Ford Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The iconic Ford Foundation’s global reach and vast grantmaking interests work to address inequality, social justice, freedom of expression, and workforce development. Its grants for work and opportunity prioritize emerging technologies and preparing the workforce for the future of work. Ford’s grants related to women and girls tend to focus on sexual and reproductive health rights, while its LGBTQ grantmaking supports projects that “secure legal rights, improve economic security and address safety concerns” of LGBTQ individuals outside of the U.S.
IP TAKE: Ford’s grants can be quite substantial, but highly competitive. Since its restructuring, funding is more competitive than ever. Make sure to have your proposal read by several colleagues in your field in order to put forth the best proposal possible. Keep things succinct and grounded in science-based research, where applicable.
Ford offers general support and prioritizes a handful of grantees. Grants tend to center on the New York and Washington D.C areas, but occur at both the national and international levels. General, direct and core support are offered here, as well as individual fellowships based on an array of research areas.
Due perhaps to its size and range of commitments, this funder is known for its bureaucracy. While the foundation intends to support progressive causes, it tends to be risk-averse and unresponsive to both grantseekers and grantees.
The foundation is clear about what it’s willing to support, but reach out to program officers to clarify any questions before applying — if you can get a hold of them. To break through here, network with Ford’s officers to make sure your project, once funded, gets the support it needs.
PROFILE: Founded in 1936 by Henry Ford’s son, Edsel Ford, the Ford Foundation is one of the world’s largest and best-known philanthropic organizations. By the late 1940s, the foundation expanded its work, dedicating its giving to the “advancement of human welfare through reducing poverty and promoting democratic values, peace, and educational opportunity.” In 2016, the foundation underwent a restructuring, focusing its work on global inequality of all kinds. It operates an array of national and international programs, with the goal of promoting “a world in which all individuals, communities, and peoples work toward the protection and full expression of their human rights; are active participants in the decisions that affect them; share equitably in the knowledge, wealth, and resources of society; and are free to achieve their full potential.” Its main focus areas include Civic Engagement and Government; Creativity and Free Expression; Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice; Technology and Society; Natural Resources and Climate Change; Future of Work; Disability and Inclusion; and International Cooperation and Global Governance. With 13.1 billion in assets, Ford is a grantmaking powerhouse.
In 2020, in an effort to support its grantees through the COVID-19 pandemic, Ford announced that it will “offer for sale $1 billion of taxable Social Bonds, the net proceeds of which will be used for grantmaking to help sustain and strengthen mission-critical social justice and creative expression organizations.” This “will enable the foundation to pay out more than 10 percent of the value of its total endowment in 2020 and 2021.”
Grants for Work and Opportunity
Ford’s Future of Work aims to “ensure that there is a meaningful future of work that places workers and their well-being at the center.” Its three-pronged strategy consists of strengthening connection by working to “bridge the gaps between consumers’ hopes and needs, workers’ experiences, changing business models, evolving technology, and political strategies, with an eye to shaping a collective agenda”; shaping solutions in policy and practice through “efforts to develop, test, and implement innovative labor and social protection policies, as well as private sector practices and models”; and strengthening worker organization, voice, and power by “building the capacity of workers and worker-centered organizations to engage in and shape the debate about work today and in the future.” Past grantees for the future of work include American Sustainable Business Institute, Economic Policy Institute, and Workers Defense Project.
Grantmaking for work and opportunity also stems from Ford’s new Disability and Inclusion initiative, which aims to “support leaders and organizations that advance economic justice for disabled people and bold changes to a system that perpetuates poverty.” Early grants from this program have gone to the American Association of People with Disabilities, the National Coalition for Latinxs with Disabilities and the Partnership for Public Service’s policy work on “disability rights and creating a more accessible information technology ecosystem.”
Grants for Climate Change
The Ford Foundation’s Natural Resources and Climate Change focus area prioritizes work benefitting or protecting the Global South and indigenous communities. The program’s current strategy focuses on fostering agency among “rural communities in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and Indonesia” in order to help those communities “secure land rights and have their say in the planning of projects.” In this way, Ford intends for these communities to enjoy their “fair share of revenues,” as well as compensation “when there are injurious outcomes.” Thus, Ford’s climate change giving supports climate change work that intersects with the vulnerable communities that are amongst the first to be impacted by the global effects of climate change, induced by richer nations. Ford’s climate change work also works with various companies and governments to “reduce illicit finance, corruption, tax evasion, and environmental crimes associated with the natural resource sector, and to redirect associated savings toward programs that help reduce inequality.”
Grants for LGBTQ, Women and Girls
Ford’s Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice program supports organizations that address discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexuality, race, ethnicity, and indigenous or migrant status. The overall objective of Ford’s grantmaking through this program is to “bridge the gap between formal equality under the law and the reality of inequality in the people’s daily lives.” Many of Ford’s gender rights grants directly related to girls and women focus on sexuality and reproductive health rights. Ford also conducts grantmaking that benefits the LGBTQ community. The program oversees the advancement of “freedom and dignity,” as well as expanding the rights of women and girls. Divided into international and national funding, the foundation’s LGBTQ work largely supports “countering abuses of power and reimagining the state’s role in protecting the safety and dignity of all people.” Past LGBTQ efforts aid HIV positive individuals in Africa, as well as those LGBTQ individuals who live under repressive regimes.
