Top US corporate foundations investing in development

While most recognize the influence of large U.S. private foundations in global development, few think of traditional corporate foundations. As the likes of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Open Society Foundations often make headlines with multibillion pledges and daring initiatives, philanthropic arms of global U.S. firms are often relegated to the background. Yet a handful are dedicating millions of dollars annually to low- and middle-income countries. A corporate foundation is a private foundation that derives most of its grant-making funds from the contributions of a for-profit. Business-sponsored foundations often maintain close ties with their donor company, even though they are separate legal organizations subject to the same rules and regulations as other private foundations. This includes the requirement to file a 990 form with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, a tax form providing an overview of a tax-exempt organization’s activities, governance and financial flows. Complementing these forms with additional research, the Devex Analytics team, in collaboration with Candid, decided to take a closer look at the U.S.-based corporate foundations that have given the most to the global south in 2017/2018 — the fiscal year covered depends on data availability. It is important to note that the funding amounts covered below do not include contributions that companies give directly through their businesses. Companies are only required to disclose grants they give through their private philanthropic foundations. While each of these corporate foundations has distinct areas of interest based on their company’s industry, expertise or geographic presence, some funding trends and priorities are increasingly common. Youth, as well as women and girls, are privileged target groups of corporate foundations, with many of them providing funding for education and skills development programs. There also appears to be a general willingness to fund big and bold ideas, or novel approaches. Find open calls from these foundations and more on our funding platform. 1. Coca-Cola Foundation Headquarters: Atlanta, United States Total funding: $98.8 million (2017) Total funding for the global south: $29.5 million (2017) In 2017, $29.5 million — almost 30% of total funding — went to the global south. The Coca-Cola Foundation was the U.S. corporate foundation with the highest global giving in total value. The Coca-Cola Foundation has been one of the largest corporate foundations in the U.S. since its creation in 1984. With a presence in over 120 countries, the foundation centers its financial support on three key areas: water, women, and well-being. As part of the company’s broader environmental goals, the Coca-Cola Foundation has so far invested more than $216 million in water stewardship programs globally, with an emphasis on improving water use efficiency, recycling, wastewater treatment, and water security. With grants exceeding $408 million in the U.S. and abroad, the Coca-Cola Foundation is also committed to enhancing community well-being, notably through programs that focus on education and youth development; active and healthy living; health, including HIV/AIDS and malaria prevention; and humanitarian and disaster relief. The foundation also supports a range of organizations working to empower women through entrepreneurial skills-based education and training. The foundation works with organizations both large and small. Recent grants range from roughly $50,000 to $250,000, with big, established organizations sometimes receiving upward of $1 million for humanitarian assistance or multicountry initiatives. In 2018, the Coca-Cola Foundation handed out $1 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies for disaster relief operations in the aftermath of Indonesia’s earthquakes and tsunami in Lombok and Sulawesi. It also gave more than $1 million to Mercy Corps in support of its Youth Empowered for Success, or YES!, program in Liberia, Nigeria, Uganda, and Tunisia. 2. Nike Foundation Headquarters: Beaverton, United States Total funding: $26.0 million (2018) Total funding for the global south: $21.5 million (2018) With grants for the global south totaling $21.5 million in 2018, the Nike Foundation dedicated a whopping 83% of its total contributions to the global south. Established in 1994, the Nike Foundation almost exclusively funds programs designed to empower adolescent girls in low-income countries, with an emphasis on preventing early marriage, delaying first birth, ensuring health and safety, increasing school completion and employment, and expanding access to economic assets. For instance, the foundation is a key supporter of the With and For Girls Collective, a participatory fund which gives financial support to girl-led and girl-centered groups around the world by engaging young women in grant-making decisions. WFG was created by prominent household names in the fight for gender equality and children’s rights such as Comic Relief, EMpower, FRIDA the Young Feminist Fund, the Global Fund for Children, Mama Cash, Novo Foundation, Plan International, and the Stars Foundation. The program has supported 60 organizations in 41 countries since 2014, with the Nike Foundation contributing funding and expertise. As the organization’s original founder, the Nike Foundation is also a major donor to the Girl Effect — an independent global nonprofit organization working to inspire and equip girls to navigate adolescence and make informed choices about their health, education, and economic future. With contributions exceeding $12 million in 2019, the Nike Foundation has invested more than $200 million in the organization’s programs and research since 2004. The Nike Foundation typically joins forces with international organizations and influential initiatives that have extensive expertise in empowering adolescent girls globally. This includes BRAC, CARE, the Population Council, Mercy Corps, and even donors such as the U.K. Department for International Development and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Chosen partners are typically repeated grantees. 