foundation center

• General Operating Support for Local Organizations Represented Just 1% of International Giving by U.S. Foundations Over Five-year Period

  By Lauren Bradford and Inga Ingulfsen 

  

  From 2011 to 2015 U.S. foundations awarded a total of 35.4 billion dollars for organizations or programs based outside the U.S. International giving grew by 29 percent over the five-year period and reached an all-time high of $9.3 billion.

  These figures are drawn from The State of Global Giving by U.S. Foundations, a report jointly published by Foundation Center and Council on Foundations earlier this month. It’s the tenth in a series of joint research published by our two organizations since our first report on international grantmaking in 1997. (You can access the whole series here). While philanthropic funds are dwarfed by official development assistance – the $9.3 billion in international grants awarded by U.S. foundations in 2015 was equivalent to about a third of the $31 billion in U.S. official development assistance that year – we know governments alone can’t achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and that foundations are among the key civil society partners that will be instrumental in driving progress. We also know U.S. foundations provide critical support to civil society groups globally, including in countries with challenging legal environments for cross-border giving (more on this below). We therefore hope CIVICUS members and their extended networks will use our data and analysis to inform their strategic efforts and partnerships with U.S. foundations to strengthen civil society worldwide.

  Here are four key takeaways for civil society advocates around the world on international giving by U.S. foundations: