Granted Research
The charities that receive the most federal grant money
Data: federal grant obligations to 501(c)(3) recipients, fiscal year from action date (federal awards). Last verified July 2026.
Universities and hospitals take the lion’s share of the federal grant money that goes to nonprofits. Strip them out, and you are left with the “traditional charities” — relief agencies, shelters, conservation groups. Nobody publishes who those biggest recipients are, so we did. The answer is not what most people would guess: in fiscal year 2025 the largest were rural electric cooperatives and research institutes. The biggest recognizable charity, Southwest Key Programs, ranked fourth — on $515.4M to run federal shelters for unaccompanied migrant children, according to Granted’s federal awards database.
$42.50B
To all charities, FY2025
ex-universities & hospitals
17,014
Charities funded
received a direct FY2025 grant
$515.4M
Biggest one, #4
Southwest Key (migrant shelters)
47.2%
To the charity 1%
top 171 recipients
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<iframe src="https://grantedai.com/research/top-charity-recipients-of-federal-grants/embed" width="100%" height="520" style="border:1px solid #e5e7eb;border-radius:12px" title="The biggest traditional charities on the federal ledger, FY2025 — Granted AI" loading="lazy"></iframe>The 20 biggest “traditional charities,” FY2025
501(c)(3) recipients ranked by net federal grant obligations, after removing universities and hospitals. We keep rural electric co-ops, research institutes, U.S.-funded broadcasters and green banks — but flag them, because most readers would not call them charities. The flag column shows what each organization actually is; rows with no flag are conventional charities.
| # | Recipient & what the money is | State | FY25 grants |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | National Center for Manufacturing SciencesResearch instituteCommercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities Program | MI | $896.7M |
| 2 | Great River EnergyRural electric co-opNew Empowering Rural America (New Era) Program | MN | $794.4M |
| 3 | Basin Electric Power CooperativeRural electric co-opNew Empowering Rural America (New Era) Program | ND | $597.0M |
| 4 | Southwest Key ProgramsUnaccompanied Children Program | TX | $515.4M |
| 5 | East Kentucky Power CooperativeRural electric co-opNew Empowering Rural America (New Era) Program | KY | $494.5M |
| 6 | Compass ConnectionsRefugee and Entrant Assistance State/Replacement Designee Administered Programs | TX | $461.3M |
| 7 | Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military MedicineResearch instituteUniformed Services University Medical Research Projects | MD | $451.8M |
| 8 | Central Electric Power Cooperative (SC)Rural electric co-opNew Empowering Rural America (New Era) Program | SC | $442.2M |
| 9 | Arizona Electric Power CooperativeRural electric co-opNew Empowering Rural America (New Era) Program | AZ | $431.4M |
| 10 | National Fish and Wildlife FoundationOffice for Coastal Management | DC | $378.8M |
| 11 | Seminole Electric CooperativeRural electric co-opNew Empowering Rural America (New Era) Program | FL | $332.3M |
| 12 | National Endowment for DemocracyInternational Programs to Support Democracy, Human Rights and Labor | DC | $315.0M |
| 13 | Vibrant Emotional Health (Mental Health Assn. of NYC)Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance | NY | $282.5M |
| 14 | Research Triangle Institute (RTI)Research instituteEnvironmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program (EJ TCGM) | NC | $268.1M |
| 15 | U.S. Committee for Refugees and ImmigrantsRefugee and Entrant Assistance State/Replacement Designee Administered Programs | VA | $263.6M |
| 16 | Minnkota Power CooperativeRural electric co-opNew Empowering Rural America (New Era) Program | ND | $259.6M |
| 17 | GTI Energy (Institute of Gas Technology)Research instituteFossil Energy Research and Development | IL | $249.1M |
| 18 | Lutheran Immigration and Refugee ServiceRefugee and Entrant Assistance State/Replacement Designee Administered Programs | MD | $227.9M |
| 19 | Catholic Charities Fort WorthRefugee and Entrant Assistance State/Replacement Designee Administered Programs | TX | $223.2M |
| 20 | San Miguel Electric CooperativeRural electric co-opNew Empowering Rural America (New Era) Program | TX | $190.3M |
Net obligations, fiscal year from action date. Highlighted rows are conventional charities; the rest are flagged for what they are. Hospitals, university-affiliated research entities and government/aggregation records are excluded and itemized below.
Once you set universities and hospitals aside, the biggest charity recipients of federal money look less like the United Way and more like the power grid: rural electric co-ops modernizing rural America, and research institutes doing defense and medical R&D. The largest conventional charity, Southwest Key, is paid to shelter migrant children.
