Development Co‑operation Profiles: John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
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The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a United States-based independent foundation with offices in India and Nigeria. The foundation was established in 1978, initially endowed by John D. MacArthur’s bequest.
The foundation provides grants to support both domestic and international programmes. In the United States, its work focuses on justice reform, local news, and artificial intelligence opportunities, while its international activities include advancing climate solutions and reducing corruption, particularly in Nigeria. The foundation also administers award programmes, including the MacArthur Fellows Program and the global 100&Change competition, and maintains long-standing support for journalism as a component of democracy in the United States.
This profile presents verified data on development assistance allocations. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation provided USD 65.3 million for development in 2024 through its cross-border funding. Compared to 2023, this amount represents an increase of 80.5% in real terms. Grants represented 83.4% of John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s gross disbursements, while the remainder was extended in the form of loans (7.8%) and equities (8.8%).
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation provided all of its development finance bilaterally in 2024, while 1.1% was channelled through multilateral organisations (earmarked contributions).
In 2024, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation channelled its bilateral development finance mostly through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (USD 50 million), public private partnerships (PPPs) and private sector (USD 10 million) and universities, research institutes or think tanks (USD 4.6 million).
In 2024, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation provided USD 700 thousand to the multilateral system in the form of non-core contributions earmarked for a specific country, region, theme or purpose. 100% of total development finance was channelled through United Nations (UN) organisations and UN funds and programmes. All its development finance was channelled through United Nations (UN) organisations and UN funds and programmes.
The UN system received USD 700 thousand from John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation in 2024. The most significant UN recipients were the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) (USD 300 thousand) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) (USD 200 thousand).
In 2024, civil society organisations (CSOs) received USD 50 million of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s gross bilateral finance, of which 45.2% was directed to developing country-based CSOs. Overall, 14.9% of total bilateral development finance was allocated to CSOs as core support, while 61.7% was earmarked to specific projects or programmes. From 2023 to 2024, the combined core and earmarked contributions for CSOs increased as a share of bilateral philanthropic development finance, from 74.2% to 76.6%.
Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.
In 2024, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s development finance was primarily focused on Africa and Asia (excluding the Middle East). USD 24.5 million was allocated to Africa and USD 16.5 million to Asia (excluding the Middle East), accounting respectively for 37.5% and 25.2% of gross bilateral development finance. A sum of USD 19.5 million (29.9%) was unallocated by region, mainly including multi-regional programmes and research grants.
In 2024, 55% of gross development finance went to the top 8 recipients, most notably Nigeria (28%) and India (20.9%).
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation allocated the highest share (49.7%) of its bilateral development finance to lower middle-income countries in 2024, followed by upper middle-income countries (5.3%), noting that USD 29.4 million (45%) was unallocated by income group.
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation allocated USD 100 thousand to small island developing states (SIDS) in 2024. Its main SIDS recipient is Fiji.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility reached USD 18.3 million in 2024, representing 28% of John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s bilateral development finance.
Learn more about the OECD States of Fragility platform.
In 2024, the largest allocations (61% of bilateral contributions) by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation went to economic infrastructure and services, with a strong focus on support to energy (USD 10.1 million). The second largest sector was social infrastructure and services (USD 8.7 million), focusing on government and civil society (USD 7.8 million). This was followed by multi-sector allocations (USD 500 thousand).
In the period 2023-2024, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation committed 22.4% of screened bilateral allocable development finance to gender equality and women’s empowerment, compared to 11.4% in 2021-2022 and a private philanthropic average of 33.2% in 2023-2024. This is equal to USD 9 million of screened bilateral allocable contributions in support of gender equality on average per year. In addition:
The share of screened bilateral allocable contributions committed to gender equality and women’s empowerment as a principal objective was 8% in 2023-2024, compared with the private philanthropic average of 11.9%.
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation includes gender equality objectives in 100% of contributions for humanitarian aid, above the 2023-2024 private philanthropic average of 11.5%.
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation screens all bilateral allocable contributions activities against the DAC gender equality policy marker (100% in 2023-2024).
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation committed USD 300 thousand to support women’s rights organisations and movements, and government institutions on average per year in 2023-2024.
Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Gender Equality and the Empowerment of All Women and Girls in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Assistance and the DAC Recommendation on Ending Sexual Exploitation in Development Co-operation.
In 2023-2024, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation committed 64.1% of its total bilateral allocable contributions (USD 25.7 million) in support of the environment, up from 31.1% in 2021-2022. The private philanthropic average was 12.4%. In addition:
61.4% of total bilateral allocable contributions (USD 24.6 million) focused on climate change overall (the private philanthropic average was 12.9%), up from 31.1% in 2021-2022. John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation had a greater focus on adaptation (39.9%) than on mitigation (38.2%) in 2023-2024.
16.2% of screened bilateral allocable contributions (USD 6.5 million) focused on biodiversity overall (the private philanthropic average was 4.3%), up from 0% in 2021-2022.
Learn more about the DAC Declaration on Aligning Development Co-operation with the Goals of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
In 2024, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation committed the largest shares of its contributions to SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions), SDG 13 (climate action) and SDG 9 (industry, innovation, and infrastructure) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
Access the full list of providers at this link: Development Co-operation Profiles.
Official website: www.macfound.org/.
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, channels of delivery, bilateral unspecified/unallocated/allocable development finance, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.
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