Learn about grants for criminal justice reform by browsing our curated list of top criminal justice funders below. Members can also research funding opportunities using the search tool for GrantFinder. Become a member.
Key Funders
Funding trends for Criminal Justice Reform
The United States incarcerates more people per capita than any other nation. On any given day, there are almost 2 million people incarcerated in the U.S. and millions more are impacted by the carceral system. Formerly incarcerated people, families of incarcerated people and entire communities are affected. “Nearly half of Americans have experienced the incarceration of a family member,” a 2018 report from advocacy group FWD.us and Cornell University states.
People of color – Black people in particular – are disproportionately impacted. Women are being incarcerated at exponentially faster rates. Immigrants, transgender people, people seeking restricted forms of reproductive healthcare, unhoused people and many other groups are increasingly or especially harmed by the system. Mass incarceration – which is deeply intertwined with structural racism, poverty, mental health, substance use, housing and homelessness – “has emerged as a central social justice issue of our time,” write the authors of “The Crisis of Criminalization: A Call for a Comprehensive Philanthropic Response,” a report that came out of a 2017 convening supported by Ford Foundation, Wellspring Advisors and the Barnard Center for Research on Women.
Criminal justice reform remains an underfunded area of philanthropy. According to a Bridgespan analysis of Candid data, in 2019, the most recent year for which complete funding data was available, only $343 million in philanthropic giving – out of a total of $427.1 billion – went to the movement to create a just and equitable criminal legal system. Meanwhile, state and federal governments spend billions annually on the existing criminal justice system.
That said, there are some major funders who give in this area, and funding for criminal justice reform has been increasing in recent years. Several large philanthropies have dedicated grantmaking programs related to criminal justice, including legacy foundations, funder collaboratives, philanthropic LLCs and demographic community foundations. Grassroots groups find support from social-justice intermediaries such as the Spark Justice Fund and the Communities Transforming Policing Fund at Borealis Philanthropy. Some corporate funders are getting involved, though many of the big companies that made pledges amid the national reckoning around racism and police violence in 2020 funded initiatives focused on economic equality rather than criminal justice reform, the Washington Post reported.
Key and intersecting issues in philanthropy for criminal justice
Funders who give for criminal justice reform or abolition support a range of organizations doing many kinds of work, from direct services around re-entry to bail reform to advocacy, movement building, and narrative change. Between 2014 and 2018, the most funded area in criminal justice philanthropy was services for offenders. In recent years, some funders have started shifting support to efforts led by system-impacted people and local organizing.
Funders increasingly understand that criminal justice is an issue that overlaps with many of their priority grantmaking areas, including racial justice, poverty and economic justice, mental health, substance use and addiction, immigrant rights, education, jobs, human rights, democracy and civic engagement, violence prevention and women’s and LGBTQ+ issues.
Place-based giving for criminal justice
The carceral system operates at the federal, state and local levels, and there is significant difference across states and municipalities. While there are national organizations advocating for criminal justice reform, many nonprofits working to change the criminal legal system or to serve system-impacted people do important work at the state or local levels. Local communities often have the best idea of what is needed – and what kind of advocacy or campaign will be effective – in their area. Funders who understand this engage in place-based funding in a particular area or support local campaigns in multiple areas. For example, the New York Community Trust, Brooklyn Community Foundation and North Star Fund backed advocacy that led to the New York City Council’s adoption of a plan to overhaul NYC’s correctional system, IP reported in our State of American Philanthropy brief. The MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge focused on local justice system reform.
Gaps in criminal justice grants
Grassroots movement-building tends to receive less support than direct services. Bridgespan found that funding is “especially needed across the South and Midwest where philanthropic resources are lower and criminal justice system challenges more daunting.” Bridgespan also found gaps in funding for small and early-stage organizations, movement building, and advocacy, especially 501(c)4 funding.
