About the Intermediary Project
Intermediary organizations (community foundations, nonprofits, and other groups) provide vital services to local communities and play a key role coordinating with national philanthropies and accessing funding for the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), and CHIPS and Science Act (CHIPS+). Equitable implementation of this legislation is essential, but it cannot be done without the place-based knowledge and long-term, trusting relationships that intermediaries have.
The following resources are meant to be a snapshot of organizations that can connect WW+ members and close partners to the people and groups working at the community level. The lists include organizations that support implementation in a number of ways, including:
Bolster IRA, BIL, and CHIPS+ Implementation
Foster Local Relationships
Provide Technical Assistance
Build Local Capacity for Organizations
Act as Re-Grantors to Communities
Click below to access each Airtable
A list of nonprofits and funders that can help connect national philanthropies and funders to local communities.
A list of nonprofits and other national organizations that provide technical assistance across the United States.
A list of community foundations, private foundations, and re-granting organizations.
User Manual
Column header definitions and guidance on how to use the three Airtable lists.
Filtering and Grouping
Each entry represents one intermediary organization, and is tagged with codes that users can use to organize the Airtable. At the top of the screen, choose “add filter” or “group” to organize organizations by state focus, city focus, strategies, target recipient, or federal experience. For example, if a user wants organizations that hold convenings, they would filter “Strategies” for organizations that have a “Convening” tag.
Column Headers
State and City Focus: Locale where an intermediary conducts its services.
Population: Target communities for the intermediary’s work. Populations tracked include Energy, Justice40, Rural, Tribal, and Other.
Strategies: How intermediaries affect change. Currently, strategies tracked included Capacity Building, Convening, Direct Funding, Public Funding Technical Assistance, and Technical Assistance.
Target Recipient: Type of organization targeted by an intermediary. Currently, targets tracked include Businesses, CBOs, Local Government, and Individuals.
Federal Experience: How an organization interfaces with recent public investments by the federal government. Currently, categories of experiences tracked include ARPA, BIL, BBBRC, CHIPS, IRA, and None/Unknown.
Relevant Activities: Standout information about an organization, especially if in relation to ARPA, BIL, IRA, or CHIPS.
Service Details: Further elaboration on an organization’s services and/or strategies.
Description: Short summary of the organization’s mission, vision, and/or history.
Issue Area: The organization's specific areas of interest.
Links, Notes, & Resources: Selected websites or materials of note.
Background and Methodology
These lists were initially developed in 2023 as part of an effort to facilitate connections between national philanthropies and local organizations implementing IRA projects. They are now intended to be a resource for funders and close partners that expedites identifying organizations related to infrastructure, climate, and energy implementation.
To develop these lists, What Works Plus crowdsourced information and interviewed representatives from nonprofit and government representatives to identify key players, regional dynamics, and inform overall project design. The team also met with experts from Energy, Justice40, Rural, and Tribal communities to ensure that intermediaries from those key communities were represented in the lists. Please note that these lists are not meant to be fully comprehensive on intermediary organizations, focusing instead on select states and issue areas most pertinent during data collection.
While these lists are no longer updated regularly, please feel free to reach out to the What Works Plus team if there are organizations that you think should be included.
Please send any questions or comments to Joey Rauch (rauch@tfreedmanconsulting.com).