How GPS Is Funded
Who pays for this work, who never will, and why our founding donors are unnamed.
The Short Version
Georgia Prisoners’ Speak is the newsroom of The GDC Accountability Project, Inc., an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 33-4218142).
We do not ask our readers for money. Most of the people GPS serves are incarcerated Georgians and their families. We will not fundraise from the people we exist to serve, so there is no donate button on this site and there never has been a fundraising campaign aimed at our audience.
Instead, the work is funded three ways: founding gifts from private individuals, institutional grants from philanthropic funders, and in-kind support through nonprofit technology programs. Our operating budget is small — roughly $22,000 for 2026 — because GPS is volunteer-run, with no paid staff, and most of what we do is built and operated as software.
Where the Money Comes From
| Source | What it is |
|---|---|
| Founding gifts | Private individuals provided the founding support that built GPS and have covered substantially all operating costs to date. They remain unnamed publicly, for the safety reasons explained below. Their gifts carry the same conditions as any gift GPS accepts: none. |
| Institutional grants | As of August 2026, GPS has received no foundation grants; applications are in progress. Every institutional grant will be listed on this page as it is awarded — funder, program, amount, and any restriction on its use. |
| In-kind support | Nonprofit technology programs (including Google for Nonprofits, whose Ad Grants program provides advertising credit for Google Search), donated software and services, and volunteer time. |
Why Our Founding Donors Are Unnamed
Transparency rules for nonprofit newsrooms exist to answer one question: is anyone buying influence over the coverage? We answer that question directly — just not with names.
GPS reports on an agency with a documented record of retaliation against people who expose it. That risk is why our Source Protection Policy exists and why some GPS staff publish under protective names. The private individuals who funded GPS’s founding have personal ties to Georgia’s prison system, and naming them would expose them to the same risk our sources face.
What we disclose instead:
- The amounts. Our finances flow through a single public charity whose IRS filings are public records (see below).
- The conditions. There are none. No funder — founding or institutional — directs, approves, or suppresses GPS coverage, under the editorial firewall in our Editorial Standards.
- The names of every institutional funder. Foundations and grant programs that fund GPS are named on this page, without exception.
- Accountability to the board. The board of directors knows the identity of every person and institution that funds GPS. Anonymity here shields people from retaliation; it does not shield funding from scrutiny.
What We Will Never Accept
- Funding from the Georgia Department of Corrections, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles, or any corrections agency.
- Funding from prison-industry vendors and contractors — commissary, telecom, food service, healthcare, or any business with a financial interest in incarcerated Georgians or their families.
- Funding from political parties, candidate campaigns, or registered Georgia lobbyists.
- Any gift or grant offered with conditions on coverage, access, or editorial conclusions.
We also do not run advertising on gps.press, do not publish sponsored content, and do not sell user data.
Documents & Verification
Don’t take our word for any of this:
- IRS status: The GDC Accountability Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity under section 509(a)(1). Verify it on the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search (search EIN 33-4218142), which also serves our determination letter, or on ProPublica’s Nonprofit Explorer.
- IRS returns: Our first return (Form 990-PF for the short 2025 tax year) reported no financial activity — the organization had no bank account until January 2026. Filed returns become public through the IRS and Candid/GuideStar as they are processed, and we will provide a copy of any filed return on request to accountability@gps.press.
- Legal entity: The GDC Accountability Project, Inc., a Georgia nonprofit corporation · EIN 33-4218142 · 285 W Wieuca Rd NE #4153, Atlanta, GA 30342.
Questions about our funding? Write to accountability@gps.press with the subject line FUNDING QUESTION. We answer every legitimate inquiry.
Published August 23, 2026. This page is reviewed when funding sources change and at least annually; material changes will be noted here with a dated revision history. It should be read alongside our Editorial Standards & Ethics and Source Protection Policy.