Gaps also exist in funding for particular groups. For example, not much funding goes to children of incarcerated parents, although “an estimated 2.7 million children have at least one incarcerated parent and 5 million have dealt with parental incarceration at some point,” IP’s Connie Matthiessen writes. Funding for women and LGBTQ+ people impacted by the carceral system is increasing, but remains underfunded compared to what is needed, IP found in our SAP report.
Grants for Criminal Justice: an emergent field
“Large-scale criminal justice philanthropy — funders who think of themselves as tied to these issues in the ways that housing or education funders focus their giving — has come into prominence only in the past five or six years,” Bridgespan says. The developing field is likely to evolve in the coming years. This could mean more funding as well as shifts in funding practices.
Funders for Justice – a national network of funders supporting grassroots groups addressing the intersection of racial justice, gender justice, community safety, and policing – suggests a divest/invest approach to grantmaking: funding campaigns and projects working to move resources out of the policing/prison system and into “the public safety net and infrastructure that actually keep our communities safe: quality, affordable public education, housing, healthcare, infrastructure, childcare, etc.”
Foundation Grants for Criminal Justice
ABELARD FOUNDATION
The Abelard Foundation supports early-stage grassroots nonprofits in a broad range of issue areas, including incarceration and police misconduct.
ADOBE FOUNDATION
The Adobe Foundation broadly supports anti-crime and anti-violence initiatives around the United States.
ADVANCEMENT PROJECT
The Advancement Project runs a national organization and a separate chapter for its work in the state of California. Nationally, the project supports grassroots organizations involved in voting rights, criminal justice, immigrant justice and education, with a strong focus on racial equity.
AKONADI FOUNDATION
Criminal justice reform is the main focus of Akonadi’s All in for Oakland program, which aims to transform of youth justice in Oakland and beyond.
ANDRUS FAMILY FOUNDATION
The Andrus Family Fund supports a variety of criminal justice and anti-violence organizations, as well as, social justice organizations across the United States, focusing on youth populations.
ARCA FOUNDATION
The Arca Foundation supports organizations working on the front lines of social change in an effort to achieve economic, social and racial justice, a clean environment, peace and security.
ARNOLD VENTURES
Arnold Ventures supports organizations advancing community and neighborhood safety.
ASTRAEA LESBIAN FOUNDATION FOR JUSTICE
Astraea specializes in criminal justice work that involves LGBTQI people. In addition to addressing "anti-criminalization” efforts, Astraea also addresses migrant justice programs, harsh immigration enforcement policies and the criminalization of LGBTQ immigrants.
AVON FOUNDATION FOR WOMEN
This funder supports organizations whose work relates to breast cancer and gendered violence, as well as scholarships for female students.
SIDNEY R. BAER, JR. FOUNDATION
The Sidney R. Baer Foundation’s criminal justice grants focus on the justice system’s treatment of people suffering from mental illness.
BEN & JERRY’S FOUNDATION
The Ben & Jerry’s Foundation is devoted to supporting grassroots efforts for activism and change. Criminal justice reform is a component of its economic justice initiative.
BIA-ECHO FOUNDATION
The Bia-Echo Foundation is the philanthropic vehicle of Nicole Shanahan, via which she intends to give $100 million to philanthropy by 2024. The foundation focuses on women’s reproductive longevity and equality, criminal justice reform and the environment.
BLACK VOICES FOR BLACK JUSTICE FUND
The Black Voices for Black Justice Fund supports justice leaders who make a significant contribution to health, education, civic engagement, jobs, and economic development in Black communities.
MORTON K. AND JANE BLAUSTEIN FOUNDATION
The Morton K. and Jane Blaustein Foundation’s focus on racism, xenophobia and immigrants’ rights.
BOREALIS PHILANTHROPY
Borealis Philanthropy describes itself as a “social justice philanthropic intermediary” and runs funds to support grassroots organizations in the areas of racial justice, criminal justice reform, LGBTQ causes and disabilities.
