Fund for Democratic Communities is a North Carolina-based nonprofit that claims to have closed in 2020; however, in 2023, the group reported having $787,001 in expenses, $1,060,198 in net income, and $1,277,750 in net assets. Despite the group claiming its public-facing operations have ceased, the organization reported revenues on its 2023 tax forms.  ^{1  2}

Fund for Democratic Communities’ areas of advocacy have included opposing nuclear energy, demanding reparations for Native Americans and the African American descendants of former slaves, and supporting redistributing wealth away from individuals to communities.  ^{3  4}

History

Marnie Thompson and Ed Whitfield founded the Fund for Democratic Communities after Thompson received money from her father’s estate. The fund started in 2007; however, by 2010, it had decided to sunset by spending all its assets by 2020. ⁵

The fund ran multiple smaller grantmaking initiatives, which included the Southern Grassroots Economies Project, which was established in conjunction with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives and others, and the Southern Reparations Loan Fund.  ⁵

In 2011, the fund produced a film entitled Let’s Lose Our House! which was inspired by the Occupy Wall Street movement. Also in 2011, the group advocated for participatory budgeting to be incorporated into the budgeting process of Greensboro, North Carolina. The group also established the Renaissance Community Cooperative grocery store, a store which is community-owned, and every family in the community gets a vote on its operations.  ⁵

The Fund for Democratic Communities has partnered with groups including RSF Social Finance, the Whitman Institute, the Libra Foundation, the Chorus Foundation, the Common Counsel Foundation, the EDGE Funders Alliance, Movement Generation, the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, the Climate Justice Alliance, and The Working World.  ⁵

Advocacy

The Fund for Democratic Communities advocates that reparations be paid to Native Americans and African Americans who are descended from former slaves, stating, “we don’t actually spend too much energy on the justification for reparations – it seems somewhat obvious to us that reparations are warranted, needed, and deserved.” One of the initiatives of the fund, the Southern Reparations Loan Fund, was established in part with this in mind, to counteract what the group claims is an economy rooted in “genocide, theft, despoliation of the earth, slavery, Jim Crow, and modern-day corporate exploitation.”  ³

The group also advocates that what it terms “Big Piles of Money,” or the money that is used by corporations and wealthy individuals, should be democratically controlled by the American people.  ³

The Fund for Democratic Communities was a co-signer on an April 2021 letter to then-President Joe Biden that asked the administration to promote weather-dependent wind and solar power systems and “end the fossil fuel era.” The letter also advised the president to “Phase out nuclear energy as an inherently dirty, dangerous and costly energy source.”  ⁴

Finances

In 2023, the Fund for Democratic Communities reported $787,001 in expenses, $1,060,198 in net income, and $1,277,750 in net assets. The group’s reported 2023 finances were a sizable increase from its reported 2022 finances, which were $43,142 in expenses, -$42,198 in net income, and $217,552 in net assets.  ^{2  6}

The group claims to have made $11 million in grants from 2007 to 2020.  ¹

People

Marnie Thompson was a founder and co-managing director of the Fund for Democratic Communities. Thompson started the foundation along with Ed Whitfield after receiving money from her father’s estate.  ⁵

In 2023, Ed Whitfield was a founder and co-managing director of the Fund for Democratic Communities. Whitfield is a speaker and writer focusing on topics such as war, the economy, and racial issues. He has sat on the boards of Carolina Common Enterprise and the Highlander Research and Education Center.  ⁷

1. “Home.” Fund for democratic communities. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://f4dc.org/. 
2. “Fund for Democratic Communities,” Return of Private Foundation Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990 PF) 2023. Page 1 Part I Lines 12 and 26; Page 2 Part III Line 6. 
3. “Big Ideas That Guide Our Work.” Fund for democratic communities. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://f4dc.org/big-ideas-that-guide-our-work/. 
4. Center for Biological Diversity, et. al. Letter to “The Honorable President Joseph R. Biden.” RE: NOW IS THE MOMENT TO ACCELERATE THE JUST, RENEWABLE ENERGY FUTURE AND END THE FOSSIL FUEL ERA. April 27, 2021. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/energy-justice/pdfs/2022-4-27_Letter-to-Pres-Biden-re-End-Fossil-Fuel-Era-Accelerate-Transtion-to-Renewable-Energy.pdf 
5. “History.” Fund for democratic communities. Accessed October 20, 2025. https://f4dc.org/history-of-f4dc-2007-2018-the-long-version/.
6. “Fund for Democratic Communities,” Return of Private Foundation Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990 PF) 2022. Page 1 Part I Lines 12 and 26; Page 2 Part III Line 6. 
7. “Ed Whitfield.” TheNextSystem.org. Accessed October 19, 2025. https://thenextsystem.org/ed-whitfield.