Ploughshares Fund

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OVERVIEW: The Ploughshares Fund supports organizations and individuals working toward global nuclear disarmament.

IP TAKE: While it is narrowly focused on nuclear non-proliferation, the Ploughshares Fund is an approachable and transparent funder that supports organizations of all sizes, as well as individuals and lobbying activities. It accepts applications via an online portal, but only during specific windows of time during the year. Learn more about the organization’s work via its podcast, Press the Button, or the articles and analysis posted on its website.

PROFILE: The San Francisco-based Ploughshares Fund was founded in 1981 by the sculptor and human rights activist Sally Lilienthal, who passed away in 2006. The fund is a passthrough organization, receiving support from donors who “fundamentally believe people everywhere have the right to a safe and secure future free from the threat of nuclear weapons.” Since its inception, it has supported “the most effective advocates and organizations in the world to reduce and eventually eliminate the danger posed by nuclear weapons.”

Grants for Global Security and Human Rights

Ploughshares names three main funding priorities, all related to the organization’s work toward reducing “the extraordinary dangers that nuclear weapons pose to humanity.”

  • The fund works to Promote the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons by working with leaders to establish “a global norm against nuclear weapons.” Ploughshares focuses on “concrete steps to limit and reduce current arsenals” including “rolling back the US government’s unnecessary, immoral and unaffordable $1 trillion plan to rebuild America’s nuclear weapons that could spark a new arms race with Russia, China and other countries.”

  • The fund supports work that aims to Prevent the Emergence of New Nuclear States. Work in this area has focused on North Korea and Iran, where Ploughshares invested significantly in the creation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which “many experts consider the greatest nuclear security agreement in a generation.”

  • Ploughshares also makes grants to Build Regional Peace and Security. This giving prioritizes initiatives in South Asia, where the fund has supported “fact-finding missions, on-the-ground analysis, high-level dialogue, confidence-building measures, policy advocacy and media outreach to advance the transformation of conflicts.”

The Ploughshares Fund has also posts articles and research relevant to its work on its website and produces a podcast, Press the Button, on nuclear disarmament and related issues of justice, human rights, history and politics.

Past grantees include the Nuclear Truth Project, an Indigenous-led group based in Oklahoma that “seeks to center the voices of Indigenous Peoples, survivors, and affected communities” in disarmament, and Fiona Cunningham, a political scientist at the University of Pennsylvania whose research assesses “the reasons for China’s nuclear arsenal expansion.” Other past grantees include the Asia-Pacific Leadership Network for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, the European Council on Foreign Relations, Inkstick Media, Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment and the Vet Voice Foundation.

Important Grant Details

Grants typically range from about $20,000 to $275,000.

  • This funder supports organizations of all sizes working in its specific area of interest. It places no geographic limits on its grantmaking, and will make grants to individuals and “direct lobbying programs.”

  • Ploughshares does not support “the production of films, videos, books, art projects, provide scholarships or the research and writing of academic dissertations.”

  • The fund encourages “women and people from diverse communities to apply.”

  • Applications are accepted via the fund’s grant application portal, during specific windows of time during the year, often in February and March. Check the application page periodically for updates or sign up for the organization’s newsletter at the bottom of the site.

  • For information about past grantmaking, see Ploughshares’ Grantees page or its past Annual Reports.

General inquiries may be directed to the fund via its contact page or by telephone at (415) 668-2244.

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