Grants for international humanitarian organizations

1,879 humanitarian organizations received at least $682.1 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 5,038 grants made from 2,975 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 2,975 foundations, 75% made just a single grant to humanitarian orgs, and 4% made grants to four or more humanitarian orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$682,087,739
Total grant dollars given to international humanitarian organizations
5,038
Number of grants made annually to international humanitarian organizations
2,975
Number of grantmakers funding international humanitarian organizations
$1,000
Median grant size to international humanitarian organizations

Foundations that support humanitarian organizations

Out of all grants made to international humanitarian organizations, 86% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 90% of the dollar-value of grants to humanitarian orgs. Foundations funding humanitarian orgs also made grants to international development organizations, food banks, animal shelters, multiservice human service organizations, and scholarship organizations.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
2,576
Medium
 
228
Large
 
170
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation typeNumber of grantmakers
Community
 
63
Private
 
2,663
Corporate
 
122
Other
 
127

Grants made

Grants made to humanitarian orgsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
2,260
2-3
 
589
4-10
 
97
11+
 
29

Top 10 foundations supporting humanitarian organizations

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to humanitarian orgsNumber of grants made to humanitarian orgsMedian grant size
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational0.5%101$100
BaxterILNational0.6%91$150
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.3%89$285
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.6%74$1,000
Seattle FoundationWAState0.1%66$1,000
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%63$501
Salesforce Com FoundationCANational0.1%47$100
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)NJNational0.0%44$500
Baird FoundationWINational0.6%39$400
Carmax FoundationVANational0.4%37$500

Humanitarian organizations grantees

International humanitarian organizations with more than $5 million in total revenues received 98% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 69% of all humanitarian orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
4,993
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
45

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,200
$100k-$500k
 
$1,131
$500k-$1M
 
$1,000
$1M-$5M
 
$1,000
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
New York
 
1,884
California
 
328
Massachusetts
 
252
Florida
 
239
Other
 
2,335

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
1,934
Boston
 
243
Bridgeport
 
214
Miami
 
189
Other
 
2,358

Top 25 grants made to international humanitarian organizations

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Gavi the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI)$315,000,000Vaccine DeliveryBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Plan International$32,994,317Accrual AcctgPlan International USA
Plan International$32,994,317Prog. SupportPlan International USA
Plan International$32,411,365Pledged AmountPlan International USA
Plan International$23,591,119Invoiced AmountPlan International USA
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta$20,564,682SupportChick-fil-A Peach Bowl
United States Fund for Unicef$19,999,402PolioBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
United States Fund for Unicef$17,070,086PolioBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
United States Fund for Unicef$13,058,659PolioBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
International Rescue Committee (IRC)$11,803,347PRGM. ImplementationSesame Workshop (SW)
United States Fund for Unicef$11,700,000PolioBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Against Malaria Foundation Us$8,817,051Operating SupportGiveWell
Pact$8,808,768Supporting Human Rights, Democratic Initiatives And/or Rule of LawFreedom House
Doctors without Borders USA$7,885,667Project SupportTides Foundation
Robin Hood Foundation / Tudor Charitable TR$5,600,000General Operating Support for RHF'S Grantmaking ProgramsMJS Foundation
Children's Healthcare of Atlanta$5,231,004General SupportLettie Pate Evans Foundation
Save the Children Federation$5,193,517Sub-AwardJohns Hopkins University (JHU)
Pact$5,030,089Fhi 360
Robin Hood Foundation / Tudor Charitable TR$5,000,000Gift To Support the Robin Hood Relief Fund in Response To Covid-19MJS Foundation
Mercy Corps$4,936,600Project SupportTides Foundation
Mercy Corps$4,718,525International DevelopmentSilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Robin Hood Foundation / Tudor Charitable TR$4,334,000Fight Poverty in Nyc.Robbins Family Foundation
United States Fund for Unicef$4,100,396NutritionBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Path Vaccine Solutions (PVS)$4,000,000PneumoniaBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Capital for Good USA$4,000,000Project Support: Community Fund To End Child MarriageNovo Foundation
Methodology: To determine grants and grantees, Cause IQ analyzes electronically-filed Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF financial disclosure documents, matching grantees to specific organizations using EINs and fuzzy matching logic. The "International humanitarian organizations" category for this page is determined by the "Q33: International Relief" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.