Top Foundation Funders

1. Open Society Foundations $261.6 M
2. Ford Foundation $171.1 M
3. National Endowment for Democracy $105.7 M
4. Anonymous $93.7 M
5. W. K. Kellogg Foundation $59.2 M
6. The Oak Foundation $40.0 M
7. The Atlantic Philanthropies $39.0 M
8. Arcus Foundation $36.6 M
9. Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program $32.9 M
10. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $31.4 M
11. The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation $28.5 M
12. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation $26.7 M
13. Hivos $25.9 M
14. The Sigrid Rausing Trust $23.1 M
15. Tides Foundation $22.4 M
16. Freedom House $22.4 M
17. American Jewish World Service - Donor Advised Funds $22.2 M
18. The California Endowment $20.7 M
19. Public Welfare Foundation $18.6 M
20. Humanity United $17.5 M
21. NoVo Foundation $16.7 M
22. Public Interest Projects $15.4 M
23. Nationale Postcode Loterij $14.2 M
24. Google.org $14.1 M
25. The Rockefeller Foundation $13.8 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

  $453,404,136 (27%)
  4,667 Grants (27%)

• Human Rights, General

  $331,811,601 (19%)
  3,486 Grants (20%)

• Health and Well-being Rights

  $144,091,290 (8%)
  1,254 Grants (7%)

• Education, religion, and culture

  $123,434,149 (7%)
  1,305 Grants (8%)

• Freedom from Violence

  $106,438,505 (6%)
  977 Grants (6%)

• Economic and Labor Rights

  $104,817,527 (6%)
  1,031 Grants (6%)

• Environmental and Resource Rights

  $88,134,661 (5%)
  1,408 Grants (8%)

• Access to Justice/Equality Before the Law

  $85,478,808 (5%)
  714 Grants (4%)

• Sexual and Reproductive Rights

  $84,189,526 (5%)
  714 Grants (4%)

• Expression and Information Rights

  $57,394,611 (3%)
  680 Grants (4%)

• Migration and Displacement

  $57,342,140 (3%)
  467 Grants (3%)

• Civic and Political Participation

  $36,124,680 (2%)
  293 Grants (2%)

• Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding

  $29,338,261 (2%)
  128 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

  $637,495,253 (37%)
  4,977 Grants (29%)

• Ethnic or Racial Minorities

  $437,988,905 (26%)
  4,213 Grants (25%)

• Women & Girls

  $319,123,167 (19%)
  4,461 Grants (26%)

• Children & Youth

  $277,283,008 (16%)
  2,877 Grants (17%)

• Migrants & Refugees

  $188,291,926 (11%)
  1,788 Grants (10%)

• Crime or Abuse Victims

  $161,295,191 (9%)
  1,348 Grants (8%)

• LGBTQI

  $79,594,180 (5%)
  1,250 Grants (7%)

• People with Disabilities

  $73,637,145 (4%)
  830 Grants (5%)

• Offenders & Ex-Offenders

  $67,158,434 (4%)
  630 Grants (4%)

• People with AIDS

  $46,233,079 (3%)
  572 Grants (3%)

• Indigenous Peoples

  $46,028,381 (3%)
  631 Grants (4%)

• Substance Abusers

  $13,688,130 (1%)
  187 Grants (1%)

• Human Rights Defenders

  $9,337,718 (1%)
  280 Grants (2%)

• Sex Workers

  $5,913,393 (0%)
  130 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.