Each year the Ford Foundation receives about 44,000 proposals and makes some 2,000 grants. Types of support include grants, recoverable grants, loans and loan guarantees. Requests range from a few thousand to millions of dollars and are accepted in categories such as project planning and support; general support; and endowments. Grant applications are reviewed at our New York headquarters and in our regional offices. Please check the locations of our regional offices to determine if we operate in your country of interest.
Grants
A grant is a commitment by the foundation to make payments to an organization or an individual over a set period of time to further one of the interest areas in which we work. The foundation gives the grantee autonomy over management of the funds, but all grantees must sign a letter agreeing to abide by the terms and conditions of the grant. Grants administrators ensure that the grant-making process—from preparation of the grant recommendation to the closing of the file—conforms to the foundation's procedures and standards. Here are the types of grants we make:
- General/core support
- Project
- Planning
- Competition
- Matching
- Recoverable
- Individual
- Endowment
- Foundation-administered project
Program-Related Investments (PRIs)
These investments are usually loans made at below-market interest rates. PRIs can be made to both nonprofit and for-profit businesses as long as the money is used to further a charitable purpose. PRIs are helpful to businesses and social enterprises whose access to the market banking system is limited because of a lack of credit history or uncertainty about the eventual success of a project. When using a PRI, a program officer can also grant loan guarantees, equity investments or deposits in banks to help grantee organizations gain access to capital. Sometimes a grant can be coupled to a PRI to provide technical assistance or other support to guarantee the success of a PRI.
The Ford Foundation pioneered the use of PRIs in 1968. By 2007, we had committed $400 million for social investments, and thousands of donors now use PRIs to advance philanthropic work. PRI support is generally restricted to existing grantees of the foundation.