New Venture Fund
| New Venture Fund | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Type: | 501(c)(3) |
| Top official: | Lee Bodner |
| Year founded: | 2006 |
| Website: | Official website |
The New Venture Fund (NVF) is a 501(c)(3) organization based in Washington, D.C., NVF receives funds from donors, including foundations, businesses, and individuals, and uses the funds to make grants to organizations or provide fiscal sponsorship for projects.[1] As of October 2025, the organization said it supported over 120 projects and "most of the projects fall into five top issues: environment; youth development and education; civil rights, social action, and advocacy; global development and health; and capacity building."[2]
Between 2015 and 2022, NVF provided funds to ballot measure campaigns in Alaska, Colorado, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, and Washington, D.C. NVF took a stance on at least eight statewide ballot measures between 2015 and 2022.
Background
In 2006, New Venture Fund (NVF) was founded as the Arabella Legacy Fund. The name New Venture Fund was adopted in 2009. As of 2025, NVF was managed under an administrative agreement with Arabella Advisors. According to NVF, the organization was established "in response to demand from leading philanthropists for an efficient, cost-effective, and time-saving platform to launch and operate public interest projects."[1]
The organization's website stated that it "receives funding from a variety of individuals and institutions, including large institutional foundations, family foundations or individual donors, corporations, community groups, associations, nonprofit organizations, and other donors seeking to fund charitable causes." NVF was involved in funding projects across the globe.[3]
As of October 2025, NVF's website provided the following mission statement:[4]
| “ | Our Mission: New Venture Fund is a force for social good – maximizing the impact of charitable dollars by:
|
” |
Leadership
As of October 2025, the following individuals held leadership positions at New Venture Fund:[6]
- Lee Bodner, president
- Lessie Askew, chief people officer
- Andrew Schulz, outside general counsel
Work and activities
Overview of ballot measure support and opposition, 2015-2022
The following table details New Venture Fund's ballot measure stances available on Ballotpedia from 2015 to 2022. Click here to view New Venture Fund's ballot measure stances issued after 2022.
| Ballot measure support and opposition for New Venture Fund | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ballot measure | Year | Position | Status |
| Montana LR-131, Medical Care Requirements for Born-Alive Infants Measure | 2022 | Opposed |  Defeated
|
| Alaska Ballot Measure 1, Salmon Habitat Protections and Permits Initiative | 2018 | Supported | Defeated
|
| Ohio Issue 1, Drug and Criminal Justice Policies Initiative | 2018 | Supported | Defeated
|
| Washington, D.C., Initiative 77, Minimum Wage Increase for Tipped Workers Initiative | 2018 | Supported |  Approved
|
| Maine Question 2, Medicaid Expansion Initiative | 2017 | Supported | Approved
|
| Alaska Ballot Measure 1, Voter Registration via the Permanent Fund Dividend Application Initiative | 2016 | Supported | Approved
|
| Colorado Amendment 70, $12 Minimum Wage Initiative | 2016 | Supported | Approved
|
| Mississippi Initiative 42, Public School Support Amendment | 2015 | Supported | Defeated
|
Montana LR-131, Medical Care Requirements for Born-Alive Infants Measure (2022)
Montana LR-131 would have required medical care to be provided to infants born alive by classifying a born-alive infant as "a legal person for all purposes under the laws of the state ... entitled to the protections of the laws, including the right to appropriate and reasonable medical care and treatment." The measure was defeated. New Venture Fund contributed $70,000 to the opposition committees for this measure.[7]
Alaska Ballot Measure 1 (2018)
Alaska Ballot Measure 1 would have established additional requirements and permitting procedures for projects that could impact protect anadromous fish, such as salmon and steelhead. Ballot Measure 1 was defeated. New Venture Fund was the second-largest donor, contributing $263,318, to the campaign behind Ballot Measure 1.[8]
Ohio Issue 1 (2018)
