Advancing Locally Led Development: An Overview of U.S. Foundations’ Direct Global Giving
Since 1997, the Council on Foundations and Candid have analyzed trends in global grantmaking by U.S. foundations. In our State of Global Giving by U.S. Foundations: 2022 Edition report, which analyzed grants made between 2016 and 2019, we found that 39% of global grants made by U.S. foundations flowed to non-U.S. recipients. Of the total grant amount intended for international causes, only about 13% flowed to organizations implementing a grant in the country where they are locally registered. The remaining 26% flowed through intermediaries based outside the United States.
This report is an attempt to dig deeper into the data included in the State of Global Giving by U.S. Foundations: 2022 Edition and better understand direct global grantmaking by U.S. foundations: What is included in this 13% of global funding flows? Who is making the most direct grants, and who are they funding? What issues do grants address?
Key Findings
- Only 29% of globally focused U.S. foundations made at least one direct grant, with a median of five direct grants, during the 2016-2019 period.
- The top 25 global funders account for more than 75% of direct giving between 2016 and 2019.
- Almost half of foundations providing direct giving in the period 2016-2019 exclusively supported organizations in the so-called "Global North": Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, and European countries.
- The share of direct grant dollars going to "Global South" organizations declined each year from 2016 to 2019, peaking in 2016 at 64% and falling to 40% in 2019.
- And more.
Past International Grantmaking Reports
This report is a companion piece to the State of Global Giving by U.S. Foundations: 2022 Edition, also a collaboration between Candid and the Council to regularly analyze trends in international grantmaking by U.S. foundations. You can see the full collection of reports we’ve co-published about international grantmaking by US foundations since 1997 on IssueLab.