3. MetLife Foundation Headquarters: New York, United States Total funding: $41.7 million (2017) Total funding for the global south: $15.7 million (2017) With disbursements to low-income countries amounting to $15.7 million in 2017 — or 38% of total philanthropic contributions that year — the MetLife Foundation dedicates a generous portion of its funding to global development. Although the MetLife Foundation has supported underserved populations across the globe since its inception in 1976, it currently limits its support to financial inclusion initiatives. In 2018, the foundation realized its five-year goal to provide $200 million in grants to advance financial inclusion worldwide. Since then, the MetLife Foundation has broadened its scope to financial health, providing solutions to help lower-income communities manage household budgets, recover from the unexpected, build short-term savings, and plan for the future. To a lesser degree, the MetLife Foundation also supports disaster relief and climate change. The MetLife Foundation works with a range of stakeholders in the global development space, including think tanks, investment funds, and international organizations. Its financial inclusion grants tend to be quite large, with many ranging from roughly $250,000 to several million dollars. For instance, MetLife Foundation provided $5.4 million to Accion International for programs in Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Asia aimed at leveraging digital solutions to enhance the financial capabilities and engagement of underserved customers. 4. Citi Foundation Headquarters: New York, United States Total funding: $81.6 million (2017) Total funding for the global south: $15.1 million (2017) With a development budget of $15.1 million in 2017, the Citi Foundation’s grants to the global south represented 18.5% of its philanthropic funding that year. Moved by a global mandate to enhance employment opportunities and financial inclusion, the Citi Foundation structures its financial support around two key initiatives. Pathways to Progress provides youth ages 16-25 with career readiness tools and opportunities. In 2017, the Citi Foundation announced a $100 million commitment to the program to address youth unemployment worldwide over a period of three years. Meanwhile, the Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards highlights microentrepreneurs and microfinance networks that are driving economic progress and financial inclusion in their countries. An average of 26 countries participate in the program each year. The Citi Foundation is active across all regions, including the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Grants provided by the foundation are fairly large, typically starting at $100,000 and sometimes exceeding $1 million. In 2018, major grantees included United Way Worldwide, the United Nations Development Programme, Junior Achievement Worldwide, International Rescue Committee, and TechnoServe, among others. 5. JPMorgan Chase Foundation Headquarters: New York, United States Total funding: $171.0 million (2017) Total funding for the global south: $13.8 million (2017) At $13.8 million in 2017, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation’s global grant-making amounted to only 8% of philanthropic budget for that year. The company has however announced its intention to increase philanthropic investments by 40% over five years. That averages out to an additional $100 million per year by 2023 — a share of which could go to the low- and middle-income countries where the company has a presence. The JPMorgan Chase Foundation is focused on increasing economic opportunity both in the U.S. and abroad, and its development grant-making centers on workforce readiness and financial stability. Building on a previous $250 million commitment in 2013, the foundation announced an additional five-year pledge of $350 million in 2019 to continue building a future-ready workforce globally. The foundation also supports social entrepreneurs in emerging markets that offer breakthrough technology innovations to promote financial health in low- to moderate-income communities around the world. Along with DFID, the JPMorgan Chase Foundation co-funds the Catalyst Fund, an accelerator for inclusive fintech startups. JPMorgan Chase Foundation’s global grant-making covers specific countries in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. On the African continent, it is only active in South Africa. The foundation supports 50-100 grantees per year, and generally prioritizes large international and national organizations that work in its areas of interest. Grants tend to range from $50,000 to $750,000, with some awards exceeding $1 million. 6. Ford Motor Company Fund Headquarters: Dearborn, United States Total funding: $40.6 million (2017) Total funding for the global south: $10.5 million (2017) Distinct from the Ford Foundation, which is an independent private foundation, the Ford Motor Company Fund handed out $10.5 million in contributions to low-income countries in 2017, representing roughly a quarter of its annual budget. Using a framework they call Operation Better World, the Ford Fund directs most of its investments to community programs focused on education; health care; hunger and disaster relief; and cultural activities. As an example, the fund has recently opened five Ford Resource and Engagement Centers across the globe — including in the U.S., Romania, South Africa and Thailand — which are designed to bring stakeholders together to support surrounding communities. The Ford Fund also supports the empowerment of women and girls, with a focus on entrepreneurship, skills development, and education. Although insight into individual grants is limited, the Ford Fund appears open to collaborating with a wide range of actors in the social impact space — may they be nonprofits, social entrepreneurs or businesses. Since 2018, the fund has also signaled its intention to go beyond traditional grant-making by venturing into the social impact investing space. The Ford Fund is therefore expected to support a growing number of incubator and accelerator programs which support social entrepreneurs and provide them access to financing. 