Top Foundation Funders

1. Open Society Foundations $29.8 M
2. National Endowment for Democracy $17.5 M
3. Ford Foundation $5.5 M
4. Bloomberg Philanthropies $3.8 M
5. The Sigrid Rausing Trust $3.2 M
6. New Israel Fund $2.8 M
7. The Global Fund for Women $1.5 M
8. Hivos $1.1 M
9. The Oak Foundation $1.0 M
10. Human Dignity Foundation $900.0 K
11. Fund For Global Human Rights $840.4 K
12. American Jewish World Service - Donor Advised Funds $825.0 K
13. Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders $732.7 K
14. Arab Human Rights Fund $603.0 K
15. Cordaid $557.7 K
16. Anonymous $529.7 K
17. Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund $385.0 K
18. Strategic Fund for Turkey $360.1 K
19. The Nathan Cummings Foundation $355.0 K
20. NoVo Foundation $350.0 K
21. Mama Cash $334.6 K
22. Freedom House $298.0 K
23. Anonymous $278.9 K
24. Rockefeller Brothers Fund $277.0 K
25. Klarman Family Foundation $275.0 K
26. M = Millions

Foundation Funding by Issue

• Equality Rights and Freedom from Discrimination

  $20,884,869 (27%)
  257 Grants (32%)

• Human Rights, General

  $20,564,965 (26%)
  279 Grants (34%)

• Economic and Labor Rights

  $7,349,935 (9%)
  25 Grants (3%)

• Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding

  $6,949,620 (9%)
  14 Grants (2%)

• Expression and Information Rights

  $6,618,889 (8%)
  37 Grants (5%)

• Freedom from Violence

  $4,811,701 (6%)
  70 Grants (9%)

• Education, religion, and culture

  $4,739,286 (6%)
  40 Grants (5%)

• Access to Justice/Equality Before the Law

  $2,026,610 (3%)
  26 Grants (3%)

• Health and Well-being Rights

  $1,448,330 (2%)
  14 Grants (2%)

• Civic and Political Participation

  $899,214 (1%)
  16 Grants (2%)

• Environmental and Resource Rights

  $781,353 (1%)
  23 Grants (3%)

• Migration and Displacement

  $504,128 (1%)
  7 Grants (1%)

• Sexual and Reproductive Rights

  $313,147 (0%)
  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

• Women & Girls

  $19,224,274 (25%)
  276 Grants (34%)

• Economically Disadvantaged

  $12,550,298 (16%)
  97 Grants (12%)

• Crime or Abuse Victims

  $10,064,859 (13%)
  90 Grants (11%)

• Children & Youth

  $7,529,803 (10%)
  92 Grants (11%)

• Ethnic or Racial Minorities

  $6,845,850 (9%)
  112 Grants (14%)

• Migrants & Refugees

  $3,463,126 (4%)
  43 Grants (5%)

• Human Rights Defenders

  $2,603,652 (3%)
  77 Grants (9%)

• People with AIDS

  $1,307,522 (2%)
  7 Grants (1%)

• People with Disabilities

  $916,968 (1%)
  16 Grants (2%)

• LGBTQI

  $851,631 (1%)
  24 Grants (3%)

• Offenders & Ex-Offenders

  $362,617 (0%)
  6 Grants (1%)

• Indigenous Peoples

  $226,500 (0%)
  6 Grants (1%)

• Substance Abusers

  $118,517 (0%)
  3 Grants (0%)

• Sex Workers

  $102,740 (0%)
  5 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

• Funder Global Dialogue
  Recipient Multecilerle Dayanisma Dernegi (Turkey)
  Description To advocate for refugee rights, raise awareness about the situation of refugees, provide financial and legal support, and help refugees access health services.
• Funder HIVOS
  Recipient MidEast Youth
  Description To support their innovative use of social media to promote access to information and free speech and expression, especially focusing on the lack of rights of marginalized communities in the Middle East.

Related Resources

• Funding at the Intersection of Governance and Sustainable Development to Achieve Human Rights
• Transitional Human Rights Work in Syria: A Pilot Initiative Embedding Human Rights Norms in Nascent Governance Structures