Recoding America is a field catalyst with a strategic grantmaking fund, the Recoding America Fund. Funder is one of several roles we play to strengthen the field in pursuit of our vision. Being a field catalyst first shapes how we make every grant, and that may mean we approach grantmaking differently from other funders.
Our grants are built to strengthen the state capacity ecosystem: growing capacity where it’s missing, drawing new actors in, creating incentives to collaborate, and making possible the ambitious, cross-ideological work no single organization could take on alone.
State capacity reform and field-building are hard, low-probability work. The ambition we’re after won’t come from safe bets. We’re willing to support big swings even knowing some won’t pan out, because the ones that do can reshape what’s possible.
We don’t only evaluate what lands in our inbox. We think about where the field’s gaps are and who should be working together, and try to kickstart those conversations.
We’re rigorous about the value of a grant upfront so we can minimize burden and maximize flexibility once we believe it’s a good bet. We want a relationship grounded in partnership, not compliance.
A strong field depends on healthy organizations, and healthy organizations aren’t scrambling to make payroll grant to grant. We want partners to tell us what they need — to do the work and to build the strength that sustains it.
Timely communication is non-negotiable, even when the answer is “we’re still thinking.” We explain our reasoning and priorities, including when we decline. If someone has to chase us for a status update, we’ve been too slow.
We exist to help government shed unnecessary procedural burden, so we hold ourselves to the same standard. Our grant operations are deliberately lean.
The field is small and relationship-rich. When we decline, we aim to be clear about why, offer introductions that might help, and keep the door open. We want even our no’s to leave the field stronger.
Through the Recoding America Fund, our pooled fund, we make strategic grants that build the field and deliver state capacity wins. We’re active and flexible: we design grants to create incentives for organizations to collaborate and to pull work toward the structural reform we think matters most, and we support everything from early-stage ideas to research that fills knowledge gaps to narrative work that gives political leaders room to pursue hard reforms.
Most grants are by invitation. We identify potential applicants by engaging with a wide range of organizations and individuals throughout the year, and we make grants on a rolling basis. Occasionally we issue open Calls for Proposals around a specific problem, sometimes with partners.
If you’re not already in touch and want to be considered, get in touch, tell us about your work, and share how it aligns with our strategy. We may then ask to discuss further.
We care less about an organization’s form than whether it’s the right vehicle for the work. Most grants go to nonprofits, though we’ve also funded an individual policy entrepreneur. We’re open to public benefit corporations and for-profits where there’s strong justification.
Our partnerships vary. Some grants are tailored to a specific project; others are broader, meant to build an organization’s capacity over time. Whatever the scope, we engage closely to adapt and pivot as the work evolves.
We raise every dollar we spend rather than drawing on an endowment, so our resources are limited. It’s unlikely we’d make a single grant over $2M; most to date are under $1M, several considerably smaller. We’ll also explore co-funding to crowd more capital into the field.
Before reaching out, consider whether we’re the right fit for you and you’re the right fit for us. Explore our full website to learn more about our priorities and approach. Then check how well the following describe you and your work:
Operating modelI work on one or more competencies in the government operating model. Learn about the four competencies →
Horizontal learningI work mainly on a vertical policy domain (e.g., education, national security, energy, foreign aid), but I have a strong thesis for how this work generates learning on one or more horizontal competencies in the operating model. Learn about the four horizontal competencies →
Federal or stateI work at the federal and/or state level, or I have a thesis for why my local work is relevant to those levels and want to bring it there. More on our federal & state focus →
Cross-ideological commitmentI’m committed to constructive cross-ideological engagement and believe it’s essential to this work. More on our cross-ideological commitment →
Impact thesisI can connect my work to outcomes people expect government to deliver, even if the timeline is long and the causal chain indirect.
Structural ambitionI’m aiming at structural reform, not workarounds or incremental change. More on our level of ambition →
Strong fieldI can explain how a grant to me would strengthen the state capacity field. What a strong field needs →
Why us, why nowI believe Recoding America’s support would be uniquely additive, and can explain why the moment is ripe for it.