The Ford Foundation’s top BUILD grantees

The Ford Foundation is the second-largest private foundation in the United States, with an endowment of $16 billion. Its primary focus is on funding organizations that focus on social justice and equality. Previously, we analyzed the Ford Foundation’s funding in the global south from two pots — its main grantmaking and additional cash raised via a social bond, which together were worth $1.4 billion over the past five years. However, the foundation’s grantmaking is not limited to these two options. The foundation recognizes that organizations need core support to keep operations running. Thus, the Ford Foundation created the Building Institutions and Networks, or BUILD, initiative in 2016, which involves providing general operating support to social justice organizations. It has, so far, given out $1.4 billion toward this initiative since its inception. What exactly is the BUILD Initiative? The Ford Foundation provides five years’ worth of flexible funding under BUILD. This allows organizations to invest in their people, financing, and strategies. It will provide them with the resilience and longevity to carry out their programs. Grants under the initiative can be as low as $76,000 and as high as almost $14 million, and are open to organizations of any size. BUILD grantees are chosen on an invite-only basis. The foundation chooses its grantees from a list of organizations that have already received previous funding from it. The list of current opportunities can be found on their website. The first round of BUILD grants ran from 2016 until 2021. The second round started in January 2022 and will continue until 2026. The Ford Foundation said that during the first round of the BUILD program, around 52% of its money went to organizations focused on the global south. Looking at the figures from the first round, we found that the figure was lower. Around $212.8 million — or 23.8% — went to organizations that work in the global south. We excluded the figures that are tagged as worldwide for this analysis, focusing on the benefiting location that includes global south countries instead. Our analysis covers a nine-year period, from 2016 to 2024. All prices were converted to 2019 U.S. dollar constant prices. This conversion allows us to view the figures in a normal economy before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Devex also used the data from Ford’s grants database to find out which organizations received the most BUILD funding. Who are the top BUILD grantees? Center on Budget and Policy Priorities The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities received two awards worth almost $21 million. The biggest of these amounted to almost $14 million back in 2016. Family Values at Work: A Multi-State Consortium, Inc. Family Values at Work is a network of grassroots organizers that focuses on economic, racial, and gender justice. It received five grants that totaled $20.6 million. The highest of these was worth $10.2 million in 2021. In the next section, we will be focusing on the organizations that, despite being based in high-income countries, are working on projects that benefit the global south. Who are the top grantees working in the global south? Fund for Global Human Rights The Fund for Global Human Rights, though based in the United States, works mostly in the global south. It received three awards, amounting to $13.2 million. The largest of these amounted to $6.5 million. The grant allowed the organization to continue working with different organizations in the global south, championing human rights. Center for the Study of Law, Justice and Society CSLS is a University of California, Berkeley-based research facility. It received three awards, amounting to $7.1 million. The biggest amounted to $3.6 million, for work related to civic participation in Colombia. Open Government Partnership Secretariat OGP is a United States-based organization. It’s a collective of organizations and governments. Its work revolves around the concept of an open and accountable government. It received two awards worth $6.6 million. The largest of these amounted to $3.8 million to support its work in Africa, Europe, Indonesia, and South America. Legal Resources Trust The Legal Resources Trust, or Legal Resources Centre, is based in South Africa. It is an organization that focuses on the transformation of democracy in South Africa. It has a particular focus on land and education rights. It received three awards worth almost $6 million. The largest of these amounted to $2.7 million for institutional strengthening. Association of Forestry Communities of Peten ACOFOP is an association that manages forest concessions for sustainable forest product extraction. It received four awards worth $5.7 million. The largest of these was worth $2.9 million for core support to continue its work in Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Panama. Next, we will be looking at top grantees who are based in the global south. Who are the top grantees headquartered in the global south? CIVICUS World Alliance for Citizen Participation, Inc. CIVICUS is an alliance of over 17,000 civil organizations and activists. It is headquartered in South Africa. Its mission is to strengthen citizen action and civil society worldwide. It received three awards worth $10.9 million, with the largest amounting to almost $5 million. University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand is a South African-based university. It received three awards worth $4.6 million. The largest of these was worth $2.5 million to support the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies through institutional strengthening. Centre for Environmental Rights The Centre for Environmental Rights is another South African-based organization that advocates for environmental justice. It received four awards worth $4.5 million. The largest of these amounted to $1.9 million. Public Affairs Research Institute PARI is a research institute based in South Africa. It provides social science research and advocacy for the global south. It received four awards, amounting to $4.4 million. The largest was worth $1.9 million to support research on governance and public sector reform in South Africa. FUNDAR Center for Analysis and Research FUNDAR is an independent research institution based in Mexico that aims to promote substantive democracy. It received two awards worth $4.3 million. The largest of these amounted to $2.3 million.