NEO Philanthropy

What NEO Philanthropy does

NEO Philanthropy is a 501(c)(3) public charity founded in 1983 (originally as Public Interest Projects) and headquartered in New York City, operating as a philanthropic intermediary between institutional funders, individual donors, and grassroots social-justice organizations. Its service model rests on three core offerings: Collaborative Funds, which pool donor capital around shared cause areas; Fiscal Sponsorship, which provides compliant 501(c)(3) operational infrastructure (HR, finance, legal, contracts, payments) to nonprofit projects that lack their own corporate status; and Strategic Partnership Programs, which deliver bespoke advising and program design for funder-led initiatives. As of reporting, the organization hosts 70+ fiscally sponsored projects, runs multi-stakeholder funds including the State Infrastructure Fund (civic engagement and voting rights, $230M+ raised since 2010), the Four Freedoms Fund (immigrant justice, $253M over 20 years), the Economic Mobility and Opportunity Fund (Gates Foundation, $8.6M in 2023), the Postsecondary Success Impact Fund (Gates Foundation, $4.3M in 2026), and the launching Youth Engagement Fund. Operational delivery is supported by a web-based portal where project partners submit contracts, payments, and access resource hubs and centralized policy information; participatory grantmaking committees with grantee representation drive fund-level decisions. Revenue grew from $38M (2016) to $107M (2019) under President Michele Lord, who announced a 2026 retirement, with current operations reflecting 11–50 staff, US-only geographic scope (with multi-state priority regions for SIF), and a donor base that excludes government sources.

Name

NEO Philanthropy

Legal name

NEO Philanthropy, Inc.

Website

https://neophilanthropy.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NEO Philanthropy is a New York-based 501(c)(3) public charity founded in 1983 that serves as a philanthropic intermediary, operating Collaborative Funds, Fiscal Sponsorship, and Strategic Partnership Programs that connect institutional funders with 70+ grassroots social-justice nonprofits in immigration, voting rights, economic mobility, and higher education.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Intermediary Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN), Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

Keywords

• Fiscal sponsorship services
• Collaborative grantmaking
• Philanthropic intermediary
• Donor-advised funds
• Nonprofit infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donor Contributions and Grants: NEO Philanthropy is funded by individual and institutional donors. The organization does not receive funding from government sources or grants. Revenue is generated through donor contributions to collaborative funds and fiscal sponsorship administrative cost allocations (fixed percentage from incoming funds).
2. Fiscal Sponsorship Administrative Fees: Administrative cost allocation rate is a fixed percentage reviewed annually and determined by infrastructure needs of each project. Fees are allocated from all incoming funds at point of receipt.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

NEO Philanthropy is a philanthropic intermediary that offers three core services: Collaborative Funds that pool donor resources around shared social justice goals, Fiscal Sponsorship that provides operational infrastructure (HR, finance, legal, 501(c)(3) compliance) to 70+ nonprofit projects, and Strategic Partnership Programs that deliver tailored advising and program design for funder initiatives. The organization also houses named funds focused on civic engagement/voting rights (State Infrastructure Fund), immigrant rights (Four Freedoms Fund), economic mobility (EMO Fund), postsecondary success, and youth engagement.

Product overview

NEO Philanthropy is a nonprofit philanthropic intermediary offering three core services: Collaborative Funds (pooling donor resources around shared social justice goals), Fiscal Sponsorship (providing operational infrastructure for nonprofit projects), and Strategic Partnership Programs (tailored advising for funder initiatives). The organization manages specific funds including the State Infrastructure Fund (civic engagement and voting rights), Four Freedoms Fund (immigrant rights), Economic Mobility and Opportunity Fund, and Postsecondary Success Impact Fund. Founded in 1983, NEO connects funders with grassroots organizations to support social justice movements in immigration, democracy, reproductive justice, racial justice, climate justice, and LGBTQ rights.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Four Freedoms Fund: A collaborative fund created in 2003 to support immigrant rights by investing at a local level in immigrant-led organizations. Since its inception 20 years ago, it has raised and regranted $253 million to strengthen the immigrant justice movement.
• State Infrastructure Fund (SIF)
• Economic Mobility & Opportunity Fund (EMO Fund)
• Postsecondary Success Impact Fund

