14%
Share of foundation
human rights funding
$257.7 Million out of
$1.8 Billion for all rights
1,322 Grants
Top Foundation Funders
- Ford Foundation $35.1 M
- Open Society Foundations $26.4 M
- NoVo Foundation $22.8 M
- Freedom House $19.9 M
- The Oak Foundation $19.3 M
- Nationale Postcode Loterij $15.4 M
- The Sigrid Rausing Trust $11.1 M
- Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program $10.0 M
- Anonymous $7.2 M
- Both Ends $6.3 M
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $6.2 M
- Humanity United $6.0 M
- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation $6.0 M
- NIKE Foundation $4.6 M
- ExxonMobil Foundation $4.6 M
- Cordaid $4.4 M
- The Open Technology Fund $4.2 M
- Tides Foundation $4.1 M
- Hivos $3.3 M
- American Jewish World Service $3.0 M
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation $2.8 M
- The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation $2.5 M
- National Endowment for Democracy $2.3 M
- The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation $2.2 M
- Arcus Foundation $2.2 M
- M = Millions
Bilateral and Multilateral Funding
19%
Share of OECD
human rights funding
$644.4 Million out of
$3.4 Billion for all rights
1,356 Disbursements
Top Funders
- Sweden $123.3 M
- Norway $92.8 M
- Switzerland $89.4 M
- Netherlands $73.4 M
- United States $57.9 M
- European Union Institutions $35.3 M
- Denmark $32.4 M
- Germany $29.5 M
- Australia $16.7 M
- Finland $15.2 M
- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) $13.6 M
- Spain $12.4 M
- Belgium $11.1 M
- United Kingdom $9.0 M
- Ireland $7.5 M
- France $7.4 M
- Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) $6.3 M
- Canada $4.9 M
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) $1.7 M
- Japan $1.3 M
- Iceland $880.0 K
- United Arab Emirates $471.1 K
- Austria $414.0 K
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) $376.7 K
- Luxembourg $352.3 K
- M = Millions
Foundation Funding by Issue
Human Rights, General
$75,062,345 (29%)
322 Grants (24%)Equality Rights and Freedom from Discrimination
$55,372,582 (21%)
264 Grants (20%)Freedom from Violence
$25,444,572 (10%)
173 Grants (13%)Expression and Information Rights
$23,222,929 (9%)
115 Grants (9%)Environmental and Resource Rights
$17,298,538 (7%)
93 Grants (7%)Sexual and Reproductive Rights
$13,775,408 (5%)
68 Grants (5%)Health and Well-being Rights
$11,350,689 (4%)
83 Grants (6%)Access to Justice/Equality Before the Law
$11,212,368 (4%)
54 Grants (4%)Migration and Displacement
$7,352,789 (3%)
23 Grants (2%)Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding
$5,969,000 (2%)
20 Grants (2%)Economic and Labor Rights
$5,580,740 (2%)
62 Grants (5%)Civic and Political Participation
$1,890,913 (1%)
7 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 Population
Economically Disadvantaged
$98,252,791 (38%)
389 Grants (29%)Women & Girls
$66,574,776 (26%)
330 Grants (25%)Children & Youth
$47,808,001 (19%)
161 Grants (12%)Crime or Abuse Victims
$36,110,933 (14%)
239 Grants (18%)Ethnic or Racial Minorities
$21,976,392 (9%)
133 Grants (10%)Migrants & Refugees
$20,304,058 (8%)
138 Grants (10%)LGBTQI
$9,888,180 (4%)
73 Grants (6%)Indigenous Peoples
$7,734,882 (3%)
68 Grants (5%)Offenders & Ex-Offenders
$7,214,190 (3%)
37 Grants (3%)People with AIDS
$5,533,733 (2%)
57 Grants (4%)People with Disabilities
$3,556,861 (1%)
25 Grants (2%)Substance Abusers
$2,201,885 (1%)
23 Grants (2%)Human Rights Defenders
$1,695,775 (1%)
12 Grants (1%)Sex Workers
$569,260 (0%)
11 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.
Sample Grants
-
The Sigrid Rausing Trust
Global Witness (United Kingdom)
For general support of its work to expose the hidden links between demand for natural resources, corruption, armed conflict, and environmental destruction. -
Ford Foundation
Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (Argentina)
To incorporate a Latin American perspective in the global human rights agenda.
Related Resources
Bilateral and multilateral funding includes disbursements not directed toward a specific country or region (designated in the OECD data set as “Bilateral, unspecified”). This includes disbursements providing a global benefit or used to cover the donor’s administrative costs.
38 Grants (3%)