Grants for international development organizations

2,702 international development and relief organizations received at least $1.1 billion in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 7,202 grants made from 3,807 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 3,807 foundations, 71% made just a single grant to global relief orgs, and 5% made grants to four or more global relief orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$1,097,705,688
Total grant dollars given to international development organizations
7,202
Number of grants made annually to international development organizations
3,807
Number of grantmakers funding international development organizations
$1,000
Median grant size to international development organizations

Foundations that support international development and relief organizations

Out of all grants made to international development organizations, 85% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 79% of the dollar-value of grants to global relief orgs. Foundations funding global relief orgs also made grants to international humanitarian organizations, food banks, homeless shelters, animal shelters, and universities.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
3,273
Medium
 
307
Large
 
226
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
 
75
Private
 
3,404
Corporate
 
149
Other
 
179

Grants made

Grants made to global relief orgsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
2,731
2-3
 
852
4-10
 
188
11+
 
36

Top 10 foundations supporting international development and relief organizations

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to global relief orgsNumber of grants made to global relief orgsMedian grant size
BaxterILNational1.1%278$100
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.3%127$218
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational0.7%122$105
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.8%99$1,000
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%96$500
Seattle FoundationWAState0.2%95$1,000
Salesforce Com FoundationCANational0.1%65$100
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)NJNational0.0%60$500
Bill & Melinda Gates FoundationWANational12.5%52$3,863,899
Baird FoundationWINational0.9%50$412

International development and relief organizations grantees

International development organizations with more than $5 million in total revenues received 96% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 69% of all global relief orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
7,082
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
120

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,200
$100k-$500k
 
$1,260
$500k-$1M
 
$1,042
$1M-$5M
 
$1,000
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
New York
 
2,360
California
 
559
Virginia
 
486
Massachusetts
 
336
Other
 
3,461

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
2,401
Washington DC
 
392
Boston
 
323
Virginia Beach
 
306
Other
 
3,638

Top 25 grants made to international development 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
Hadassah Medical Relief Association$19,227,500Hadassah
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA)$18,890,000Conservation and ScienceDavid and Lucile Packard Foundation
United States Fund for Unicef$17,070,086PolioBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere$15,500,000Delivery of Solutions To Improve Global Health; Global Health and Development Public Awareness and AnalysisBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Jhpiego Corporation$15,256,093Operational SupportJsi Research and Training Institute
United States Fund for Unicef$13,058,659PolioBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The One Campaign$13,000,000Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases; Global Health and Development Public Awareness and Analysis; Hiv; Nutrition; Pneumonia; Vaccine DeliveryBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The One Campaign$13,000,000Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases; Global Health and Development Public Awareness and Analysis; Hiv; Pneumonia; Vaccine DeliveryBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
International Rescue Committee (IRC)$11,803,347PRGM. ImplementationSesame Workshop (SW)
United States Fund for Unicef$11,700,000PolioBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Mass Design Group$11,191,763Support for Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture - AfricaHoward G Buffett Foundation (HGBF)
Vital Strategies$10,000,000Public Awareness and Knowledge SharingBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA)$10,000,000Core Support for the Reproductive Health and Womens Rights CollaborativeThe Ford Foundation
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA)$10,000,000Reproductive Health and Women's Rights CollaborativeThe JPB Foundation
Against Malaria Foundation Us$8,817,051Operating SupportGiveWell
Pact$8,808,768Supporting Human Rights, Democratic Initiatives And/or Rule of LawFreedom House
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA)$8,000,000For Use By 100 Resilient Cities Toward the Costs of Winding Down Its OperationsRockefeller Foundation
Doctors without Borders USA$7,885,667Project SupportTides 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 development organizations" category for this page is determined by the "Q30: International Development, Relief Services" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.