democracy commitment and the Movement Voter Fund's $12 million pledge for battleground states have anchored this cycle's giving. Yet first-quarter funding has reached only 40 percent of minimum targets, according to Inside Philanthropy.
Money Moving Slower Than Ever
Billy Wimsatt, who leads the Movement Voter Project, said funding is moving "slower than I have ever seen in an even-numbered year." The Movement Voter Fund is directing its $12 million toward staff hiring, volunteer recruitment, and voter-education programs in Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Georgia—but organizations in those states need resources now to build capacity before November.
Meanwhile, the Ford Foundation's Heather Gerken pledged to "do everything we can to protect the ability of election administrators to carry out free and fair elections," and the David Rockefeller Fund is pushing for nimble family-foundation responses to democratic threats.
From Crisis Response to Civic Infrastructure
The philanthropic approach to elections is evolving. Rather than treating each cycle as an emergency requiring last-minute grants, foundations are beginning to fund year-round civic infrastructure.
Tory Gavito of Way to Win captured the shift: "What Texas showed us is that voter suppression today looks less like a single dramatic policy and more like a thousand tiny, administrative paper cuts." That framing is driving funders toward sustained support for election administrators, legal-defense organizations, and rural democracy initiatives—investments that pay dividends across multiple cycles rather than expiring in November.
What Grant Seekers Should Do Now
Organizations focused on voter protection, election administration, or civic engagement should approach funders immediately rather than waiting for fall. MacArthur plans an open call for additional grants later this year. Nonprofits can track both federal and philanthropic election-related funding on grantedai.com.
For strategies on securing election-protection funding, visit the Granted blog.