Products and services

• Collaborative Funds Pooled donor funds that unite philanthropists around shared goals to multiply long-term impact in social justice causes. NEO Philanthropy connects like-minded donors to support efforts they could not effectively fund alone.
• Fiscal Sponsorship

Quantifiable outcome

• State Infrastructure Fund has raised $230+ million and supported 120+ state-based and national groups
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Four Freedoms FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFour Freedoms Fund is a collaborative fund hosted by NEO Philanthropy focused on advancing immigrant rights. Since its inception 20 years ago, it has raised and regranted $253 million to strengthen the immigrant justice movement.
• State Infrastructure FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerState Infrastructure Fund (SIF) is a collaborative fund housed at NEO Philanthropy focused on building civic engagement and voting rights infrastructure. Since 2010, SIF has raised $230+ million supporting 120+ state-based and national nonpartisan groups.
• Borealis PhilanthropyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBorealis Philanthropy is referenced as a partner organization in the movement philanthropy space. NEO's Chief Program Officer Margarita Rubalcava was the founder and president of Borealis Philanthropy.
• Philanthropy New YorkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPhilanthropy New York is a partner organization that has featured NEO leadership in articles and hosted events on collaborative funding and intermediary work.
• Black-Led Movement FundminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerReferenced as an example collaborative fund in the philanthropic sector, managed by Borealis Philanthropy, demonstrating collaborative funding models.
• Youth and Families ForwardminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerReferenced as a collaborative focused on youth and families, with NEO leadership involved in advisory capacity through strategic partnership programs.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Schwab Charitable: Schwab Charitable is one of the largest national donor-advised fund sponsors, competing for individual and institutional philanthropic dollars with a much larger, more retail-oriented scale than NEO.
• Open Society Foundations: Open Society is a major institutional funder and infrastructure provider in social justice and democracy, overlapping with NEO's mission and grantee areas at much larger scale; NEO's SIF VP previously led its Democracy team.
• Arabella Advisors: Arabella is a larger, broader philanthropic advisory and fund-management firm supporting donors and nonprofits across issue areas, overlapping with NEO's Strategic Partnership Programs as a more comprehensive, multi-service incumbent in the intermediary space.
• ImpactAssets: ImpactAssets is a nonprofit financial services firm offering donor-advised funds and impact investing across philanthropic causes, adjacent to NEO's pooled-fund and fiscal sponsorship offerings with a broader focus on deployable capital.

Direct peers

• Tides Foundation: Tides Foundation is one of the largest fiscal sponsors and collaborative fund hosts in the United States, offering the same three services NEO provides—fiscal sponsorship, donor-advised and collaborative funds, and strategic philanthropic partnerships—making it the closest operational comparable.
• Amalgamated Foundation: Amalgamated Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity offering fiscal sponsorship and donor-advised fund services for progressive donors and projects, comparable in mission orientation and service mix to NEO.
• Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors: RPA is a philanthropic services organization providing donor-advised funds, collaborative fund management, and strategic advisory—an institutional-scale analog to NEO's three core services serving individual and institutional funders.
• Borealis Philanthropy: Borealis is a people-of-color-led philanthropic intermediary running $30M/year in collaborative funds for social justice movements. Its operating model overlaps almost exactly with NEO's collaborative-fund program and is led by a former NEO chief program officer.
• New Venture Fund: New Venture Fund is a major 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor that incubates and hosts donor-backed projects across progressive issue areas, directly competing with NEO's Project Partnerships program for funder-sponsored projects.

Regional players

• Foundation for the Carolinas: Foundation for the Carolinas operates as a community foundation with donor-advised and collaborative funds across the U.S. Southeast—the same regional focus as SIF—offering a regional comparison point for NEO's collaborative-fund approach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/neodifference
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCexample
• Facebookfacebook.com/neophilanthropy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/neophilanthropy

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about NEO Philanthropy