Unbound Philanthropy

Charity Number: CUSTOM_6F97A6D2

Annual Expenditure: £1.7M

Stay updated on changes from Unbound Philanthropy and other funders

Get daily notifications about new funding opportunities, deadline changes, and programme updates from UK funders.

Free Email Updates

Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: £1.7 million (UK); $4.6 million (US)
  • Success Rate: Not publicly disclosed
  • Decision Time: Not publicly disclosed
  • Grant Range: Varies widely (average £78,337 across portfolio)
  • Geographic Focus: United Kingdom and United States only

Contact Details

Website: https://unboundphilanthropy.org/

UK Phone: 020 7251 9304

Email: mail@unboundphilanthropy.org

London Office Address: Ground Floor, 45 Pall Mall, London, SW1Y 5JG

Note: Unbound does not accept unsolicited applications. Grants are by invitation only.

Overview

Founded in 2003, Unbound Philanthropy is an independent private grantmaking foundation with offices in New York and London (opened in 2014). With assets exceeding $188 million, the foundation invests in leaders and organizations working to build a vibrant, welcoming society and just immigration system as part of a pluralist and inclusive democracy. From 2005 to 2022, Unbound awarded 920 grants totaling over $108 million. In the UK specifically, they have made 142 donations totalling £15.1 million to 90 organisations. In 2019, Unbound received the NCRP “Mover and Shaker” Award for transforming narratives and advancing immigrant justice through pop culture, recognizing their co-founding role in the Pop Culture Collaborative. The foundation emphasizes multi-year general support grants and actively supports grantee collaborations and capacity building.

Funding Priorities

Strategic Approaches

Unbound focuses work across three highly interconnected strategic approaches:

  1. Activate Public Support - Deepening and activating public support for an immigration system rooted in justice and a welcoming society through narrative change and cultural work
  1. Ensure a Just System - Supporting work toward immigration systems and policies that honor the dignity of all people and advance the common good
  1. Strengthen Belonging - Promoting welcoming communities where all people, including immigrants, belong and can fully participate in social, civic, and economic life

Cross-Cutting Priority

The foundation has adopted a foundation-wide strategy to address climate-related migration, recognizing the intersection between climate change and human mobility.

Types of Support

  • Multi-year general support (preferred where possible)
  • Project-specific grants
  • Traditional legal aid for immigrants
  • Grassroots activism and organizing
  • Narrative change and cultural initiatives
  • Impact litigation
  • Strategic communications
  • Civic engagement
  • Policy advocacy

Important: Unbound is not primarily a funder of direct services, though many grantees provide direct services that work in tandem with advocacy, litigation, and communications.

Geographic Limitation

Grants are made only in the United Kingdom and United States.

Helpful Hinchilla

Ready to write a winning application for Unbound Philanthropy?

Our AI helps you craft proposals that match their exact priorities. Save 10+ hours and increase your success rate.

Get Free Beta Access

Governance and Leadership

Executive Director: Taryn Higashi (joined 2008 as first staff member)

  • Previously managed migrant and refugee rights portfolio at Ford Foundation
  • Co-founded Four Freedoms Fund in 2003, which has re-granted over $300 million
  • Board Chair of International Refugee Assistance Project
  • Board member of Center for Effective Philanthropy

UK Leadership:

  • Will Somerville, UK Director
  • Alice Sachrajda, UK Program Officer and UK Head of Cultural Strategy (joined 2023), leads UK work on climate and migration

Key Insights from Leadership

On narrative change, Taryn Higashi and the Unbound team emphasize: "Developing narratives takes time, and narratives need to be implemented and continually iterated, tested, revised, retested and repeated, until they become a story we've always known. Engaging in narrative requires more collective energy, creativity and rigor than we have typically allocated."

Three key lessons they share with other funders:

  1. “We must engage in narrative in collaboration” - bringing together researchers, people with lived experience, artists, experts in narrative strategy, and philanthropy
  2. Time and iteration are critical for narrative development
  3. “Narrative change does not happen in a silo; it happens when it is interconnected with organizing and policy-influencing activities”

Application Process and Timeline

How to Apply

Invitation Only: Unbound Philanthropy does not accept unsolicited grant applications due to limited staff capacity.

