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North Fund Schedule I Grant Recipient Analysis

Research Date: 2026-03-12 Data Source: North Fund IRS Form 990 (2023-2024), XML e-files via ProPublica EIN: 83-4011547 Address: 1828 L Street NW, Suite 300-F, Washington, DC 20036 Tax Status: 501(c)(4) — tax-exempt since March 2022

Executive Summary

Analysis of 142 grant recipients across the North Fund's 2023-2024 Schedule I filings found ZERO grants to any child safety, age verification, digital childhood, or tech policy advocacy organization. The fund's $59.2M in grants went overwhelmingly to progressive state-level civic engagement, reproductive rights, and voter mobilization organizations. This extends the Arabella network negative finding to three entities.

Combined Arabella Analysis: Across NVF + STF + North Fund, a total of 3,117 grants totaling approximately $1.56 billion have now been analyzed, with zero dollars going to any organization related to child online safety, age verification, or the App Store Accountability Act.

1. Dataset Overview

Metric 2024 2023 Combined
Grant recipients 70 72 142
Total grants $33,959,221 $25,275,795 $59,235,016
Revenue $45,031,127 $59,700,000 —
Total assets $50,510,009 — —
Filing format XML e-file XML e-file —

2. Target Organization Search — ZERO MATCHES

2.1 Direct Organization Name Search

SEARCHED FOR: Digital Childhood Alliance, Digital Childhood Institute, ConnectSafely, ICMEC, NCMEC, FOSI, Thorn, Common Sense Media, NCOSE, 5Rights Foundation, FairPlay, CDT, NetChoice, Chamber of Progress, TechNet, EFF, Heritage Foundation, Moms for Liberty, Protect Young Eyes, Institute for Family Studies, Meta, Facebook

RESULT: ZERO MATCHES — None of these organizations received North Fund grants in either year.

2.2 Keyword Search

SEARCHED FOR: child, safety, age, digital, online, internet, cyber, tech, protect, app store, social media, verification, minor, youth, parental, family

RESULT: Only false positives:

  • "Engage for Common Sense Solutions" ($300K, 2024) — political advocacy, NOT Common Sense Media
  • "Rewiring America" ($2.4M, 2024) — clean energy tech, NOT tech policy
  • "Coloradans for Protecting Reproductive Freedom" ($200K, 2024) — reproductive rights
  • "Oregon Alliance for Gun Safety" ($26K, 2023) — gun safety, not child online safety

No grants to any organization whose name or purpose suggests child online safety, age verification, or tech policy advocacy.

3. Internal Arabella Network Transfers

2024

From To Amount Purpose
North Fund Sixteen Thirty Fund $5,291,332 Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy
North Fund Windward Fund $250,000 Technology and Innovation
North Fund Hopewell Fund $150,000 Health
Total internal — $5,691,332 —

2023

From To Amount Purpose
North Fund Sixteen Thirty Fund $5,425,000 Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy
North Fund Hopewell Fund $11,565 —
Total internal — $5,436,565 —

Key finding: The North Fund sends ~$5.3-5.4M annually back to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, creating a circular flow within the Arabella network: NVF → STF → North Fund → STF. This bidirectional flow further confirms the network operates as a unified financial entity.

Updated Complete Arabella Transfer Map (2024)

NVF ──$121.3M──→ STF ──$6.8M──→ North Fund ──$5.3M──→ STF (circular)
NVF ──$8.8M────→ Hopewell
NVF ──$20.9M───→ North Fund
                                  North Fund ──$250K──→ Windward
STF ──$162K────→ NVF (reverse)    North Fund ──$150K──→ Hopewell
STF ──$1.4M────→ Hopewell
STF ──$6.8M────→ North Fund

