Over the last few decades, many countries have passed legislation and enacted other barriers limiting how their domestic nonprofit sector receives grant funds from abroad. This trend towards restricting the operating environment for philanthropy and nonprofits is commonly referred to as the “closing space for civil society” and takes many forms across the world.
For U.S.-based funders, there are both direct and indirect ramifications of these restrictions. Changes in the global operating environment can take many forms, from a complete overhaul of how philanthropy can operate, to foreign agent laws used to arbitrarily close domestic nonprofits and blacklist funders, to burdensome and opaque reporting requirements. Funders need to understand both the specific environment where they operate and the broader trends shaping philanthropy globally.
The Council on Foundations tracks these changes in countries where U.S. philanthropy operates or makes grants, as well as organizes peer calls to discuss and work through these barriers jointly. In some cases, we work with partner organizations globally or in the region to submit comments or letters of concern on behalf of the sector.
Visit the Council’s and the International Center for Nonprofit Law’s (ICNL) joint resource on 35+ country laws to enable international grantmaking.
