Despite proven effectiveness, Indigenous Peoples organizations remain underfunded compared to mainstream philanthropic initiatives. Structural barriers and lack of trust within the funding landscape — such as rigid grant requirements, short-term project-based funding, and a limited engagement with Indigenous communities — continue to limit their potential.
Globally, only 0.6 percent ($4.5 billion) of giving was identified as benefiting Indigenous Peoples as outlined by the available data in Candid from 2016 to 2020 in the International Funders for Indigenous Peoples (IFIP) report “Funding Trend Analysis on Indigenous Peoples Philanthropy.” Of that $4.5 billion (0.6 percent), just 33 percent of that money was granted directly to Indigenous Peoples organizations.
Digging deeper, the “Leaders and Stewards: Global Analysis of Funding to Indigenous Women” study reveals significant disparities in philanthropic support for Indigenous women. From 2016 to 2020 about $28.5 billion was given in grants supporting women and girls, however, only $392 million (1.4 percent) was given to organizations benefiting Indigenous women. This underinvestment underscores the urgent need for funders to adopt more flexible, sustained, and Indigenous-led funding approaches to strengthen Indigenous leadership and self-determined solutions. It is in this context that unrestricted funding becomes essential.
Mobilizing Resources for Indigenous Philanthropy
As the only global philanthropy community focused on Indigenous Peoples worldwide, International Funders for Indigenous Peoples is celebrating 25 years of convening, educating, and influencing funders to shift funding practices and build meaningful partnerships between funders and Indigenous Peoples organizations. For the first 20 years of our history, IFIP was staffed by two staff with a mandate to influence global philanthropy. If that sounds like a tall order to you, you’d be right; IFIP was in many ways a reflection of the realities faced by the majority of Indigenous organizations — understaffed and under-resourced and yet with a steadfast and unwavering commitment to Indigenous communities and the Indigenous Peoples movement.
The surprising and generous unrestricted gift from MacKenzie Scott arrived just as IFIP had adopted a new and bold strategic framework and a new vision and mission: to shift power, mobilize resources, and build partnerships to amplify Indigenous leadership and support the self-determination and rights of Indigenous Peoples, their communities, and lands and territories worldwide. The five R’s of Indigenous Philanthropy — Respect, Relationships, Responsibility, Reciprocity, and Redistribution — guide the “how” of our work. Scott’s gift exemplified the fifth “R,” redistribution, which calls for building trust and directly funding Indigenous Peoples organizations.
The generous gift bolstered IFIP’s ability to take a leadership in advocacy, expand into new geographies, revamp our branding and communications, and implement a planned growth trajectory with a global team — now of eleven! — made up of a majority Indigenous staff. By expanding our geographies, investing in research, growing our advocacy, expanding our network of allies, centering Indigenous leadership in philanthropy, and raising the visibility of Indigenous- led funds we are working to ensure that Indigenous communities receive the long-term, general and flexible support they need to thrive.
Redefining Philanthropy: Advancing Indigenous Leadership and Self-Determination
The success of our member organizations — two of whom have also benefited from MacKenzie Scott’s generosity — demonstrates the power of shifting philanthropy toward models that respect Indigenous leadership, self-determination and decision-making. This funding has allowed the organizations to strengthen governance, expand reach, and respond to emerging issues in ways that restricted funding often does not allow.
Indigenous-led funds (ILFs) working at the global level, including the International Indigenous Women’s Forum and the Pawanka Fund, who co-authored this piece, are increasing direct support to Indigenous communities. These funds play a critical and transformative role in resourcing self-determined solutions that empower Indigenous Peoples globally, and operate with a deep understanding of Indigenous worldviews, ensuring that resources are directed toward solutions that are culturally relevant, community-driven, and sustainable.
These funds also fill critical gaps in philanthropy by providing direct, flexible, and long-term support to Indigenous communities and organizations. They serve as crucial mechanisms for strengthening Indigenous governance, revitalizing Indigenous languages, protecting lands and territories, and advancing Indigenous rights. By prioritizing holistic and intergenerational approaches, ILFs also help communities sustain their cultural traditions while navigating contemporary challenges such as climate change, gender inequality, and economic exclusion. The ability of these funds to provide that kind of support depends heavily on their own access to unrestricted giving.