Ohio Issue 1 was rejected, with 63 percent of electors voting against the ballot initiative. Issue 1 would have made offenses related to drug possession and use no more than misdemeanors and changed other criminal justice policies. NVF donated $42,493 to the campaign behind Issue 1, which was known as the Ohio Safe and Healthy Communities Campaign.[9]
Washington, D.C., Initiative 77 (2018)
Voters approved Washington, D.C., Initiative 77, which was designed to increase the minimum wage for tipped employees to match the city's standard minimum wage. The Washington, D.C., Council voted 8-5 to repeal Initiative 77 on October 16, 2018. One Fair Wage DC, which was the campaign that supported Initiative 77, received $5,000 from NVF.[10]
Maine Question 2 (2017)
Maine Question 2 was a ballot initiative to expand Medicaid in Maine under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Question 2 was approved. NVF provided $60,000 to the campaign Mainers for Health Care, which supported Question 2.[11]
Alaska Ballot Measure 1 (2016)
In 2016, voters approved Alaska Ballot Measure 1, which created a process of automatic voter registration when applying for a Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD). NVF was the largest donor, contributing about $900,000, to the campaign in support of Ballot Measure 1.[8]
Colorado Amendment 70 (2016)
Colorado Amendment 70 was designed to increase the minimum wage to $12.00 in 2020. Voters approved the ballot initiative. NVF contributed $120,781 to Colorado Families for a Fair Wage, which supported Amendment 70.[12]
Mississippi Initiative 42 (2015)
Mississippi Initiative 42 was a citizen-initiated measure to require the state government to establish, maintain, and support "an adequate and efficient system of free public schools." Initiative 42 was on the ballot as a competing measure. Since more voters select the option of "neither measure" in the first question, Initiative 42 was defeated. NVF was the largest donor to the Better Schools, Better Jobs PAC, which supported Initiative 42. NVF contributed over $1 million.[13]
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this organization made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.
Finances
The following is a breakdown of New Venture Fund's revenues and expenses from 2006 to 2023. The information comes from Internal Revenue Service reports.
| Year | Revenue | Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | $545,100 | $40,399 |
| 2007 | $1,663,363 | $1,315,615 |
| 2008 | $6,011,782 | $3,983,417 |
| 2009 | $26,812,567 | $13,847,145 |
| 2010 | $16,813,261 | $14,893,390 |
| 2011 | $36,542,348 | $24,722,363 |
| 2012 | $52,519,099 | $39,574,786 |
| 2013 | $112,942,320 | $74,982,490 |
| 2014 | $179,424,945 | $134,487,602 |
| 2015 | $318,405,056 | $214,351,188 |
| 2016 | $357,581,316 | $264,546,947 |
| 2017 | $358,858,641 | $329,784,536 |
| 2018 | $405,281,263 | $373,007,693 |
| 2019 | $460,798,902 | $420,857,504 |
| 2020 | $975,483,022 | $658,874,215 |
| 2021 | $963,814,870 | $552,517,598 |
| 2022 | $755,584,165 | $825,032,231 |
| 2023 | $669,088,461 | $894,839,728 |
See also
- What is an influencer?
- Alaska Ballot Measure 1, Salmon Habitat Protections and Permits Initiative (2018)
- Washington, D.C., Initiative 77, Minimum Wage Increase for Tipped Workers (June 2018)
- Alaska Voter Registration via the Permanent Fund Dividend Application, Ballot Measure 1 (2016)
- Mississippi Public School Support Amendments, Initiative 42 and Alternative 42 (2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 New Venture Fund, "Who We Are," accessed June 18, 2020
- ↑ New Venture Fund, "Sample Projects," accessed October 28, 2025
- ↑ New Venture Fund, "New Venture Fund Report (2019)," accessed June 17, 2020
- ↑ New Venture Fund, "Mission and Values," accessed October 28, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ New Venture Fund, "Leadership Team," accessed October 28, 2025
- ↑ Campaign Tracker, "Campaign Disclosure Forms," accessed January 10, 2022
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Alaska Public Offices Commission, "Campaign Disclosure Forms," accessed January 11, 2018
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance," accessed June 17, 2020
- ↑ Government of the District of Columbia, "Second Report," accessed June 10, 2018
- ↑ Maine Ethics Commission, "Transaction Search," accessed June 17, 2020
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "TRACER," accessed June 17, 2020
- ↑ Mississippi Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance Filings," accessed October 26, 2015
| |||||||
