What is the total budget of Indivisible and how is it funded?
Executive summary
Indivisible’s operating budget, as reported for 2023, combines two affiliated arms — Indivisible Project (a 501(c)) and Indivisible Civics (a 501(c) charitable affiliate — which together raised roughly $11.4 million in that year: approximately $6.5 million for Indivisible Project and $4.9 million for Indivisible Civics [1]. The organization says it is funded through a mix of small-dollar grassroots donations, grants, and philanthropic partners, guided by a diversification policy that limits any single source to 20% of annual revenues [2] [1].
1. How big is “Indivisible” on paper? The headline number
Taken together, Indivisible’s two main entities reported total fundraising of about $11.4 million in 2023 — $6.5 million for the political-action capable Indivisible Project and $4.9 million for the charitable Indivisible Civics arm [1]. That combined figure functions as the most direct, contemporaneous proxy for the movement’s budget in the available reporting; public summaries provided by the group itself present fundraising totals rather than a single consolidated “budget” line [1].
2. Where the money comes from: declared philosophy versus observed patterns
Indivisible publicly states a fundraising philosophy that emphasizes small-dollar grassroots donations as the single largest funding source, diversification across revenue streams, rejection of donations that restrict strategic independence, and a policy not to accept more than 20% of the annual budget from any one source [2]. Those are its stated guardrails; operational reality includes both grassroots fundraising tools and formal grantmaking and partnerships — including a charitable affiliate that accepts tax-deductible gifts (Indivisible Civics) and grant programs that support local chapters [3] [4] [1].
3. Philanthropy and major donors: credible reporting and critiques
Investigative reporting and third-party trackers have linked Indivisible’s growth to large, left-of-center philanthropic support during its early years, naming donors such as Reid Hoffman and foundations associated with Democracy Alliance donors — reporting summarized by InfluenceWatch and earlier press coverage [5]. Indivisible’s own materials acknowledge foundation partnerships (for example, the Tides Foundation has been a funding partner for Indivisible’s charitable arm) even as the organization frames those relationships as part of a diversified funding mix [5] [2].
4. Political spending and PAC activity: separate but related channels
Beyond the two nonprofit arms, Indivisible-affiliated political entities such as PACs have recorded contributions and expenditures relevant to campaign cycles; OpenSecrets shows the Indivisible Project’s reported contributions in the 2024 cycle at about $2.5 million and outside spending in that cycle at roughly $177,473, while PAC expenditures reporting highlights typical categories like fundraising and campaign expenses [6] [7]. These figures illustrate how Indivisible’s movement finance operates across legal and organizational lines — tax-exempt civic work, political 501(c) activity, and separate PAC spending — rather than as a single pooled “budget” [6] [1].
5. Programs that recycle money back to the grassroots
Indivisible runs grant and distributed-fundraising programs (GROW grants, Distributed Fundraising accounts) designed to put resources into local chapters for organizing, training and reimbursable community activities; grants can be up to specified caps and have compliance rules separating nonpartisan civic activity from partisan spending [4] [3] [8]. Those programmatic outflows are funded from the same revenue streams reported in the annual totals and reflect a centralized-to-local funding model described on the organization’s site [4] [3].
6. Limits of the public record and competing narratives
The available sources provide clear 2023 fundraising totals and declared fundraising policies but do not supply a single, audited consolidated “budget” document in the material provided here; public trackers and watchdogs emphasize different elements — grassroots claims and diversification policies from Indivisible itself [2] [1] versus scrutiny of early large donors and foundation ties from InfluenceWatch and press reporting [5]. Absent more recent audited financial statements or a single consolidated budget statement in the provided reporting, the best-supported figure in these sources for recent scale is the combined 2023 fundraising total of roughly $11.4 million [1].