15%
Share of foundation
human rights funding
$401.2 Million out of
$2.7 Billion for all rights
879 Grants
Top Foundation Funders
- Nationale Postcode Loterij $176.4 M
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $50.5 M
- NoVo Foundation $21.2 M
- The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation $19.2 M
- Ford Foundation $14.9 M
- Open Society Foundations $14.2 M
- The Oak Foundation $14.0 M
- The Sigrid Rausing Trust $10.9 M
- Howard G. Buffett Foundation $10.0 M
- American Jewish World Service $8.6 M
- The Atlantic Philanthropies $5.7 M
- Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program $5.3 M
- National Endowment for Democracy $4.5 M
- Humanity United $4.2 M
- The Rockefeller Foundation $4.0 M
- The Open Technology Fund $3.8 M
- Tides Foundation $3.7 M
- Open Society Institute Budapest Foundation $3.1 M
- Stop AIDS Now $2.9 M
- Foundation for a Just Society $2.6 M
- The Allstate Foundation $2.5 M
- Arcus Foundation $1.9 M
- Hivos $1.8 M
- The David and Lucile Packard Foundation $1.8 M
- Human Dignity Foundation $1.8 M
- M = Millions
Bilateral and Multilateral Funding
22%
Share of OECD
human rights funding
$836.1 Million out of
$3.8 Billion for all rights
1,599 Disbursements
Top Funders
- Sweden $167.2 M
- Switzerland $125.7 M
- Norway $94.4 M
- Netherlands $85.5 M
- United States $83.4 M
- United Kingdom $41.8 M
- Germany $32.1 M
- Denmark $28.6 M
- European Union Institutions $26.8 M
- Finland $23.8 M
- Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) $21.4 M
- Australia $19.6 M
- Belgium $15.4 M
- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) $14.0 M
- Japan $10.3 M
- Spain $10.0 M
- France $10.0 M
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) $6.6 M
- Canada $4.8 M
- Italy $4.3 M
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) $2.6 M
- Ireland $2.3 M
- Iceland $1.2 M
- World Health Organization (WHO) $1.0 M
- United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) $1.0 M
- M = Millions
Foundation Funding by Issue
Health and Well-being Rights
$81,587,270 (20%)
61 Grants (7%)Environmental and Resource Rights
$71,359,665 (18%)
91 Grants (10%)Human Rights, General
$52,136,597 (13%)
123 Grants (14%)Equality Rights and Freedom from Discrimination
$44,235,884 (11%)
122 Grants (14%)Expression and Information Rights
$41,122,035 (10%)
80 Grants (9%)Freedom from Violence
$32,880,945 (8%)
125 Grants (14%)Sexual and Reproductive Rights
$19,686,140 (5%)
50 Grants (6%)Migration and Displacement
$12,183,478 (3%)
33 Grants (4%)Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding
$7,313,350 (2%)
44 Grants (5%)Civic and Political Participation
$6,149,671 (2%)
24 Grants (3%)Economic and Labor Rights
$5,378,991 (1%)
31 Grants (4%)Access to Justice/Equality Before the Law
$5,350,521 (1%)
33 Grants (4%)
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
$78,167,710 (19%)
217 Grants (25%)Children & Youth
$60,505,353 (15%)
94 Grants (11%)Migrants & Refugees
$33,837,085 (8%)
82 Grants (9%)Indigenous Peoples
$9,802,567 (2%)
58 Grants (7%)LGBTQI
$6,600,738 (2%)
46 Grants (5%)People with Disabilities
$2,307,366 (1%)
16 Grants (2%)Human Rights Defenders
$1,905,683 (0%)
14 Grants (2%)Sex Workers
$3,187 (0%)
1 Grants (0%)
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
$80,052,322 (20%)
271 Grants (31%)Media and Technology
$51,778,547 (13%)
138 Grants (16%)Capacity-building and Technical Assistance
$28,562,390 (7%)
98 Grants (11%)Research and Documentation
$22,678,966 (6%)
80 Grants (9%)Coalition-building and Collaboration
$15,695,738 (4%)
123 Grants (14%)Grassroots Organizing
$8,181,935 (2%)
27 Grants (3%)Litigation and Legal Aid
$7,207,741 (2%)
25 Grants (3%)Arts and Culture
$6,780,373 (2%)
46 Grants (5%)Security and Resilience
$1,405,900 (0%)
8 Grants (1%)Scholarships and Travel
$180,000 (0%)
2 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.
Sample Grants
-
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
National Security Archive Fund (United States)
For work on international human rights and nuclear security. -
Tamalpais Trust
Tebtebba (Philippines)
For its work to promote Indigenous cultural lifeways, traditional knowledge and Indigenous rights.
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.
62 Grants (7%)