OTTO BREMER FOUNDATION
The Otto Bremer Trust awards crime and violence prevention grants to organizations located in the upper Midwest region of the United States.
BROMLEY TRUST
The Bromey Trust’s prison reform focus area has an emphasis on “the reduction of reoffending and the rehabilitation of offenders’’ in the United Kingdom.
BUTLER FAMILY FUND
The Butler Family Fund supports local, regional and national criminal justice reform organizations.
ANNIE E. CASEY FOUNDATION
The Annie E. Casey Foundation supports child welfare, community change, economic opportunity and juvenile justice. The foundation works mainly with child welfare agencies, policymakers and legislators, providing empirical support for funding and legislation supporting underserved and at-risk children and families.
MARGUERITE CASEY FOUNDATION
The Marguerite Casey Foundation supports criminal justice reform, civil rights and immigration reform efforts in select regions of the United States.
CHATLOS FOUNDATION
Chatlos Foundation names “prison alternatives” as one of its social justice grantmaking concerns.
CLARA LIONEL FOUNDATION
The Clara Lionel Foundation supports climate resilience, disaster relief, racial justice, global health, immigrants and refugees, and other issues of interest to the founder in the U.S., the Caribbean and other countries around the world, particularly in Africa.
DEUTSCHE BANK AMERICAS
Criminal justice reform is one of Deutsche Bank’s newer areas of interest. Expect this broad program to evolve.
ROY AND PATRICIA DISNEY FOUNDATION
The foundation’s criminal justice reform grants aim to reduce prison populations and support anti-recidivism measures.
EVAN CORNISH FOUNDATION
The foundation currently awards grants to organizations working with women in the criminal justice system.
NATHAN CUMMINGS FOUNDATION
This foundation’s criminal justice work is conducted through a racial justice lens.
EMERSON COLLECTIVE
This funder conducts related funding through it’s Social Justice program, which overlaps with other funding areas.
ENTERPRISE HOLDINGS FOUNDATION
The charitable arm of the national car rental company, Enterprise Holdings awards grants to anti-crime and violence organizations across the country.
FORD FOUNDATION
The Ford Foundation seeks organizations that protect the safety and well-being of all. Grantmaking related to mass incarceration supports sentencing reforms, innovative alternative-to-incarceration models and new narratives about incarceration that address public safety.
J.C. FLOWERS FOUNDATION
This foundation’s grantmaking for criminal justice concentrates in New York City and its burroughs. It has partnered with several organizations to offer formerly incarcerated people opportunities to re-establish and strengthen their community ties.
FUND FOR JUSTICE
Funders for Justice is a member organization that fosters collaboration among philanthropic organizations and others working in the areas of social, racial, Indigenous, criminal and gender justice in the U.S.
FUND FOR NONVIOLENCE
The Fund for Nonviolence supports organizations that address violence prevention, as well as a fair and equitable justice system.
GALAXY GIVES FOUNDATION
Galaxy Gives supports criminal justice reform, civics and democracy, and other social justice issues in New York City and beyond.
DAVID GEFFEN FOUNDATION
The David Geffen Foundation supports a wide range of criminal justice organizations across the United States.
WALLACE ALEXANDER GERBODE FOUNDATION
Criminal justice reform and anti-recidivism are main focal points of the foundation’s Justice funding.
GOOD VENTURES
Good Ventures broadly supports a number of criminal justice reform organizations across the United States.
GOOGLE.ORG
Although not named as an area of interest, Google.org appears to support the criminal justice reform movement in the U.S.
HARRY FRANK GUGGENHEIM FOUNDATION
Guggenheim’s criminal justice grants focus on ethical journalism.
EDWARD W. HAZEN FOUNDATION
The Edward W. Hazen Foundation’s criminal justice and antiviolence grants focus on structural oppression and its impact on young people.
