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United Nations Foundation Inc

Annual Giving
$127.5M
000

United Nations Foundation Inc - Funder Overview

Quick Stats

  • Annual Giving: $127 million (FY 2023 expenses)
  • Success Rate: Not applicable (no public application process)
  • Decision Time: Determined through strategic partnership discussions
  • Grant Range: Varies significantly by program
  • Geographic Focus: Global, with emphasis on developing countries
  • Total Disbursed to UN System: $1.5+ billion cumulative since 1998

Contact Details

Website: https://unfoundation.org
Phone: 202-887-9040
Email: Not publicly listed for grant inquiries
Address: 1750 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Suite 300, Washington, DC 20006-4515

Overview

The United Nations Foundation was established in 1998 with a historic $1 billion gift from philanthropist and CNN founder Ted Turner. Since its founding, the Foundation has evolved from a traditional grantmaker into a strategic partner to the UN, mobilizing support to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Foundation has made cumulative disbursements of more than $1.5 billion in grants to the UN system and has leveraged the original gift to deliver more than $3 billion in total benefit to the UN and UN causes. With annual expenses of approximately $127 million (FY 2023), the Foundation operates as a public charity with a prominent board of directors. The organization holds a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator with a 98% score. Over its first 20 years, 72% of grants fell under global health, often with a focus on women and children, though the Foundation now works across interconnected issues including climate, health, gender equality, human rights, multilateralism, peace, and humanitarian response.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

The United Nations Foundation does not operate traditional grant programs with public application processes. Instead, grants are distributed through:

  • UN Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP): The primary vehicle through which the Foundation makes grants to UN entities
  • Strategic Initiatives and Campaigns: The Foundation creates and fosters its own initiatives, campaigns, and alliances
  • Partnership-Based Grantmaking: Grants selected from proposals developed by the UN system through consultative processes

Priority Areas

Climate and Environment

  • Tackling global climate change and advancing climate diplomacy
  • Clean cooking solutions (Clean Cooking Alliance)
  • Clean energy transitions
  • U.S. Climate Alliance support ($5.4 million to 12 state governments, 2020-2022)

Global Health

  • Childhood health and disease prevention (Shot@Life campaign)
  • Reproductive health services and rights
  • COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund (raised over $200 million)
  • Polio eradication efforts
  • Measles & Rubella Initiative
  • Nothing But Nets (malaria prevention)

Girls and Women

  • Girl Up campaign (adolescent girl empowerment since 2010)
  • WithHer Fund (grassroots women's organizations combating gender-based violence)
  • Reproductive health, rights, and justice
  • Gender data quality and availability

Digital Innovation

  • Digital Impact Alliance (digital solutions for SDGs)

Humanitarian Response and Peace

  • Support for UN peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts
  • Disaster relief

What They Don't Fund

The Foundation does not provide grants to organizations outside the UN system or its strategic partners without established relationships. They do not accept unsolicited proposals from NGOs or other organizations.

Governance and Leadership

Board Leadership

Ted Turner - Founder and Chair of the Board of Directors; Founder of CNN and Chairman of Turner Enterprises

Sigrid Kaag - Co-Chair of the Board; former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the Netherlands (2022-2024)

President and CEO

Elizabeth Cousens - Third President and CEO (effective January 2020). Former Deputy CEO where she oversaw policy, advocacy, and communications work. Previously served as U.S. Ambassador to the UN Economic and Social Council and Alternate Representative to the UN General Assembly, leading U.S. negotiations on the SDGs (2012-2014). Rhodes Scholar with a D.Phil. in International Relations from Oxford.

Quote from Leadership:
"Our turbulent world needs American leadership more than ever" - Elizabeth Cousens, UN Foundation President and CEO

Board Members

  • Elizabeth Cousens - President and CEO
  • Julio Frenk - Seventh Chancellor of UCLA (as of January 2025)
  • Charles O. Holliday Jr. - Former Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell, Bank of America, and CEO of DuPont
  • N.R. Narayana Murthy - Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Infosys Limited
  • Rt Hon Lord Mark Malloch-Brown KCMG - Former UN Deputy Secretary-General, British Cabinet member
  • Timothy E. Wirth - Founding President of UN Foundation (15 years); former U.S. Senator and Representative

The Foundation is also overseen through its relationship with the UN by an Advisory Board chaired by the UN Deputy Secretary-General, which provides strategic advice to the Secretary-General.

Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

The United Nations Foundation does not have a public application process. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals from NGOs or other organizations. Instead, grants are awarded through:

  1. Strategic UN System Partnerships: Grants are selected from proposals developed by the UN system through the UN-UNF Joint Coordination Committee (JCC), which consults on campaigns, projects, and activities
  2. Initiative-Based Grantmaking: The Foundation creates its own initiatives and partnerships to support UN priorities
  3. Institutional Relationships: Funding opportunities are prioritized jointly through established coordination mechanisms
  4. Invited Collaborations: Specific calls for proposals may be released for particular programs, but these are targeted solicitations rather than open applications

All grants flow through the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships (UNFIP), which receives grants exclusively from the Foundation for projects, campaigns, fiduciary grant-making, or grant-management activities.

Getting on Their Radar

Note: The following represents specific, documented approaches for this funder.

  1. UN System Engagement: Organizations already working with UN agencies (UNICEF, WHO, UNFPA, etc.) are most likely to benefit from UN Foundation support, as the Foundation primarily funds UN entities rather than NGOs directly

  2. Partnership Due Diligence: The UN Foundation vets all potential partners through a two-tiered due diligence process—first screening for legal and regulatory infractions, then assessing partnerships along reputational dimensions. Partners must be aligned with UN values, ethics, and conduct

  3. Strategic Alignment: The Foundation prioritizes activities that address programmatic UN priorities and ensure geographic and cultural diversity in delivery

  4. Advisory Board Consultation: UNFIP is overseen by an Advisory Board chaired by the UN Deputy Secretary-General, which provides strategic advice on Foundation activities

  5. Initiative Participation: Engaging with Foundation-led initiatives like Clean Cooking Alliance, Girl Up, Shot@Life, or the Digital Impact Alliance may provide pathways to collaboration

Application Success Factors

Since the UN Foundation does not accept unsolicited applications, success in receiving funding depends on different factors than traditional grant applications:

For UN Agencies and Programs:

  • Alignment with UN-UNF Joint Priorities: Projects must address jointly identified programmatic UN priorities through the Joint Coordination Committee
  • Geographic and Cultural Diversity: The Foundation emphasizes diversity in project delivery
  • Transformative Potential: Focus on issues with transformative potential for climate action and SDGs
  • Leverage and Partnership: Ability to leverage Foundation funding to mobilize additional resources (the Foundation has turned $1 billion into $3 billion in total benefit)
  • Values Alignment: Upholding UN values, ethics, and conduct; mutual respect for human rights, dignity, and social justice

Historical Funding Patterns:

  • 72% of grants over the first 20 years went to global health
  • Strong focus on women and children's health
  • Recent emphasis on climate action and state-level climate policy
  • Support for both large-scale initiatives ($200M+ COVID-19 fund) and strategic campaigns

Recent Examples of Funded Work:

  • COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund (raised over $200M in six weeks for WHO, UNICEF, CEPI, WFP, UNHCR, UNRWA)
  • U.S. Climate Alliance grants totaling $5.4M to 12 state governments (2020-2022)
  • Clean Cooking Alliance (ongoing support for household cooking solutions in lower and middle-income countries)
  • Girl Up campaign (supporting UN programs for adolescent girls since 2010)

Partnership Language: The Foundation describes its work as "building new and innovative public-private partnerships," "mobilizing resources," and "advocating policy changes" to support the UN. Organizations should frame engagement around these strategic partnership concepts rather than traditional grant applications.

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

  • No public application process: This is not a funder you can apply to directly—all grants flow through UN system partnerships or Foundation-created initiatives
  • UN-centric grantmaking: The Foundation primarily funds UN agencies and programs, not NGOs or other external organizations directly
  • Strategic partnership model: The Foundation has evolved from traditional grantmaker to strategic partner, emphasizing advocacy, public-private partnerships, and resource mobilization
  • Significant scale: With $127M in annual expenses and $1.5B+ in cumulative grants to the UN system, this is a major player in UN funding
  • Focus on leverage: The Foundation's success in turning $1B into $3B in total benefit suggests they value initiatives that can mobilize additional resources
  • Values alignment critical: The two-tiered due diligence process emphasizes both legal compliance and reputational alignment with UN values
  • Long-term relationships: Founded in 1998, the Foundation maintains ongoing strategic relationships rather than one-off grants

References

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