Ford Foundation reorganizes its grantmaking around seven funding areas aimed at protecting democracy
The $18 billion foundation announced its first strategy refresh in more than a decade on Oct. 22. The new areas launch through 2027, with larger, multiyear general operating grants, a racial justice fund and some current work to be wound down.
New York. The Ford Foundation said on Oct. 22 that it will reorganize its grantmaking around seven new funding areas meant to protect what it calls the preconditions for democracy. It is the foundation's first refresh of its areas of work in more than a decade, and the strategy for each area will be launched on a rolling basis over the course of 2027.
The New York foundation, which has an endowment of $18 billion, said its new mission is to protect and strengthen democratic values, fundamental freedoms and inclusive economies worldwide. The change comes one year after Heather Gerken was appointed its 11th president, and the foundation has set out the strategy in a public report titled "How We Meet This Moment."
Seven funding areas
The areas are Protecting Democratic Governance and the Rule of Law; Building Just and Inclusive Economies; Defending Information as a Public Good; Securing Safety, Justice, and Fairness; Accelerating Gender Equality; Fostering Global Cooperation; and Advancing Racial Justice. Under the last, the foundation will establish a racial justice fund with dedicated staff. It said its support for social justice and marginalized communities will run through all seven areas.
Some current work will end. Starting in January 2027, program staff will move into three units focused on strategy design, transitional grantmaking and what the foundation calls responsible sunsetting of areas of work, so that grants continue while the new strategies are built. Ford officials declined to say which of the foundation's more than 2,300 grantees will lose funding, The Associated Press reported, and a spokesperson estimated that the foundation will move $700 million in grants for 2027.
What changes for grantees
The foundation said it will expand general operating support, increase multiyear funding, make larger grants and keep strengthening the institutional capacity of its grantees, citing research showing that grantees with flexible, long-term funding were far better equipped for unexpected challenges.
It also plans to invest in the nonprofit sector itself, in shared infrastructure, strategic consolidation and partnership, workforce support and ethical technology tools, and to keep using impact investing and other ways of moving money to the sector. A newly created Office of Innovation will carry that work across philanthropy.
According to the AP, Ford earlier ended Building Institutions and Networks, a program that gave grantees flexible money for general operations, and Nicholas Turner, the foundation's executive vice president for programs, said that approach is being built into all of its grantmaking.
“The Ford Foundation's new vision is an evolution, not a revolution, of our work, and a reflection of this era's rapidly changing global landscape.”
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