With the recent US, UK, and Dutch international aid cuts, civil society, human rights, DEI, and climate work and professionals are seeing significant impacts. The recent cuts in government funding for international aid and gender equality programs, combined with the Trump Administration's funding cuts that undermine DEI initiatives, democracy, LGBTQI+, and human rights recognitions and protections, threaten the safety, security, health, and equality of countless individuals across the globe.

As these new developments unfold, a number of funders are stepping up, reaffirming their commitment to the recognition, protection of human rights and advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals. We welcome these commitments and we need many more of these leaders.

As a company, ImpactMapper is unwavering in supporting the civil society and human rights sectors.  We will support how we best can by sharing resources and impact tracking and communication strategies during these challenging times.

Below we share a list of some funding opportunities by donors that are allocating emergency budgets to support human rights, women rights, and climate change initiatives globally.

We know that you all may have other opportunities on your radar, and we will use our next Impact Data Chat to crowdsource other funding opportunities.

If you are interested in further discussing the funding landscape and contributing to this collective mapping of funding opportunities, please join our free webinar on Mapping Funding Data, April 10th, 2025 at 5 p.m. CET, you can register here.

We will continue to update this list as new funding initiatives launch throughout the year. Please feel free to share other funding opportunities that we should add to build the collective map.

• MacArthur Foundation. In response to the new federal funding cuts, the organization raised its grant distribution from 5 to 6% of its endowment over the next two years with its initiative See it at Six. This change is projected to encompass an additional $150 million into grants and more than $6 million to fund Climate Journalism initiatives. Learn more here: https://www.macfound.org/press/perspectives/supporting-civil-society-in-need-with-increased-giving

• Freedom Together Foundation. The board of the Freedom Together Foundation, formerly known as the JPB Foundation, has decided to spend 10 % or more of their endowment to provide rapid response grants to communities and organizations working to defend democratic values and norms. Learn more here: https://www.freedomtogether.org/2025/02/25/presidents-letter-courage-is-contagious/

• Unlock Aid. The organization that started as a research project in 2021 to report on the needs to reform the world’s largest development agencies, has launched this year a Foreign Aid Bridge Fund in response to the USAID Funding Freeze. The initiative is taking contributions from different amounts to help direct grants for affected organizations and communities. Learn more here: https://www.foreignaidbridgefund.org/

• Altitude Labs. The biotechnology accelerator Altitude Labs, backed by Recursion Pharmaceuticals, is launching a new pre-seed fund - to offer between $100,000 to $250,000 in capital and 12 months of lab and office space -  in response to the federal funding cuts of the National Institutes of Health. Learn more: https://www.altitudelab.org/altitude-lab-fund

• Elton John AIDS Foundation. After the USAID Funding Freeze, the Elton John AIDS Foundation and their 90+ partners have launched The Rocket Response Fund with a $125 million allocation to help provide lifesaving services to HIV and AIDS response severely impacted by this decision. Learn more: https://www.eltonjohnaidsfoundation.org/what-we-do/rocketfund/

• Bloomberg Philanthropies. The organization, led by Former Mayor of New York and UN Special Envoy on Climate Solutions, Michael R. Bloomberg, launched in late January a joint effort with other funding partners to “ensure the United States meets its global climate obligations following the federal government’s intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement for the second time. This includes covering the funding gap left by the United States to UN Climate Change (UNFCCC) and upholding the country’s reporting commitments.” Learn more: https://www.bloomberg.org/press/un-special-envoy-michael-r-bloomberg-announces-effort-to-ensure-u-s-honors-paris-agreement-commitments/

• Mama Cash launched a Resilience Fund, to support feminist groups, collectives & initiatives founded, led and/or run by women, girls, trans & intersex people who are advocating for their rights. Applications are welcome from the Americas & Caribbean, Europe, Central Asia and North Asia and the deadline is March 31.

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