HEISING-SIMONS FOUNDATION
This foundation makes grants for criminal justice reform through its human rights giving.
CHARLES EVANS HUGHES MEMORIAL FOUNDATION
The Charles Evans Hughes Memorial broadly funds “programs of national scope” related to law, human rights, environment, public health, education, arts and culture.
JOYCE FOUNDATION
The Joyce Foundation awards criminal justice and violence prevention grants to organizations located in the Great Lakes region, including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
J.M. KAPLAN FUND
The Kaplan Fund’s justice program supports “just alternatives and reforms to the current criminal justice and immigration enforcement systems, enabling our grantees to build power in communities that are directly impacted by criminalization.”
KENDEDA FUND
Kendeda’s criminal justice work intersects with it’s funding for racial equity and violence prevention.
KOVNER FOUNDATION
It supports groups that work to “overturn the convictions of wrongfully imprisoned and fight to reform the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice” and prevent government seizure of property.
KATALY FOUNDATION
The Kataly Foundation supports racial equity and indigenous rights, environmental justice, public health and economic development as these issues relate to communities of color.
JACOB AND VALERIA LANGELOTH FOUNDATION
The Jacob and Valeria Langeloth Foundation supports criminal justice organizations working at the community level.
LAUGHING GULL FOUNDATION
Laughing Gull’s criminal justice reform grants focus predominantly on higher education programs for prisoners.
MAX AND ANNA LEVINSON FOUNDATION
This foundation’s grants for criminal justice are purposefully broad.
LIBRA FOUNDATION
The Libra Foundation awards grants to organizations fighting for social justice, promoting government accountability and advocating for drug policy reform.
LIBERTY HILL FOUNDATION
Liberty Hill has demonstrated an interest in criminal justice reform via its Agenda for a Just Future and Racial Justice grantmaking programs.
REVA AND DAVID LOGAN FOUNDATION
The Reva and David Logan Foundation awards grant to criminal justice organizations across the United States.
MACARTHUR FOUNDATION
The iconic MacArthur Foundation dedicates its criminal justice grants to addressing overincarceration in the United States and the driving factors that lead to overuse of jails and prisons.
ROGER I. AND RUTH B. MACFARLANE FOUNDATION
The MacFarlane Foundation broadly funds social justice and criminal justice reform in the United States.
ANDREW W. MELLON FOUNDATION
While it is not nearly as robust as the foundation’s other funding areas, Mellon makes grants to support criminal justice and prioritizes programs and initiatives that provide opportunities for education and higher learning for the country’s incarcerated population.
CHARLES STEWART MOTT FOUNDATION
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation prioritizes education, the environment, civil society and the Flint, Michigan area. Foundation grants are available to organizations in the U.S. for all funding programs, and internationally through its Civil Society and Environment programs.
NEW PROFIT
Criminal justice reform is a smaller giving area for New Profit, with grantmaking focusing on prison education and initiatives for successful reentry.
NEW YORK COMMUNITY TRUST
Funds from the New York Community Trust’s criminal justice reform grantmaking aims to address incarceration programs, bail systems and access to conflict-resolution programs.
NFL FOUNDATION
The NFL Foundation funds criminal justice reform initiatives in the United States as part of its social justice grantmaking.
OPEN PHILANTHROPY PROJECT
The Open Philanthropy Project works to reduce the national incarceration rate while maintaining public safety in the United States.
OVERBROOK FOUNDATION
Grantmaking in this area aims to “challenge systems of mass criminalization and incarceration.”
PEN AMERICA
PEN America supports criminal justice reform through its Writing for Justice Fellowship, which supports writers whose work addresses the issue of mass incarceration in the U.S.
PEACE DEVELOPMENT FUND
Peace Development Fund awards peace-building grants to community-based organizations in the United States, Haiti and Mexico.
PERSHING SQUARE FOUNDATION
The Pershing Square Foundation supports a wide range of criminal justice organizations.
