$3.2 Billion
25,229 Grants
for foundation human rights funding
in 2017
Top Foundation Funders
- Ford Foundation $386.9 M
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $173.1 M
- W.K. Kellogg Foundation $150.6 M
- Open Society Institute $147.6 M
- The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation $138.7 M
- Tides Foundation $131.6 M
- NoVo Foundation $126.6 M
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation $87.2 M
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation $83.0 M
- Foundation to Promote Open Society $75.8 M
- Oak Foundation $71.9 M
- Foundation For The Carolinas $64.2 M
- Wellspring Philanthropic Fund $60.6 M
- The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation $59.5 M
- The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation $55.4 M
- The California Endowment $44.9 M
- Fund for Policy Reform $41.7 M
- The JPB Foundation $40.6 M
- The Libra Foundation $34.9 M
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation $34.7 M
- The James Irvine Foundation $33.6 M
- The Freedom Forum $31.2 M
- Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund $30.7 M
- The David and Lucile Packard Foundation $27.1 M
- The Sigrid Rausing Trust $26.9 M
- M = Millions
Bilateral and Multilateral Funding
$3.9 Billion
12,379 Disbursements
for OECD human rights funding
in 2017
Top Funders
- European Union Institutions $609.6 M
- United States $559.4 M
- Sweden $548.3 M
- Germany $300.3 M
- Canada $271.1 M
- United Kingdom $206.3 M
- Norway $201.1 M
- Australia $148.9 M
- Switzerland $148.7 M
- Denmark $148.5 M
- Spain $134.8 M
- Italy $122.6 M
- Finland $93.2 M
- Netherlands $77.4 M
- Belgium $43.4 M
- Ireland $31.0 M
- Japan $30.5 M
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) $25.4 M
- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) $20.8 M
- France $18.4 M
- International Labour Organisation $16.0 M
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) $14.7 M
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) $13.1 M
- Austria $12.0 M
- Korea $8.6 M
- M = Millions
Foundation Funding by Region
Asia & Pacific
$192,883,660 (6%)
2,085 Grants (8%)
Caribbean
$13,542,388 (0%)
248 Grants (1%)
Eastern Europe, Central Asia, & Russia
$32,959,787 (1%)
788 Grants (3%)
Global Programs
$416,342,178 (13%)
1,447 Grants (6%)
Latin America & Mexico
$219,240,723 (7%)
2,903 Grants (12%)
Middle East & North Africa
$57,448,475 (2%)
731 Grants (3%)
North America
$2,049,562,935 (63%)
13,314 Grants (53%)
Sub-Saharan Africa
$238,435,470 (7%)
2,346 Grants (9%)
Western Europe
$152,529,829 (5%)
1,610 Grants (6%)
Region totals include both foundation grants directly to recipients based in the region specified and foundation grants to recipients located in other regions to do work benefiting the region specified. Grants may mention more than one region of benefit and therefore be counted in more than one category.
Foundation Funding by Issue
Equality Rights and Freedom from Discrimination
$557,536,095 (17%)
5,501 Grants (22%)Environmental and Resource Rights
$355,942,301 (11%)
3,170 Grants (13%)Human Rights, General
$306,898,909 (9%)
2,997 Grants (12%)Health and Well-being Rights
$290,792,634 (9%)
1,959 Grants (8%)Access to Justice/Equality Before the Law
$282,054,529 (9%)
1,550 Grants (6%)Sexual and Reproductive Rights
$240,792,238 (7%)
943 Grants (4%)Migration and Displacement
$231,960,706 (7%)
1,965 Grants (8%)Freedom from Violence
$202,236,580 (6%)
1,586 Grants (6%)Economic and Labor Rights
$133,326,180 (4%)
727 Grants (3%)Civic and Political Participation
$115,996,870 (4%)
872 Grants (3%)Expression and Information Rights
$113,693,021 (4%)
1,475 Grants (6%)Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding
$96,694,934 (3%)
872 Grants (3%)
Issue totals include foundation funding that could be identified as meant to address a specific issue. In order to provide unique totals and avoid double-counting, each foundation grant has been assigned to exactly one issue category within the human rights taxonomy.
Foundation Funding by Population
Women & Girls
$689,704,296 (21%)
6,105 Grants (24%)Children & Youth
$536,836,374 (17%)
4,386 Grants (17%)Migrants & Refugees
$382,436,500 (12%)
2,968 Grants (12%)Indigenous Peoples
$169,392,439 (5%)
1,576 Grants (6%)LGBTQI
$76,792,917 (2%)
1,693 Grants (7%)People with Disabilities
$57,214,523 (2%)
738 Grants (3%)Human Rights Defenders
$14,721,968 (0%)
542 Grants (2%)Sex Workers
$5,290,756 (0%)
149 Grants (1%)
Population totals include foundation funding that could be identified as meant to benefit a specific group. Grants may serve multiple populations and would therefore be counted in more than one category.
Foundation Funding by Strategy
Advocacy, Systems Reform and Implementation
$1,421,659,243 (44%)
10,677 Grants (42%)Capacity-building and Technical Assistance
$554,411,642 (17%)
3,706 Grants (15%)Media and Technology
$212,163,004 (7%)
1,341 Grants (5%)Research and Documentation
$206,746,828 (6%)
1,362 Grants (5%)Coalition-building and Collaboration
$204,908,433 (6%)
1,687 Grants (7%)Grassroots Organizing
$101,633,308 (3%)
1,421 Grants (6%)Litigation and Legal Aid
$90,956,435 (3%)
732 Grants (3%)Arts and Culture
$76,155,914 (2%)
727 Grants (3%)Scholarships and Travel
$8,415,658 (0%)
456 Grants (2%)Security and Resilience
$4,473,909 (0%)
73 Grants (0%)
Strategy totals include foundation funding that could be identified as supporting a specific strategy. Grants may employ multiple strategies and would therefore be counted in more than one category.
1,612 Grants (6%)