How Organizations Get Noticed

The foundation identifies potential grantees through:

  • Close consultation with current grantee and funding partners
  • Collaboration with other funders in multiple networks
  • Reviewing hundreds of grant applications made to other funders through regular field research
  • Conversations with organizations at conferences and other meetings across their fields
  • Recommendations from experts working on immigration and refugee issues

Decision Timeline

Not publicly disclosed. Specific timelines likely vary based on grant type and program.

Success Rates

Success rates are not publicly disclosed. Given the invitation-only model, organizations invited to apply likely have higher success rates than typical open application processes.

Reapplication Policy

Not publicly disclosed. However, the foundation's emphasis on multi-year general support suggests they maintain ongoing relationships with successful grantees.

Application Success Factors

Strategic Alignment is Critical

Organizations most likely to receive funding demonstrate:

  1. Clear connection to one or more of Unbound's three strategic approaches: activating public support, ensuring a just system, or strengthening belonging
  1. Integrated approach: Work that connects narrative change with organizing, policy advocacy, and/or civic engagement - “narrative power is built when narrative strategy is interconnected with other power-building strategies”
  1. Focus on immigrants and refugees: All work must relate to building a welcoming society and just immigration system
  1. Geographic eligibility: Must operate in the UK or US
  1. Innovation and responsiveness: Unbound seeks “pragmatic, innovative, and responsive approaches”

Types of Work They Value

  • Legal rights and protections for migrants and refugees
  • Narrative and cultural work that transforms public perceptions
  • Grassroots organizing and community building
  • Policy advocacy and impact litigation
  • Work addressing climate-related migration
  • Initiatives promoting pluralism and inclusive democracy

Visibility and Networking Matter

Since applications are invitation-only, being visible in the field is essential:

  • Attend relevant conferences on immigration, refugee rights, and social justice
  • Build relationships with other organizations in Unbound's network
  • Collaborate with other funders and participate in funder networks
  • Demonstrate thought leadership through publications, events, or innovative approaches

They Support Capacity Building

Beyond grant funding, Unbound provides:

  • Facilitation of collaborations and alliances
  • Fundraising support
  • Other capacity-building assistance

This suggests they look for organizations ready to scale impact and build institutional strength.

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  1. Network strategically: With invitation-only applications, visibility matters. Attend immigration and refugee rights conferences, build relationships with Unbound's existing grantees, and engage with funder collaboratives in this space.
  1. Think holistically: Don't pitch single-strategy work. Unbound values integrated approaches that combine narrative change, organizing, policy advocacy, and civic engagement. Show how different strategies reinforce each other.
  1. Emphasize narrative power: Given Unbound's NCRP award for narrative transformation and co-founding of Pop Culture Collaborative, demonstrate how your work shapes public understanding and cultural narratives about immigrants and refugees.
  1. Highlight collaboration: Unbound is a highly collaborative funder. Show your partnerships with other organizations, willingness to work in alliances, and how you engage diverse stakeholders including people with lived experience.
  1. Be patient with narrative work: Their leadership emphasizes that “developing narratives takes time” and requires “continual iteration, testing, revision.” If doing narrative work, demonstrate your commitment to the long game.
  1. Focus on climate migration if relevant: With their foundation-wide strategy on climate-related migration, work at this intersection may be particularly timely.
  1. Seek multi-year general support: This is their preferred funding model, suggesting they value organizational sustainability and long-term impact over short-term projects.

Similar Funders

These funders frequently fund the same charities:

🎯 You've done the research. Now write an application they can't refuse.

Hinchilla combines funder's specific priorities with your organisation's past successful grants and AI analysis of what reviewers want to see.

✓

Data privacy and security by default

✓

Your organisation's past successful grants and experience

✓

AI analysis of what reviewers want to see

✓

A compelling draft application in 10 minutes instead of 10 hours

Get Beta Access NowLearn More

References