PIVOTAL VENTURES
Founded by Melinda French Gates, Pivotal Ventures engages in grantmaking, venture capital and impact investments, advocacy, strategic support and partnerships. This funder’s criminal justice reform work primarily addresses women and girls.
PROTEUS FUND
The Proteus Fund supports organizations leveraging their resources to effect social change related to human rights, democracy and peace-building.
PUBLIC WELFARE FOUNDATION
The Public Welfare Foundation focuses on addressing criminal justice reforms. It also works to counter mass incarceration.
JOSEPH AND FLORENCE ROBLEE FOUNDATION
Roblee supports criminal justice grants through its Opportunities for Youth of Color program, which serves children and youth ages nine to 21.
DAVID ROCKEFELLER FUND
The David Rockefeller Fund supports criminal justice and youth incarceration reform.
HERB AND MARION SANDLER FOUNDATION
The Sandler Foundation invests heavily in the ACLU and other civil rights organizations.
SCHOONER FOUNDATION
The Schooner Foundation’s international grants focus on human rights, peace-building, global security and economic opportunity.
CHARLES AND LYNN SCHUSTERMAN FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES
Its Criminal Justice Reform focus area is committed to “ending mass incarceration,” “improving opportunities for the people impacted by the criminal legal system,” and “increasing the safety and health of all our communities.”
SOLIDAIRE NETWORK
The Solidaire Network supports social justice movements in the U.S. spanning the areas of racial justice, Indigenous rights, criminal justice reform, environmental justice and gender justice.
SPARKPLUG FOUNDATION
The Sparkplug Foundation frequently supports criminal justice reform efforts as part of its community organizing grantmaking.
STEELE-REESE FOUNDATION
The Steele-Reese Foundation focuses its grantmaking related to criminal justice and violence prevention on creating safer communities, youth crime and violence prevention and protecting children.
BARBARA STIEFEL FOUNDATION
The Barbara Stiefel Foundation funds social justice initiatives and criminal justice reform in the United States.
LEVI STRAUSS FOUNDATION
The Levi Strauss Foundation’s grants in this space largely focus on discrimination and violence against people living with HIV/AIDS. It also funds some criminal justice work.
SUNFLOWER FOUNDATION
The Sunflower Foundation supports criminal justice and human rights initiatives in the United States and abroad.
TOW FOUNDATION
The Tow Foundation prioritizes organizations located in Connecticut and New York.
WAGNER FOUNDATION
The Wagner Foundation supports criminal justice reform programs combating a number of institutional and systemic challenges across the United States.
WALMART FOUNDATION
Walmart makes grants for criminal justice through its Center for Racial Equity.
WEISSBERG FOUNDATION
The Weissberg Foundation supports anticrime and violence organizations with annual budgets of $2.5 million or less.
WILF FAMILY FOUNDATIONS
The Wilf Family Foundations are a conglomerate of six private family foundations based in New Jersey. The Wilf Foundations’ largest area of giving is Jewish causes but they also support education, social justice, democracy, health, disaster relief and human services.
WUNDERKINDER FOUNDATION
Wunderkinder’s criminal justice reform grants are broad and reach many large and established organizations.
ZEGAR FAMILY FOUNDATION
The Zegar Family Foundation supports organizations working on human rights, social justice and criminal justice.
THE CHAN ZUCKERBERG INITIATIVE
The Criminal Justice Reform program seeks to “drive change and build opportunities for those impacted by the justice system […] through advocacy, grantmaking, technology, and innovation.”
Additional Resources
The Movement for Black Lives, a collective of over 100 groups dispersed nationwide, has created a grantmaking vehicle.
Executive Alliance for Boys and Young Men of Color, composed of dozens of racial justice organizations initially involved with the Obama administration’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative.
Funders for Justice (FFJ), a national organizing platform, is a collective of over 500 funders that mobilizes resources to grassroots groups involved in criminal justice work.