7. GE Foundation Headquarters: Boston, United States Total funding: $46.4 million (2018) Total funding for the global south: $10.3 million (2018) In 2018, the GE Foundation’s contributions to the global south reached $10.3 million — or more than a fifth of its philanthropic budget for that year. GE Foundation’s grant-making, both in the U.S. and abroad, revolves around four main priorities organized into signature programs: education and skills development; global health; disaster relief; and community success. The foundation’s Developing Health Globally program aims to increase access to quality health care in underserved communities across the world. One example is Safe Surgery 2020, a $25 million, three-year commitment led by the GE Foundation to improve the accessibility, quality and safety of surgical care in low- and middle-income countries. The project was first launched in Ethiopia and Tanzania in 2016, and has since expanded to South East Asia, with programs in Cambodia and Laos. The foundation also has a Disaster and Humanitarian Relief program which responds to major global disasters and humanitarian crises. Additionally, the GE Foundation’s Matching Gifts program enables employees to contribute to crisis relief efforts in their local communities, doubling their impact by matching their donations. While no geographic breakdown is available, a glance at the GE Foundation’s 2019 list of financial contributions indicates a preference for smaller grants ranging from approximately $10,000 to $60,000 to nonprofits and educational institutions. However, this does not prevent the foundation from awarding larger grants, particularly in the field of global health and emergency assistance. In 2019, the GE Foundation donated $1.1 million to the humanitarian organization Assist International. 8. BHP Billiton Foundation Headquarters: Houston, United States Total funding: $10.5 million (2017) Total funding for the global south: $10.0 million (2017) As the charitable foundation of a leading global resources company, the BHP Billiton Foundation dedicated 95% of its philanthropic giving to global sustainability challenges in 2017. Created in 2013, the BHP Foundation has so far invested more than $106 million in global sustainability issues. The foundation is specifically interested in natural resource governance, environmental resilience, and education equity, particularly for women and girls. In the field of natural resource governance, the BHP Foundation has partnered with influential groups such as Transparency International ($1.6 million), the International Finance Corporation ($1.9 million), and the Brookings Institution ($1.6 million) to enhance data transparency and accountability around extractives industries. Similarly, its work on environmental resilience is structured around a few high-profile, impactful engagements such as the Alto Mayo conservation project with Conservation International in the Peruvian Amazon; or support for the LandScale, a standardized approach for assessing and communicating the sustainability performance of landscapes where key commodities are produced. As for education, the BHP Foundation supports initiatives that identify new ways to improve learning outcomes as well as educational quality and opportunity. As an example, the foundation is currently working with UN Women’s Second Chance Education and Vocational Learning Program focused on marginalized women across six pilot countries — Australia, Cameroon, Chile, India, Jordan, and Mexico. With a portfolio of projects spanning 43 countries, the BHP Foundation’s grant-making strategy favors large grants in support of innovative approaches, new standards, and evidence generation. 9. Eli Lilly and Company Foundation Headquarters: Indianapolis, United States Total funding: $29.3 million (2017) Total funding for the global south: $7.4 million (2017) A separate entity from the Lilly Cares Foundation and the Lilly Endowment, the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation dedicated 25% of its philanthropic contributions in 2017 to the global south. Established in 1968 as the philanthropic arm of the American pharmaceutical giant Lilly, the Lilly Foundation supports initiatives designed to improve health access, strengthen education, and support communities. While it boasts a strong focus on the U.S. state of Indiana — the site of Lilly’s corporate headquarters — the Lilly Foundation also works in low- and middle-income countries to address challenges in the field of health and disease prevention/treatment. The foundation’s funding priorities include combating diabetes, cancer, and tuberculosis; health care professional education; patient advocacy; and consumer education programs. Although Lilly does not fund many international programs and favors partners it has worked with in the past, it supports both large and small organizations. Grants are typically multinational and range from around $25,000-$250,000. The foundation has also awarded larger grants, such as $1.1 million to the Stop TB Partnership, $3 million to the World Health Organization to support the TB and MDR/TB Prevention Care and Control program, or $1 million to Heifer Project International to increase dairy expertise in Eastern Africa. 10. AbbVie Foundation Headquarters: Chicago, United States Total funding: $21.4 million (2017) Total funding for the global south: $7.1 million (2017) With donations totaling $7.1 million in 2017, the AbbVie Foundation’s global south contributions made up a third of its philanthropic budget. The AbbVie Foundation aims to help poor, underserved communities through education and health care. In low- and middle-income countries, the foundation’s investments are geared toward HIV/AIDS; neglected tropical diseases; sustainable health care infrastructure, and access to quality health care; and humanitarian and disaster relief. The AbbVie Foundation prefers partnering with international nonprofits and U.N. agencies to achieve its philanthropic mission, with examples including Direct Relief, Relief International, Save the Children International, the World Food Programme, and UN Refugee Agency. Its grants typically range from $50,000-$200,000. 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