The year the green banks topped the list — FY2024
FY2024 looks completely different, and it is worth seeing why. In that year the EPA obligated the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund — a one-time climate program of roughly $27B in FY2024, of which $22.28B went to nonprofit “green banks” and community lenders in enormous lumps (the rest went mostly to state agencies). They swamp the raw FY2024 charity ranking. Strip that one program out (right) and the green banks vanish entirely, leaving the same kind of list FY2025 shows: shelters, co-ops, relief agencies, research institutes.
FY2024 — as reported
| 1 | Climate United FundGreen bank (GGRF) | $6.97B |
| 2 | Coalition for Green CapitalGreen bank (GGRF) | $5.12B |
| 3 | Opportunity Finance NetworkGreen bank (GGRF) | $2.29B |
| 4 | Power Forward CommunitiesGreen bank (GGRF) | $2.00B |
| 5 | InclusivGreen bank (GGRF) | $1.87B |
| 6 | Southwest Key Programs | $945.9M |
| 7 | Justice Climate Fund, Inc.Green bank (GGRF) | $940.0M |
| 8 | Hoosier Energy Rural Electric CooperativeRural electric co-op | $676.8M |
| 9 | Wolverine Power Supply CooperativeRural electric co-op | $651.6M |
| 10 | Catholic Relief Services | $640.0M |
FY2024 — minus the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
| 1 | Southwest Key Programs | $945.9M |
| 2 | Hoosier Energy Rural Electric CooperativeRural electric co-op | $676.8M |
| 3 | Wolverine Power Supply CooperativeRural electric co-op | $651.6M |
| 4 | Catholic Relief Services | $640.0M |
| 5 | Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military MedicineResearch institute | $618.9M |
| 6 | National Center for Manufacturing SciencesResearch institute | $591.7M |
| 7 | National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | $531.4M |
| 8 | Compass Connections | $483.4M |
| 9 | Dairyland Power CooperativeRural electric co-op | $471.0M |
| 10 | International Rescue Committee | $387.2M |
Left: raw FY2024 net obligations. Right: the same ranking with the three Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund programs (CFDA 66.957/66.959/66.960) removed. The charity slice was $71.96B in FY2024, of which $22.28B was the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.
The biggest recipients of the decade (FY2017–FY2025)
Summed across nine fiscal years, the ranking rewards organizations that receive large federal grants year after year. Two green banks still top it on the strength of their one-time 2024 awards (flagged); behind them sit the military-medicine and defense-manufacturing research institutes, the big international relief agencies, and the migrant-shelter operators.
| # | Recipient & what the money is | State | FY17–25 grants |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Climate United FundGreen bank (GGRF)Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: National Clean Investment Fund | MD | $6.97B |
| 2 | Coalition for Green CapitalGreen bank (GGRF)Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: National Clean Investment Fund | DC | $5.12B |
| 3 | Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military MedicineResearch instituteUniformed Services University Medical Research Projects | MD | $3.93B |
| 4 | National Center for Manufacturing SciencesResearch instituteCommercial Technologies for Maintenance Activities Program | MI | $3.22B |
| 5 | Catholic Relief ServicesUSAID Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas | MD | $3.15B |
| 6 | FHI 360 (Family Health International)USAID Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas | NC | $2.69B |
| 7 | Southwest Key ProgramsUnaccompanied Alien Children Program | TX | $2.51B |
| 8 | National Fish and Wildlife FoundationOffice for Coastal Management | DC | $2.45B |
| 9 | National Endowment for DemocracyInternational Programs to Support Democracy, Human Rights and Labor | DC | $2.37B |
| 10 | Opportunity Finance NetworkGreen bank (GGRF)Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: Clean Communities Investment Accelerator | PA | $2.30B |
| 11 | BCFS Health and Human ServicesUnaccompanied Alien Children Program | TX | $2.24B |
| 12 | International Rescue CommitteeUSAID Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas | NY | $2.12B |
| 13 | Power Forward CommunitiesGreen bank (GGRF)Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund: National Clean Investment Fund | MD | $2.00B |
| 14 | Research Triangle Institute (RTI)Research instituteUSAID Foreign Assistance for Programs Overseas | NC | $1.97B |
The charity 1%
Zoom out from the traditional-charities list to all 501(c)(3) recipients — the full slice, before universities and hospitals are set aside — and federal grant money to charities is about as concentrated as it is for grantees overall. 17,014 nonprofits received FY2025 federal grant obligations. The largest 1% — 171 organizations — captured 47.2% of the dollars; the top 10 took 13.4% and the single largest, National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, 2.1%. The Gini coefficient of the distribution is 0.89 (1.0 = one recipient takes everything).
