Beyond Impact (formerly Tides Advocacy)

The Tides Advocacy has been described as an organization that “washes” away the paper trail between its grants and the original donor. According to the Capital Research Center (CRC) Beyond Impact is tasked with “washing” away the connection between its grants and the original donor. ² Founder Drummond Pike described the reasoning behind this process, stating, “Anonymity is very important to most of the people we work with.” ³ As of 2026, Beyond Impact was the sole 501(c)(4) social welfare organization in the Tides Nexus, and its operations centered on the creation, financing, and consultation of various left-of-center organizations. Tides Founder Drummond Pike stated, “Anonymity is very important to most of the people we work with.” ⁴

Beyond Impact receives funding from noteworthy left-of-center organizations, including the Tides Foundation and George Soros’s Open Society Action Fund (OSAF) (previously Open Society Policy Center). ^{5  6}

Background

Formation and Name Changes

Beyond Impact is a 501(c)(4) advocacy nonprofit formed in 1992 as “The Tsunami Fund” in San Francisco, California. ⁷ In 2006, it was renamed “Tides Advocacy Fund.” ⁸ In 2010, the group was renamed again to “The Advocacy Fund,” possibly signalling intent to distance the group from the remaining Tides organizations. ⁹ Again, in 2017 the group was renamed “Tides Advocacy.” ¹⁰ In February 2026, the organization was renamed “Beyond Impact.” ¹¹

Relationship to the Tides Nexus

The Tides Foundation was an influential left-of-center financial support nonprofit that was co-founded by activists Drummond Pike and Jane Bagley Lehman in 1976. In the 1990s, the IRS advised the Tides Foundation to separate its grantmaking from its activist organization development program (a process known as “fiscal sponsorship”). Pike strategically established new organizations to benefit from Tides’ tax-exempt status under “fiscal sponsorship” umbrellas that included control of all financial-related matters and the ability to extend comprehensive benefits packages to all employees. In return for providing this support, Tides collected a “management fee” of eight percent of each new group’s income. ¹²

In the early 2000s, the Tides Foundation formed the Tides Center, a separate tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit, to “run the fiscal sponsorship program efficiently and legally,” with the added effect of further obscuring donors to groups fiscally sponsored by the Tides Center. ¹²

Although Tides Advocacy changed its name to “Beyond Impact,” it was still maintaining close ties with the Tides Nexus and Tides Foundation as of 2026. From 2018 through 2024, Beyond Impact (then known as Tides Advocacy) received $193,962,823 in grants from the Tides Foundation and $32,462,385 from the Tides Center over the same period. ^{13  14  5  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23}

Advocacy

Beyond Impact divides its areas of advocacy into four categories: “democracy,” “equality and human rights,” “health and environment,” and “shared prosperity.” ²⁴

In the “democracy” category, Beyond Impact supports many groups that promote left-of-center issue advocacy on racial issues, such as Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC), the Catalyst Action Fund, Flip the Vote, Detroit Action, the Movement for Black Lives Action Fund (M4BL Action), the Texas Black Action Fund, and Democracy Labs, among others. ^{25  26}

Beyond Impact’s equality and human rights advocacy involves funding a variety of left-leaning organizations, including pro-abortion groups, LGBT activist organizations, and groups that seek to expand voting rights to incarcerated individuals and foreign nationals. Such groups have included AAPI Progressive Action, Life After Release, La Resistencia, Dream Defenders Action Fund, La Defensa, and Chispa among others. ²⁷ Through Chispa, Beyond Impact (then Tides Advocacy) contributed $1,500 in lobbying efforts to pass California Proposition 50, a redistricting effort to amend the California Constitution to allow the state to use a new, legislature-drawn congressional district map expected to favor the Democratic Party. ^{28  29}

Through its health and environment advocacy, Beyond Impact funds environmentalist organizations that advocate for increased access to abortion, solar energy, and other environmentalist initiatives. Beyond Impact has supported Orange County Environmental Justice, Ceja Action, Demos Action, NY Renews, Advance Native Political Leadership (ANPL), and the Climate Center Action Fund. ³⁰

Beyond Impact also advocates for government subsidized “affordable housing” and other expansionist government socioeconomic programs through its shared prosperity initiative. Partner organizations in this advocacy have included Flint Rising, Emergent Justice, Community Justice Action Fund (CJAF), the Tenants Together Fund, and Voices for Progress. ³¹

Grantmaking

Through its grantmaking services, Beyond Impact claims to shift “the balance of power in U.S. politics by funding BIPOC-led movements and communities.” ³²

In 2024, Beyond Impact (then known as Tides Advocacy) issued grants totaling $29,700,480. ³³ The group’s largest grantees that year included: the Local Jobs and Economic Development Fund ($3,445,100), Conservatives for a Clean Energy Future ($1,525,000), the League of Conservation Voters ($1,075,000), Working Families Power ($925,000), the Sixteen Thirty Fund ($750,000), the Black Voters Matter Fund ($617,000), the Alacrity Institute ($500,000), and DemocracyFIRST ($500,000). ³⁴

Beyond Impact also maintains the Healthy Democracy Action Fund (HDAF), a grantmaking initiative that seeks to increase political participation among and funding for racial minorities and minority-led organizations. In 2024, the HDAF prioritized grants to 501(c)(4) organizations that were “multiracial coalitions” of “BIPOC, young, and working-class voters.” ³⁵

