Top Foundation Funders

1. Ford Foundation $36.7 M
2. Anonymous $35.2 M
3. The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation $26.3 M
4. Open Society Foundations $20.9 M
5. National Endowment for Democracy $14.0 M
6. NoVo Foundation $12.6 M
7. The Oak Foundation $8.8 M
8. Hivos $8.7 M
9. American Jewish World Service - Donor Advised Funds $8.5 M
10. The Global Fund for Women $8.2 M
11. Tides Foundation $6.8 M
12. Cordaid $5.4 M
13. The David and Lucile Packard Foundation $5.0 M
14. The Sigrid Rausing Trust $5.0 M
15. Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program $4.7 M
16. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation $4.6 M
17. American Jewish World Service $4.5 M
18. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation $4.1 M
19. United Nations Foundation $4.0 M
20. Mama Cash $4.0 M
21. Bloomberg Philanthropies $3.8 M
22. Mensen met een Missie $3.0 M
23. African Women's Development Fund $2.7 M
24. The Rockefeller Foundation $2.5 M
25. Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund $2.2 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

• Equality Rights and Freedom from Discrimination

  $84,120,315 (26%)
  1,351 Grants (30%)

• Sexual and Reproductive Rights

  $80,943,748 (25%)
  681 Grants (15%)

• Freedom from Violence

  $49,600,660 (16%)
  589 Grants (13%)

• Economic and Labor Rights

  $30,969,670 (10%)
  331 Grants (7%)

• Human Rights, General

  $27,769,300 (9%)
  788 Grants (18%)

• Health and Well-being Rights

  $14,824,474 (5%)
  182 Grants (4%)

• Environmental and Resource Rights

  $7,895,183 (2%)
  178 Grants (4%)

• Social and Cultural Rights

  $7,002,657 (2%)
  151 Grants (3%)

• Access to Justice/Equality Before the Law

  $6,567,427 (2%)
  66 Grants (1%)

• Migration and Displacement

  $3,952,114 (1%)
  46 Grants (1%)

• Expression and Information Rights

  $2,325,284 (1%)
  49 Grants (1%)

• Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding

  $1,636,965 (1%)
  25 Grants (1%)

• Civic and Political Participation

  $1,515,370 (0%)
  24 Grants (1%)

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

• Economically Disadvantaged

  $123,153,423 (39%)
  1,094 Grants (25%)

• Crime or Abuse Victims

  $68,293,127 (21%)
  747 Grants (17%)

• Children & Youth

  $64,346,989 (20%)
  859 Grants (19%)

• Ethnic or Racial Minorities

  $52,389,392 (16%)
  768 Grants (17%)

• Migrants & Refugees

  $25,135,023 (8%)
  288 Grants (6%)

• People with AIDS

  $15,717,141 (5%)
  224 Grants (5%)

• LGBTQI

  $12,458,175 (4%)
  247 Grants (6%)

• Indigenous Peoples

  $9,728,534 (3%)
  177 Grants (4%)

• People with Disabilities

  $6,594,331 (2%)
  121 Grants (3%)

• Offenders & Ex-Offenders

  $4,103,927 (1%)
  60 Grants (1%)

• Sex Workers

  $2,451,881 (1%)
  65 Grants (1%)

• Human Rights Defenders

  $2,125,870 (1%)
  160 Grants (4%)

• Substance Abusers

  $1,994,709 (1%)
  22 Grants (0%)

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.

Sample Grants

• Funder Fund for Global Human Rights
  Recipient Centro Mujeres (Mexico)
  Description For mentoring young female community leaders, providing training on health rights for service providers and government representatives, and pressing for government policies that protect and promote reproductive and sexual rights.
• Funder HER Fund
  Recipient The Association for the Advancement of Feminism (Hong Kong)
  Description To advocate for amending the Sex Discrimination Ordinance in order to protect the rights of young female workers in the service industry.

Related Resources

• Documenting Human Rights Violations: Increasing Recognition of Civil and Political Rights in Burma
• Rapid Response Grantmaking: A Successful Strategy to Protect Women's Human Rights
• Strengthening Women’s Voices and Supporting Women’s Movements
• Taking Advantage of Seasoned Activists to Expand and Strengthen Human Rights Movements
• The Value of Flexible Funding in International Human Rights Grantmaking