4. Largest Grant Recipients (2024)

Rank Recipient Amount Type Purpose
1 Your Community PAC $5,700,000 527 Civic engagement
2 Sixteen Thirty Fund (Arabella) $5,291,332 501(c)(4) Internal transfer
3 Rewiring America Inc $2,400,000 501(c)(3) Clean energy tech
4 Global Impact Social Welfare Fund $1,671,484 501(c)(4) Civic advocacy
5 Advance American Democracy Inc $1,250,000 501(c)(4) Civic advocacy
6 Michigan Civic Action Fund $1,250,000 501(c)(4) State organizing
7 Run for Something Action Fund $1,250,000 501(c)(4) Candidate development
8 Make North Carolina First $1,245,000 501(c)(4) State organizing
9 Western Organization Resource Council $995,000 501(c)(4) Rural organizing
10 Ohio Progressive Collaborative $750,000 501(c)(4) State organizing

Top 10 total: $21.8M (64% of all grants)

5. Grant Portfolio Characterization

By Purpose (2024)

Category Amount %
Civil Rights, Social Action, Advocacy $31,101,721 91.6%
Technology and Innovation $2,657,500 7.8%
Health $200,000 0.6%

By IRC Section (2024)

Type Amount Count
501(c)(4) $24,259,221 ~57
Section 527 (PACs) $6,900,000 ~4
501(c)(3) $2,800,000 ~3

The North Fund grants almost exclusively to other 501(c)(4)s — political advocacy organizations that also have no donor disclosure requirements. This creates a chain of opacity: donors give to NVF (c)(3) → NVF transfers to STF (c)(4) → STF transfers to North Fund (c)(4) → North Fund grants to state (c)(4) organizations. At each step, donor identity is further obscured.

By State (2024, top 10)

State Amount Notable Recipients
DC $13,558,721 STF ($5.3M), Rewiring America ($2.4M), national orgs
DE $6,950,000 Your Community PAC ($5.7M), Advance American Democracy ($1.25M)
OH $2,213,500 Ohio Progressive Collaborative, Innovation Ohio, Red Wine & Blue
MT $1,995,000 Western Organization Resource Council, Forward Montana
NC $1,581,000 Make NC First ($1.245M), Progress NC Action
CA $1,450,000 New Left Accelerator, Emerge America
MI $1,375,000 Michigan Civic Action Fund ($1.25M)
GA $900,000 Georgia Investor Action Fund, Planned Parenthood SE
NM $550,000 Better Future for NM, Center for Civic Action, others
MA $536,000 Accelerate Action Inc

6. Leadership

Name Role Compensation
Jim Gerstein President and Chair —
Jessica Floyd Project Director $102,331
Susan Hill General Counsel $9,041
Melanie Beller Secretary —
Matthew Slutsky Treasurer (as of Oct 2024) —

7. Conclusions

What This Establishes

  1. North Fund does NOT fund any child safety, age verification, or tech policy organization via Schedule I grants
  2. Combined NVF + STF + North Fund: 3,117 grants totaling ~$1.56 billion with ZERO child safety funding
  3. Circular Arabella flow confirmed: North Fund returns ~$5.3M annually to STF, creating NVF → STF → North Fund → STF circular transfer
  4. The Arabella "Technology and Innovation" category ($2.66M from North Fund) goes to clean energy (Rewiring America $2.4M), conservation (LCV $7.5K), and Windward Fund ($250K) — NOT tech policy or digital safety
  5. Chain of opacity: North Fund grants primarily to other 501(c)(4)s, extending the donor-concealment chain

What Remains Unknown

  1. Windward Fund Schedule I ($311M revenue) — not yet analyzed
  2. Hopewell Fund Schedule I ($114M grants) — not yet analyzed
  3. Whether any Arabella entity operates DCA as a fiscal sponsorship (would not appear on any Schedule I)
  4. Whether NVF's $36.7M in lobbying expenditures (Part IX) fund child safety advocacy

Ruling Out the Schedule I Pathway

With three of five Arabella entities now analyzed:

Entity Type Grants Analyzed Child Safety Status
New Venture Fund 501(c)(3) 2,669 (~$1.28B) $0 Ruled out
Sixteen Thirty Fund 501(c)(4) 306 (~$208M) $0 Ruled out
North Fund 501(c)(4) 142 (~$59M) $0 Ruled out
Windward Fund 501(c)(3) — — Pending
Hopewell Fund 501(c)(3) — — Pending
Total analyzed — 3,117 (~$1.56B) $0 —

Sources