17,014
501(c)(3)s funded, FY2025
171
The top 1%
47.2%
Their share of the dollars
0.89
Gini coefficient
Primary basis: all 17,014 FY2025 charity-slice recipients (the full 501(c)(3) slice, including those whose net obligation nets to zero or below after de-obligations), ranked by net; cumulative shares are net dollars over the $42.50B slice total, and the Gini is computed over net clamped at zero. These figures match the concentration line on our companion federal grants to charities study exactly. Secondary basis, for comparison: restricting to the 12,932 recipients with a positive net obligation — the positive-only convention used by our earlier federal grant concentration study — gives a Gini of 0.86. The median recipient’s net was $176,534.
What we excluded, and why
A “biggest charities” list is only as honest as the things it leaves out. These organizations out-rank most of the charities above but are not traditional charities, so they are excluded from the headline tables. They are shown here in full. The largest by far, across the decade, is not an organization at all: “Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees,” a USAspending bucket that aggregates redacted foreign recipients.
Excluded from the FY2025 top ranks
| Rank | Organization | St | FY25 | Why excluded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | The General Hospital Corporation | MA | $621.5M | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 11 | Brigham & Womens Hospital Inc | MA | $395.8M | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 12 | Vanderbilt University Medical Center | TN | $385.5M | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 15 | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center | WA | $328.0M | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 20 | Mayo Clinic | MN | $262.9M | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 23 | Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research | NY | $243.5M | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 24 | Children's Hospital Corporation, The | MA | $237.6M | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 27 | Los Angeles County Office Of Education | CA | $201.6M | Government entity (functionally government money) |
| 29 | The Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia | PA | $183.3M | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 30 | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc. | MA | $172.9M | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 32 | Childrens Hospital Medical Center | OH | $168.1M | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 33 | Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees | FL | $164.8M | USAspending aggregation bucket, not one org |
| 37 | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc. | MA | $135.8M | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 40 | Cedars-Sinai Medical Center | CA | $128.7M | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
Excluded from the FY2017–25 top ranks
| Rank | Organization | St | FY17–25 | Why excluded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees | PA | $6.68B | USAspending aggregation bucket, not one org |
| 4 | The General Hospital Corporation | MA | $4.76B | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 8 | Brigham & Womens Hospital Inc | MA | $3.11B | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 10 | Vanderbilt University Medical Center | TN | $2.64B | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 15 | United Nations World Food Programme | DC | $2.25B | Intergovernmental / UN body |
| 18 | Mayo Clinic | MN | $2.05B | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 21 | Children's Hospital Corporation, The | MA | $1.95B | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 24 | Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research | NY | $1.80B | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 25 | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center | WA | $1.70B | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 29 | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Inc. | MA | $1.50B | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 30 | Childrens Hospital Medical Center | OH | $1.40B | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 31 | The Children's Hospital Of Philadelphia | PA | $1.39B | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 33 | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center | WA | $1.30B | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
| 36 | Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc. | MA | $1.11B | Hospital / health system (patient care) |
A data-quality note. One record that would otherwise land near this list, “VSDB Foundation” ($103.5M in FY2025), is a misattribution. Its awards are Virginia’s state-administered USDA SNAP, WIC and child-nutrition grants — money that runs through the state’s benefits agencies. The real VSDB Foundation is a small charity supporting the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind and cannot administer statewide nutrition programs, so we treat the record as government money and exclude it. It is the kind of attribution error a national ranking has to catch.
What the numbers show
The single most surprising thing about the biggest charity recipients of federal money is how few of them are what most people picture as a charity. The FY2025 leader, National Center for Manufacturing Sciences, is a defense-manufacturing research consortium; second and third are rural electric cooperatives modernizing the grid with a new USDA clean- energy program. Those co-ops are member-owned nonprofits, which is why they carry a 501(c)(3) marker in the federal data — but calling them charities would mislead, so we flag them.
Among conventional charities, the pattern is stark and consistent across every year: the money follows federal responsibilities the government contracts out. The biggest is refugee resettlement and the care of unaccompanied migrant children — Southwest Key, Compass Connections, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, Catholic Charities. Then international relief and development — Catholic Relief Services, the International Rescue Committee, Save the Children, FHI 360. Then conservation (the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation), the 988 crisis line (Vibrant Emotional Health), and democracy programs (the National Endowment for Democracy). These are charities acting as federal contractors, not grantees pursuing their own agendas.
