Form 990 for tax year 2024

Totals

Total revenue

$51,414,712

Total expenses

$126,096,528

Contributions and grants received

$45,577,093

Grants paid

$101,402,517

Program service revenue

$2,473,661

Investment income

$3,318,148

Other revenue

$45,810

Total assets, end of year

$67,481,943

Total liabilities, end of year

$3,756,692

Net assets or fund balances, end of year

$63,725,251

Program services expenses (Part IX)

$122,720,233

Management and general expenses

$2,746,630

Fundraising expenses

$629,665

Program service expenses (Part III)

$122,720,233

Program services were 97.3% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

Line items

Every line the filer filed in Parts VIII, IX and X, as filed and in filed order. Blank columns are left out, and the lines are not forced to add up to the totals above.

Mission and programs · 2024

• STRATEGIC AND VALUES-DRIVEN GRANTMAKING - IN 2024, COMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATION (COMMON COUNSEL) MADE JUST OVER $48 MILLION IN GRANTS TO CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS THAT ARE ADVANCING EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS TO LONGSTANDING SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL INEQUITIES, THROUGH ITS DIRECT GRANTMAKING. FOUNDED IN 1988, COMMON COUNSEL ADVANCES EQUITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH THROUGH A COMBINATION OF DIRECT GRANT MAKING AND STRATEGIC PHILANTHROPIC ADVISING FOR CLIENT MEMBER FUNDS AND MANAGES PROJECTS FOCUSED ON ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, LEADERSHIP TRAINING AND SUSTAINABILITY AND DONOR EDUCATION. COMMON COUNSEL PARTNERS WITH FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUAL DONORS TO EXPAND PHILANTHROPIC RESOURCES FOR GRASSROOTS GROUPS COMPOSED OF AND LED BY MEMBERS OF VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS. IN ORDER TO EXPAND THE SCALE OF PHILANTHROPIC RESOURCES FOR COMMUNITY-LED GROUPS, COMMON COUNSEL UTILIZES TWO GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR ITS STRATEGIC GRANTMAKING. FIRST, COMMON COUNSEL INVESTS IN COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP TO ADVANCE MEANINGFUL SOLUTIONS TO CRITICAL SOCIAL, ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL CHALLENGES. SECOND, COMMON COUNSEL SUPPORTS INCREASED COLLABORATION THROUGH SHARED CAMPAIGNS AND LONG-TERM ALLIANCES THAT SERVE TO AMPLIFY THE EFFECTIVENESS OF LOCAL EFFORTS. FOR DECADES, THESE TWO STRATEGIES HAVE ALLOWED GROUPS TO DEVELOP COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP, TO ADVANCE SYSTEMIC SOLUTIONS DEFINED BY COMMUNITY MEMBERS THEMSELVES, AND TO ENSURE HEALTH AND EQUITY FOR EVERYONE.

  Expenses $101,417,517 · Grants $101,402,517

• FISCAL SPONSORSHIP COMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATION'S FISCAL SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM ENSURES THE HEALTH AND VITALITY OF THE SPONSORED COMMUNITY-LED ORGANIZATIONS, AND PROMOTES STRATEGIC COORDINATION IN THE PHILANTHROPIC SECTOR. IN 2024, CCF ACTED AS FISCAL SPONSOR FOR THE MOVEMENT 4 BLACK LIVES, RISING MAJORITY, AND COLOR CONGRESS. THE MOVEMENT 4 BLACK LIVES WAS CREATED AS A SPACE FOR BLACK ORGANIZATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO DEBATE AND DISCUSS THE CURRENT POLITICAL CONDITIONS, DEVELOP SHARED ASSESSMENTS OF WHAT POLITICAL INTERVENTIONS WERE NECESSARY IN ORDER TO ACHIEVE KEY POLICY, CULTURAL AND POLITICAL WINS, CONVENE ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN ORDER TO DEBATE AND COCREATE A SHARED MOVEMENT WIDE STRATEGY. THE RISING MAJORITY IS A COALITION THAT COMMITS TO DEVELOPING A COLLECTIVE STRATEGY AND SHARED PRACTICE THAT BRINGS TOGETHER LABOR, YOUTH, ABOLITION, IMMIGRANT RIGHTS, CLIMATE JUSTICE, FEMINIST, ANTI-WAR, AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE FORCES TO AMPLIFY THEIR COLLECTIVE POWER. COLOR CONGRESS IS AN INTERMEDIARY AND A FUNDER THAT IS BUILDING A NATIONAL COLLECTIVE OF MAJORITY PEOPLE OF COLOR (POC) AND POCLED ORGANIZATIONS AIMED AT CENTERING AND STRENGTHENING NONFICTION STORYTELLING BY, FOR AND ABOUT PEOPLE OF COLOR ACROSS THE UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES.

