13%
Share of foundation
human rights funding
$416.3 Million out of
$3.2 Billion for all rights
1,447 Grants
Top Foundation Funders
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $78.3 M
- Ford Foundation $58.3 M
- The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation $33.3 M
- Open Society Institute $30.5 M
- John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation $30.3 M
- Wellspring Philanthropic Fund $27.5 M
- Oak Foundation $22.2 M
- Fund for Policy Reform $16.8 M
- The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation $16.5 M
- NoVo Foundation $11.8 M
- Humanity United $10.5 M
- Silicon Valley Community Foundation $9.8 M
- The Libra Foundation $9.3 M
- Omidyar Network Fund $8.6 M
- The Sigrid Rausing Trust $6.4 M
- Foundation For The Carolinas $6.3 M
- Tides Foundation $5.3 M
- Freedom House $4.8 M
- The David and Lucile Packard Foundation $4.8 M
- Foundation to Promote Open Society $4.6 M
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation $4.4 M
- Fondo Centroamericano de Mujeres $3.3 M
- The Kendeda Fund $3.3 M
- The Skoll Foundation $3.3 M
- The Libra Foundation $3.1 M
- M = Millions
Bilateral and Multilateral Funding
20%
Share of OECD
human rights funding
$751.5 Million out of
$3.9 Billion for all rights
1,343 Disbursements
Top Funders
- Sweden $136.8 M
- United States $103.6 M
- Switzerland $91.6 M
- United Kingdom $79.4 M
- Norway $62.0 M
- Germany $61.1 M
- European Union Institutions $51.3 M
- Netherlands $29.7 M
- Denmark $20.9 M
- Finland $20.7 M
- Australia $16.6 M
- International Labour Organisation $12.5 M
- Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) $12.3 M
- Spain $12.3 M
- France $6.6 M
- Belgium $6.4 M
- Italy $5.2 M
- Ireland $5.0 M
- United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) $3.4 M
- United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) $2.6 M
- Korea $2.3 M
- World Health Organization (WHO) $2.1 M
- Iceland $1.4 M
- Austria $1.2 M
- Canada $1.1 M
- M = Millions
Foundation Funding by Issue
Environmental and Resource Rights
$69,584,079 (17%)
202 Grants (14%)Sexual and Reproductive Rights
$54,556,477 (13%)
54 Grants (4%)Equality Rights and Freedom from Discrimination
$50,595,337 (12%)
240 Grants (17%)Health and Well-being Rights
$50,017,006 (12%)
60 Grants (4%)Human Rights, General
$43,037,783 (10%)
279 Grants (19%)Freedom from Violence
$39,000,040 (9%)
132 Grants (9%)Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding
$28,734,560 (7%)
109 Grants (8%)Access to Justice/Equality Before the Law
$24,207,422 (6%)
82 Grants (6%)Expression and Information Rights
$16,379,399 (4%)
87 Grants (6%)Migration and Displacement
$11,797,668 (3%)
96 Grants (7%)Civic and Political Participation
$11,749,021 (3%)
30 Grants (2%)Economic and Labor Rights
$10,942,602 (3%)
32 Grants (2%)
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
$113,964,603 (27%)
278 Grants (19%)Indigenous Peoples
$47,265,493 (11%)
95 Grants (7%)Children & Youth
$29,666,224 (7%)
108 Grants (7%)Migrants & Refugees
$19,931,464 (5%)
149 Grants (10%)LGBTQI
$6,976,730 (2%)
64 Grants (4%)People with Disabilities
$4,545,550 (1%)
19 Grants (1%)Human Rights Defenders
$1,934,249 (0%)
13 Grants (1%)Sex Workers
$129,962 (0%)
4 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
$170,635,036 (41%)
525 Grants (36%)Capacity-building and Technical Assistance
$60,011,741 (14%)
153 Grants (11%)Research and Documentation
$39,992,467 (10%)
112 Grants (8%)Media and Technology
$35,957,090 (9%)
139 Grants (10%)Coalition-building and Collaboration
$21,241,596 (5%)
110 Grants (8%)Litigation and Legal Aid
$6,496,510 (2%)
28 Grants (2%)Grassroots Organizing
$4,894,917 (1%)
35 Grants (2%)Arts and Culture
$2,539,489 (1%)
36 Grants (2%)Security and Resilience
$1,146,937 (0%)
5 Grants (0%)Scholarships and Travel
$44,983 (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.
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.
44 Grants (3%)