That is also why the list swings so hard year to year. A single new program — the $22.28B Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund in FY2024 — can put five green banks at the top one year and none the next. Read any single-year charity ranking as a snapshot of federal priorities that year, not a fixed hierarchy of the nation’s largest nonprofits.
And the money is concentrated. Roughly 17,014 nonprofits received a federal grant obligation in FY2025, but the largest 171 of them — the top 1% — took 47.2% of the dollars. For a nonprofit that is not already one of those federal contractors, the realistic pool is the long tail: the median recipient’s net was $176,534. The full methodology, including every judgment call and exclusion, is below.
Methodology & sources
- Data source
- Federal financial-assistance awards from USAspending.gov, as mirrored in Granted’s federal awards database. Dollars are net obligations (new obligations minus downward adjustments). Fiscal year is derived from each transaction’s
action_date(Oct 1 – Sep 30), not the recorded fiscal-year label, which mis-files Oct 1 transactions into the prior year. - The “charity slice”
- We keep recipients whose USAspending business-type labels include nonprofit with 501(c)(3) status and exclude any that are also labeled an institution of higher education or a government. This is the same classifier used across our companion studies on federal grants to charities so the three pages agree on what a charity is.
- Removing hospitals and universities
- Patient-care providers are removed by a name regular expression (matching hospital, medical center, health system, clinic, cancer center and similar, at word boundaries) unioned with a hand-tag list; university research foundations and affiliates are removed by hand-tag. We deliberately do not match bare words like “health” or “medical,” which would wrongly drop service charities such as Vibrant Emotional Health or International Medical Corps.
- Flags, not deletions
- Some 501(c)(3)s are not what a reader means by “charity.” We keep them in the ranking but flag them: rural electric co-ops (USDA New ERA clean-energy awards), research institutes (defense and biomedical R&D implementers), U.S.-funded broadcasters (Radio Free Asia/Europe), and green banks (Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund awardees). Every organization in our top-100 lists is hand-classified into one taxonomy — charity, hospital, university-affiliated, electric co-op, green bank, research institute, media broadcaster, government entity, international org, or aggregation artifact.
- Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund
- The GGRF (CFDA 66.957, 66.959, 66.960) was a one-time program that obligated roughly $27B in FY2024 across all recipient types; $22.28B of it went to 501(c)(3) green banks and community lenders (most of the rest went to state agencies). Because it distorts any FY2024 or multi-year ranking, we show FY2024 both as reported and with the GGRF removed, and label the affected recipients.
- Recipient identity
- Recipients are grouped by their SAM.gov Unique Entity ID where present, else a normalized name — the same key as our concentration study. Distinct legal entities with separate IDs (for example, two affiliates of one national charity) appear as separate rows.
- Concentration math
- The “charity 1%” is measured over the full FY2025 501(c)(3) slice — all 17,014 recipients, ranked by net obligations. Cumulative shares are net dollars over the $42.50B slice total; the Gini is computed over net clamped at zero so that net de-obligations (a handful of recipients) do not break the coefficient. Over positive obligations only the Gini is 0.86 rather than 0.89. These figures reconcile to our companion federal-grants-to-charities study.
- Reconciliation & scope
- Prime awards only; pass-through subawards are not counted. FY2015–FY2016 are excluded (our ingest is ~36% incomplete for those years). As a whole-dataset check, our action-date totals for all recipients are within 0.23% of USAspending’s official FY2025 figure and 1.62% for FY2024. Figures are as of the 2026-07-08 data ingest.
- Reproducibility
- Every number here is generated by a committed analysis script (
scripts/research-studies/top-charity-recipients-of-federal-grants/analyze.py), with the full top-100-per-view ranking in the downloadable CSV. See our data methodology for how Granted sources this data.
Related research
Federal grants to charities
The big picture: how much of federal grant money reaches 501(c)(3)s.
What happened in FY2025
Grants to non-hospital charities fell 16.5% ex-GGRF, and 41% after the transition.
Charity grants by year
The decade-long trend, FY2017–FY2025.
How concentrated is federal grant money?
The top 100 of 54,950 recipients captured 70%.
Free to cite and republish with attribution to Granted AI (grantedai.com/research/top-charity-recipients-of-federal-grants) under CC BY 4.0. Questions or corrections: nathan@grantedai.com.