  Expenses $17,945,155 · Revenue $2,288,861

• PHILANTHROPIC SERVICES - COMMON COUNSEL FOUNDATION PROVIDES STRATEGIC PHILANTHROPIC ADVICE, GRANTS MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION, AND ACCOUNTING SUPPORT TO INDEPENDENT FOUNDATIONS THAT SHARE A COMMITMENT TO EQUITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH. CCF ASSISTS ITS CLIENTS IN STREAMLINING THEIR GRANTMAKING PROCESSES AND DEEPENING THEIR IMPACT. IN ADDITION TO THE SERVICES ALREADY NOTED, CCF HELPS CLIENTS REFINE THEIR GRANTMAKING STRATEGY AND PROVIDES RESEARCH, DUE DILIGENCE, GRANT RECOMMENDATIONS, TRUSTEE SUPPORT, AND LEGAL COMPLIANCE. CCF TAPS COMMUNITY ADVISORS, EACH OF WHOM HAS DEEP CONNECTIONS TO COMMUNITY-LED ORGANIZATIONS AND WHOSE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE ADDS TO THE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE OF CCF'S STAFF. CCF'S COMMUNITY ADVISORS AND STAFF ENSURE THAT THE ORGANIZATION IS AWARE OF THE LATEST INNOVATIONS EMERGING FROM LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND OF PIONEERING SOLUTIONS DEVELOPED BY LOCAL LEADERS. CCF'S STAFF AND ADVISORS ARE ABLE TO IDENTIFY COMMUNITY LEADERS WHO HAVE EXCITING VISION AND ORGANIZATIONS WITH PROMISING NEW MODELS AND APPROACHES.

  Expenses $3,357,561 · Revenue $184,800

As filed on the 2024 return. The filer continues this part on Schedule O, which is not shown here.

Listed in Part VII

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us.

Schedule J

Part I's answers as filed. A line not listed was left unanswered; on lines 1a and 3 that means the box was not checked.

Grants on this return

• IMPACTASSETSINC

  $37,233,011

  FUND CLOSEOUT

• MOVEMENT 4 BLACK LIVES INC

  $15,817,927

  FUND CLOSEOUT

• NATIVE LAND CONSERVANCY INC

  $4,000,000

  GENERAL SUPPORT

• THE ACCOMPLIS COLLECTIVE INC

  $2,500,000

  80 ACRES

• NEO PHILANTHROPY INC

  $1,500,000

  CYPRESS FUND

• RESIST

  $1,100,000

  NORTHEAST FARMERS OF COLOR NETWORK

• FREEDOM ORG

  $1,000,000

  GENERAL SUPPORT

• EKVNV YEFOLECVLKE

  $1,000,000

  GENERAL SUPPORT

• LIGHTHOUSE HOLYOKE

  $1,000,000

  BUILDING PURCHASE PROJECT

• SOCIAL GOOD FUND

  $1,000,000

  BRAIDING SEEDS FELLOWSHIP

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Provenance

Return type

form_990

Tax year

2024

Filed

17 November 2025

IRS schema version

2024v5.2

Source object

202543219349327269

Check it against the return as filed: the GivingTuesday Data Lake hosts a public copy of the original XML.

The source document this was parsed from is served over the API, which is where bulk and document access live.