Top Foundation Funders

1. Nationale Postcode Loterij $291.8 M
2. Ford Foundation $211.1 M
3. The Atlantic Philanthropies $197.0 M
4. Open Society Foundations $137.8 M
5. The California Endowment $124.1 M
6. National Endowment for Democracy $101.6 M
7. EEA and Norway Grants $99.6 M
8. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $90.9 M
9. The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation $80.4 M
10. The Oak Foundation $77.1 M
11. NoVo Foundation $76.1 M
12. Foundation For The Carolinas $72.5 M
13. Comic Relief $70.4 M
14. W. K. Kellogg Foundation $62.2 M
15. Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program $60.9 M
16. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation $42.2 M
17. American Jewish World Service $35.7 M
18. Hivos $32.0 M
19. The JPB Foundation $31.4 M
20. The Sigrid Rausing Trust $28.7 M
21. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation $28.1 M
22. Esmée Fairbairn Foundation $27.0 M
23. Cordaid $24.5 M
24. NEO Philanthropy $24.3 M
25. Open Society Institute Budapest Foundation $23.2 M
26. M = Millions

Foundation Funding by Region

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

• Health and Well-being Rights

  $425,787,544 (16%)
  1,981 Grants (10%)

• Human Rights, General

  $303,635,428 (11%)
  1,405 Grants (7%)

• Equality Rights and Freedom from Discrimination

  $279,195,660 (10%)
  3,116 Grants (15%)

• Environmental and Resource Rights

  $242,295,852 (9%)
  2,107 Grants (10%)

• Social and Cultural Rights

  $240,539,462 (9%)
  2,130 Grants (10%)

• Freedom from Violence

  $217,516,663 (8%)
  2,627 Grants (13%)

• Sexual and Reproductive Rights

  $188,251,461 (7%)
  877 Grants (4%)

• Civic and Political Participation

  $186,619,691 (7%)
  1,610 Grants (8%)

• Access to Justice/Equality Before the Law

  $164,551,754 (6%)
  1,004 Grants (5%)

• Economic and Labor Rights

  $149,039,611 (6%)
  1,224 Grants (6%)

• Migration and Displacement

  $140,413,147 (5%)
  972 Grants (5%)

• Expression and Information Rights

  $118,995,098 (4%)
  1,014 Grants (5%)

• Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding

  $41,651,092 (2%)
  554 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 Intersecting Populations

In order to show the intersections of multiple population groups, these graphics indicate other population groups supported within funding towards the group highlighted on this page.

Foundation Funding by Strategy

• Advocacy, Systems Reform and Implementation

  $1,008,767,464 (37%)
  6,819 Grants (33%)

• Capacity-building and Technical Assistance

  $325,341,456 (12%)
  3,084 Grants (15%)

• Research and Documentation

  $238,077,717 (9%)
  1,903 Grants (9%)

• Media and Technology

  $231,161,886 (9%)
  1,989 Grants (10%)

• Public Engagement and Awareness-raising

  $176,559,070 (7%)
  2,420 Grants (12%)

• Coalition-building and Collaboration

  $156,455,705 (6%)
  2,405 Grants (12%)

• Arts and Culture

  $88,316,608 (3%)
  1,285 Grants (6%)

• Grassroots Organizing

  $78,579,653 (3%)
  961 Grants (5%)

• Litigation and Legal Aid

  $71,976,314 (3%)
  519 Grants (3%)

• Scholarships and Travel

  $15,869,700 (1%)
  182 Grants (1%)

• Security and Resilience

  $6,437,037 (0%)
  67 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.