Grants for Racial Justice, Immigrants, and Criminal Justice Reform
Ford’s Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice program — which has two strategies, one for international grantmaking, one for national — area aims to address the structural inequalities that affect women, immigrants, people of color, and LGBTQ people by supporting people and organizations that are “engaging in innovative advocacy, forging unexpected alliances, and reframing narratives to represent lived realities.” Its United States program prioritizes mass incarceration, women’s fundamental rights, and demonization of immigrants, while its international grantmaking through this program addresses largely gender-based violence. Grantmaking related to mass incarceration supports “sentencing reforms aimed at reducing prison populations and redirecting funds into crime prevention and other initiatives,” “innovative alternative-to-incarceration models,” and “communications initiatives that push back against the narrative of incarceration as an answer to public safety.” A recent project focused on immigrants centers on narratives of the border.
Grants for Community Development, Civic Engagement and Democracy
The Ford Foundation awards grants related to civic engagement and democracy through several of its program areas. Its Civic Engagement and Democracy focus area works to “protect and help civic spaces thrive to ensure all people have the opportunity to raise their voices, influence decisions, and hold governments to account.” Its U.S. grantmaking aims to foster coordination and collaboration between “a mix of grassroots, policy, and advocacy organizations led by people of color, women, immigrants, people with disabilities, youth, and the LGBTQ+ community” to promote civic participation and leadership. Its international strategy aims to “increase and improve civic space by countering negative trends and promoting a positive, tangible understanding of its role” in East Africa, North Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America. It generally focuses on region-specific issues such corruption, government violence, and workers’ rights.
Finally, Ford’s Technology and Society program area aims to promote “equal access to, and fair regulation of, digital technology that is designed to advance transparency, privacy, access to knowledge, and free expression for all people” by supporting the growth of “technically sophisticated, diverse organizations dedicated to advancing equitable and more inclusive digital spaces and systems.” It works to foster collaboration between social justice organizations and tech companies and advocate for progressive technology policy.
Grants for Journalism, Arts and Culture
The Ford Foundation conducts some grantmaking for journalism through its Creativity and Free Expression program. This program seeks to explore “how cultural narratives affect and shape our reality, and how the arts, journalism, and film can contribute to fairer and more just societies.” It supports projects from individuals and organizations that draw attention to underrepresented groups and strengthen marginalized peoples. Operating within the Creativity and Free Expression program, JustFilms supports film, video, and emerging media projects that “inspire imaginations, disrupt stereotypes, and help transform the conditions that perpetuate injustice and inequality.” View recently produced films from this program here to see what types of projects JustFilms supports.
Grants for Global Development, Global Health, Climate Change, Immigrants and Refugees
A significant portion of Ford’s grantmaking works across multiple interest areas and intersecting issues and needs. Ford’s newest grantmaking initiative, the International Cooperation and Global Governance program, recognizes inequality, climate change, pandemics and migration as pressing global issues and works toward “bringing together diverse ideas, institutions, and individuals to advance a shared vision for achieving a just and inclusive global order.” In addition to grantmaking, this initiative aims to work with governments and private sector entities to create dialogue and viable solutions. Early grants from this program have supported the European Advisory Group’s Sustainability Reporting Board, the Ideas for Peace Foundation and the International Institute for Sustainable Development.
In 2020, the foundation created the $50 million Ford Global Fellowship program, which seeks to end inequality around the world in communities most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Grant seekers interested in global development should also consider Ford’s programs in Civic Engagement and Government, Equitable Development, Gender, Race, and Ethnic Justice, Inclusive Economies, and Youth Opportunities and Learning, among other programs. While the foundation has offices around the world, grant seekers should familiarize themselves with Ford’s geographic restrictions, particularly as they relate to specific programs.
An older initiative, Building Institutions and Networks (BUILD), works globally to support the strength and resilience of social justice organizations. This program provides unrestricted funding to organizations, usually over a period of several years, along with strategic and developmental supports. BUILD grants prioritize stable organizations with strong connections to and roots in the communities they serve. Past grantees include South Africa’s Katswe Sisterhood, the School of Public Affairs and Global Policy at the American University in Cairo, the Center for Popular Democracy and Earthsight, an organization that investigates environmental and social crime globally.
Grants for Humanitarian Relief
In 2020, in an effort to support its grantees through the COVID-19 pandemic, Ford announced that it will “offer for sale $1 billion of taxable Social Bonds, the net proceeds of which will be used for grantmaking to help sustain and strengthen mission-critical social justice and creative expression organizations.” This “will enable the foundation to pay out more than 10 percent of the value of its total endowment in 2020 and 2021.”
Important Grant Details:
The Ford Foundation has recently made about $700 million in grants a year. Grants typically range from $75,000 to $1 million, with an average grant size of about $100,00. This funder supports organizations of all sizes and works globally in its areas of interest. More information on past grant recipients can be found in the program’s grants database.
While the Ford Foundation does not run an open application program, it posts current opportunities on its website and invites grantseekers to sign up for updates at the bottom of the page.
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