HDAF grant recipients from 2022 included 1,000 Women Strong, Dream Defenders, Emgage Action, the Color Action Fund, 1Hood Power, among others. ³²

Fiscal Sponsorship

Beyond Impact incubates other left-wing 501(c)(4) advocacy nonprofits. The group advocates for critical race theory in its fiscal sponsorship of left-of-center social movements. Beyond Impact claims to be the nation’s first “Pro-Black Fiscal Sponsor” that “work[s] to dismantle white supremacist and extractive policies, systems, and institutions.” ¹ Its fiscal sponsorship services include starting action funds, grantmaking groups, and other coalitions for left-leaning political projects. ³⁶

Notable 501(c)(4) projects that Beyond Impact has sponsored have included the AAPI Victory Alliance, Dream Defenders, Flip the Vote, the Movement for Black Lives Action Fund (M4BL Action), Smart Justice California, and Voices for Progress. ³⁴

Political Expenditures

2024 Cycle

Through its political action committees (PACs), individual members, and employees, Beyond Impact (then Tides Advocacy) made $361,657 in total contributions during the 2024 election cycle. During that period, the organization contributed $135,000 to the Working Families Party; $110,000 to the Orange County PAC; $75,000 to the Texas Organizing Project (TOP); $13,442 to then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris (D); and $12,306 to ActBlue. ³⁷

2022 Cycle

Through its political action committees (PACs), individual members, and employees, Beyond Impact (then Tides Advocacy) made $4,250,625 in total contributions during the 2022 election cycle. The organization contributed $3,375,000 to the Working Families Party; $208,510 to MoveOn.org; $150,000 to 1,000 Women Strong; $100,000 to the Working Families Party Justice Fund; $75,000 to Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Victory Fund; and $75,000 to Durham for All. ³⁸

2020 Cycle

Through its political action committees (PACs), individual members, and employees, Beyond Impact (then Tides Advocacy) made $2,341,367 in total contributions during the 2020 election cycle. The organization contributed $400,000 to Moveon.org; $330,000 to the Win Justice PAC; $270,000 to People’s Action Power; $159,000 to the Bloc PAC; $150,000 to Michigan Action; $109,000 to the Texas Organizing Project; $100,000 to the Alliance for Youth Action (AFYA); $100,000 to Swing Left; and $95,785 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. ³⁹

Leadership

As of 2026, Vincent Jones was the chief executive officer of Beyond Impact. He previously worked as Beyond Impact’s interim chief executive officer. Before joining Beyond Impact, Jones was the founder and CEO of Citizen Jones Consulting, a communications firm that maintained partnerships with various left-of-center nonprofit organizations and the White House. Jones was also the former deputy director of campaigns and senior program officer at the Liberty Hill Foundation, a left-of-center Black youth activist organization in Los Angeles. At the Liberty Hill Foundation, Jones led the organization’s LGBT activism. Jones also previously worked as a field representative for former U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer’s (D-CA) campaign, executive director for the Center for Health Justice, and legislative aide for the New York City Council. Jones has sat pm several boards, including at the Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Political Education (SCOPE), Freedom for All Americans, Lambda Legal, the American Red Cross of Southern California, and the Swarthmore College Board of Managers. Jones was a member of the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE), Funders for LGBT Issues, and Southern California Blacks in Philanthropy. ^{40  41  42}

As of 2026, Karen Driscoll was the board chair of Beyond Impact. At the time, Driscoll was a principal of culture, strategy, and organizational design at Raben. She previously worked as the racial equity and inclusion director at Ben and Jerry’s and as the director of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Raben. She also previously worked as a manager at the Liberty Hill Foundation. ^{43  44}

Financials

In 2024, Beyond Impact (then known as Tides Advocacy) reported $92,581,311 in total revenue, $93,194,026 in total expenses, and $39,431,742 in total assets. It paid out grants totaling $29,700,480. ³³

In 2023, the organization reported $65,829,577 in total revenue, $74,094,988 in total expenses, and $42,570,827 in total assets. It paid out grants totaling $13,118,394. ⁴⁵

In 2022, the organization reported $89,227,147 in total revenue, $91,400,833 in total expenses, and $51,047,001 in total assets. It paid out grants totaling $25,562,003. ⁴⁶

In 2021, the organization reported $78,496,610 in total revenue, $75,893,452 in total expenses, and $54,536,746 in total assets. It paid out grants totaling $22,368,451. ⁴⁷

In 2020, the organization recorded its highest revenue in its history, reporting $153,831,799 in total revenue, $132,401,504 in total expenses, and $54,251,682 in total assets. It paid out grants totaling $68,856,820. ⁴⁸

Funding

As of 2024, Beyond Impact received the majority of its funding from the Tides Foundation and Tides Center, both of which were affiliated organizations within the Tides Nexus. From 2018 to 2024, the Tides Foundation issued 64 grants to Beyond Impact (then known as Tides Advocacy) totaling $193,962,823. ^{13  14  5  15  16  17  18}

From 2018 to 2024, the Tides Center issued eight grants to Beyond Impact (then Tides Advocacy) totaling $32,462,385. ^{19  20  21  22  23}

Beyond Impact also received funding from several left-of-center advocacy organizations, including the Open Society Action Fund (OSAF) (previously Open Society Policy Center), a lobbying and policy advocacy organization in the broader George Soros Open Society Network. From 2020 through 2024, OSAF issued 35 grants to then-Tides Advocacy totaling $28,345,000. ^{49  6  50  51  52}