Top Foundation Funders

1. Ford Foundation $31.9 M
2. The Freedom Forum $31.2 M
3. Open Society Institute $22.9 M
4. Tides Foundation $8.8 M
5. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation $7.4 M
6. NoVo Foundation $7.2 M
7. Foundation For The Carolinas $6.0 M
8. Silicon Valley Community Foundation $5.9 M
9. Omidyar Network Fund $4.9 M
10. W.K. Kellogg Foundation $4.3 M
11. John S. and James L. Knight Foundation $4.2 M
12. Oak Foundation $4.0 M
13. Knight Foundation $3.4 M
14. The Kohlberg Foundation $3.2 M
15. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation $3.1 M
16. Foundation to Promote Open Society $2.9 M
17. The Kendeda Fund $2.8 M
18. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation $2.7 M
19. Humanity United $2.6 M
20. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation $2.6 M
21. Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund $2.5 M
22. The Democracy Fund $2.1 M
23. The Sigrid Rausing Trust $2.0 M
24. The California Endowment $1.7 M
25. American Jewish World Service $1.7 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

• Expression and Information Rights

  $86,493,823 (41%)
  440 Grants (33%)

• Equality Rights and Freedom from Discrimination

  $21,963,377 (10%)
  195 Grants (15%)

• Human Rights, General

  $20,128,708 (9%)
  183 Grants (14%)

• Access to Justice/Equality Before the Law

  $14,616,084 (7%)
  40 Grants (3%)

• Education, religion, and culture

  $12,261,687 (6%)
  62 Grants (5%)

• Environmental and Resource Rights

  $9,140,346 (4%)
  81 Grants (6%)

• Freedom from Violence

  $8,799,068 (4%)
  83 Grants (6%)

• Sexual and Reproductive Rights

  $8,720,738 (4%)
  47 Grants (4%)

• Civic and Political Participation

  $7,717,006 (4%)
  28 Grants (2%)

• Health and Well-being Rights

  $6,496,816 (3%)
  50 Grants (4%)

• Economic and Labor Rights

  $5,959,072 (3%)
  33 Grants (2%)

• Transitional Justice and Peacebuilding

  $5,346,004 (3%)
  48 Grants (4%)

• Migration and Displacement

  $4,520,275 (2%)
  51 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

  $42,536,251 (20%)
  336 Grants (25%)

• Children & Youth

  $29,427,541 (14%)
  155 Grants (12%)

• Migrants & Refugees

  $9,473,461 (4%)
  97 Grants (7%)

• Indigenous Peoples

  $5,276,892 (2%)
  54 Grants (4%)

• LGBTQI

  $3,409,999 (2%)
  109 Grants (8%)

• People with Disabilities

  $1,960,425 (1%)
  26 Grants (2%)

• Human Rights Defenders

  $1,391,570 (1%)
  57 Grants (4%)

• Sex Workers

  $325,834 (0%)
  8 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.