Strengthening Indigenous Women’s Leadership
For 25 years, the International Indigenous Women’s Forum (FIMI) has worked towards advancing the rights of Indigenous women across the globe. Through its philanthropic arm, the Ayni Fund, which was created to resource the ongoing initiatives and proposals by Indigenous Women using their wisdom, knowledge, energies, and time to advocate for equality and non-discrimination within their communities and societies, FIMI has resourced initiatives led by Indigenous women advocating for, among other issues, gender equality, cultural preservation, and self-determination.
FIMI collaborates with Indigenous Women’s networks and organizations through the support of allies and donors in advancing advocacy for equal participation, resisting and overcoming multiple forms of violence, addressing climate impacts, and protecting traditional knowledge, languages, and cultures.
An unrestricted gift from MacKenzie Scott in 2023 was an important moment for FIMI. It allowed us to reinforce our institutional governance, ensure sustainability, and provide rapid responses to our grassroots partners. Additionally, we are prioritizing being able to able to create a funding mechanism to support elders and young girls, aligning efforts with other alliances.
At a time when global funding for gender equality and women’s rights is facing severe cuts, which has also impacted us and our work, this support has been a beacon of hope. We align and join hands with Indigenous Peoples movements and Women’s Rights movement as we continue to raise our voices and actions for the full acknowledgement and effective implementation of the individual and collective rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Expanding the Reach of Indigenous-Led Solutions
Pawanka Fund is an ILF striving to support and empower Indigenous peoples around the globe. Over the past decade, as the Pawanka Fund has supported 655 initiatives in 84 countries, benefiting 740 Indigenous Peoples worldwide, we have always centered self-determination as the foundation of our work. This commitment is reflected in our partnerships, which are tailored to understanding partners’ needs for capacity growth. By being trusted, open, and flexible, Pawanka has built strong partnerships.
The unrestricted funds we received allowed us to scale our impact and support critical initiatives focused on our 10 key thematic areas and most prominently in climate resilience, language revitalization, natural heritage conservation, gender equality, and intergenerational knowledge transmission.
We also strengthened Indigenous leadership and participation in global policy spaces, ensuring that our voices shape policy discussions on biodiversity, environmental justice, and human rights. Through key platforms such as the UN Permanent Forum, COP16, and NY Climate Week, we are amplifying Indigenous perspectives and advancing the principles of self-determination.
Redistribution: The Importance of Unrestricted Giving
Unrestricted funding is more than just a financial contribution — it is a recognition of the trust that Indigenous Peoples organizations have earned through decades of transformative work. It enables:
- Flexibility: Organizations can allocate resources where they are needed most, whether in response to crises or long-term capacity-development efforts.
- Sustainability: Investing in institutional strengthening and governance ensures that Indigenous Peoples organizations remain effective for generations to come.
- Innovation: Unrestricted support fosters creative and community-driven solutions to complex global challenges, from climate change to cultural revitalization.
As we navigate a time of both growing opportunities and deep funding cuts in certain areas of philanthropy, we call on the broader funding community to follow this model of respect, trust, and redistribution of unrestricted giving. Indigenous communities have the knowledge, leadership, skill, and resilience to drive meaningful change — the key is ensuring that resources reach them directly in ways that honor their autonomy and vision.
MacKenzie Scott’s gift has been a catalyst, but it is only one step in a larger movement toward more direct, just, and equitable funding models. By embracing direct funding to Indigenous Peoples organizations and unrestricted giving, philanthropy can truly contribute to a future where Indigenous leadership and self-determination is not just supported but fully realized.
Lourdes Inga is executive director of International Funders for Indigenous Peoples. Teresa Zapeta is executive director of International Indigenous Women’s Forum. Myrna Cunningham is chair of the Guiding Committee, the collective decision-making body of the Pawanka Fund.
