What documented grants has the Open Society Foundations made to U.S. advocacy groups since 2017?
Executive summary
The Open Society Foundations (OSF) has continued large-scale grantmaking in the United States since 2017, funding a broad spectrum of advocacy, civil-rights, racial-justice, immigrant-rights, labor and policy research groups; OSF reports a public past-grants database and regional U.S. programs while third-party trackers list recurring core grantees and programmatic priorities [1] [2] [3]. Reporting and OSF materials together show examples of U.S. advocacy recipients—ranging from community organizing groups to national policy institutes—while also underscoring that OSF’s giving is decentralized across regional offices and program vehicles [4] [5].
1. What OSF itself documents: a searchable past-grants database and national program pages
OSF publishes a searchable "Awarded Grants, Scholarships, and Fellowships" database that lists past awards and states the foundation gives thousands of grants annually, including to U.S.-based organizations and individuals advancing open-society values [1] [5]. The OSF U.S. program pages describe priorities—justice, rights, democratic participation—and note the New York and Washington regional offices as principal U.S. grantmaking centers, which implies much U.S. grant activity is documented through those program channels [2] [6].
2. Examples named in reporting and OSF materials: community organizers, racial-justice groups, and national policy centers
Public reporting and watchdog compilations identify specific U.S. grantees that have received OSF support since the era around 2017: civil-rights and community-organizing groups such as the Organization for Black Struggle and Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment are cited in OSF-related summaries, and the foundation’s records and media coverage indicate grants aimed at racial-justice protests and organizing efforts [7]. InfluenceWatch and other profiles list recurring core U.S. grantees such as the Center for Working Families, PICO National Network, UnidosUS (formerly NCLR), the Roosevelt Institute, Center for Responsible Lending, Economic Policy Institute, and the National Employment Law Project as OSF core grantees in the period that includes 2017 and after [3].
3. Policy advocacy and the Open Society Action Fund (OSAF)
OSF’s advocacy arm, the Open Society Action Fund (OSAF), both lobbies and makes grants to U.S. advocacy coalitions; reporting documents OSAF’s grants and lobbying activity around immigration reform, including support to the Alliance for Citizenship and lobbying for DREAM Act–style legislation during 2017–2018 [8]. That record shows OSF’s support in the U.S. extends beyond small community grants to coalition funding and direct policy advocacy through affiliated entities [8].
4. Scale and funding levels reported around 2017 and after
Public-facing summaries and philanthropy coverage note OSF’s major U.S. budget footprint in 2017: the foundation’s giving and program-related investments were described as exceeding hundreds of millions—Inside Philanthropy cited OSF program-related investments of over $570 million in 2017 and OSF materials and watchdogs show a planned U.S. program spend of roughly $100 million in 2017 as a documented figure [9] [3]. OSF’s own statements emphasize that "every year we give thousands of grants," signaling both volume and diversity in U.S. grantmaking [5] [4].
5. Limits of available documentation and how to obtain a complete list
While OSF’s public grants database (and program pages) is the primary documentary source for specific awards [1], many summaries and third-party profiles only highlight core or high-profile grantees; comprehensive, line-by-line confirmation of every U.S. advocacy grant since 2017 requires querying OSF’s past-grants database or reviewing specific IRS/990 filings and program reports referenced by watchdogs such as InfluenceWatch [1] [3]. Reporting does not provide a single consolidated list of every U.S. advocacy grant since 2017 within these sources, so researchers should consult OSF’s searchable grants archive and the OSF U.S. program pages for full, source-level documentation [1] [2].