Development Co‑operation Profiles: Arcus Foundation
Table of contents
Arcus Foundation is a charitable foundation with offices in the United States and the United Kingdom. It was established in 2000 by Jon Stryker.
It aims to ensure that people, valued in their diversity, can live in harmony with each other and the natural world. By focusing on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) social justice and ape conservation, it promotes a vision of the world where social and environmental justice, respect, and dignity for all are a reality. It supports global movements for human rights and conservation through partnerships with experts and advocacy for change.
This profile presents verified data on development assistance allocation. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
Arcus Foundation provided USD 18.9 million for development in 2023 through its grantmaking activities. Compared to 2022, this amount represents a decrease of 12.9% in real terms. Grants represented 100% of the Arcus Foundation’s gross disbursements.
In 2023, Arcus Foundation channelled its bilateral development finance mainly through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (USD 15.9 million) and universities, research institutes or think-tanks (USD 1.8 million).
In 2023, Arcus Foundation provided USD 200 thousand to the multilateral system, representing 0.8% of its total development finance. All of this was earmarked for specific countries, regions, themes or purposes.
See the section on Geographic and thematic focus of ODA for the breakdown of bilateral allocations, including ODA earmarked through the multilateral development system.
In 2023, civil society organisations (CSOs) received USD 15.9 million of the Arcus Foundation’s gross bilateral finance, of which 30.4% was directed to developing country-based CSOs. Less than a fifth (16.9 %) was allocated to CSOs as core support, while 66.9% was earmarked to specific projects or programmes. From 2022 to 2023, the combined core and earmarked contributions for CSOs decreased as a share of bilateral ODA, from 87.3% to 83.8%.
Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.
In 2023, Arcus Foundation’s development finance was primarily focused on Africa and Asia (excluding the Middle East). USD 9.2 million was allocated to Africa and USD 4 million to Asia (excluding the Middle East), accounting for 48.6% and 20.9% of gross bilateral development finance respectively. A sum of USD 3 million (15.7%) was unspecified by region in 2023, mainly including multi-regional programmes, core support and research grants. In this context, USD 200 thousand was provided in support of refugees and asylum-seekers in donor countries.
In 2023, 42.7% of gross development finance went to the top 10 recipients, most notably Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Least developed countries (LDCs) received USD 4.3 million (22.9%) of Arcus Foundation’s gross disbursements in 2023. Arcus Foundation allocated the highest share (22.9%) of its bilateral development finance to least developed countries in 2023, followed by upper middle-income countries (19.3%), noting that USD 9.6 million (50.5%) was unallocated by income group.
Furthermore, Arcus Foundation allocated USD 900 thousand of its development finance to landlocked developing countries in 2023, and USD 600 thousand to small island developing states (SIDS) in 2023. The main SIDS recipients are Guinea-Bissau and Guyana.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility reached USD 5.4 million in 2023, representing 28.4% of Arcus Foundation’s bilateral development finance. Of this, contexts with extreme fragility received a sum of USD 3.3 million.
Learn more about on the OECD States of Fragility platform.
In 2023, Arcus Foundation’s largest allocations went to multi-sector, with a strong focus on general environmental protection. Investments in this area accounted for 61.7% of bilateral commitments (USD 13.5 million). Bilateral contributions allocated to social infrastructure and services totalled USD 7.6 million.
In 2023, Arcus Foundation committed the largest shares of its contributions to SDG 15 (life on land), SDG 10 (reduced inequalities) and SDG 16 (peace, justice and strong institutions) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Support to SDG 5 (gender equality) amounted to USD 600 thousand. Contributions to SDG 13 (climate action) totalled USD 100 thousand.
Access the full list of providers at this link: Development Co-operation Profiles.
Official website: https://www.arcusfoundation.org/
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including the grant-equivalent methodology, core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, country programmable aid, channels of delivery, bilateral ODA unspecified/unallocated, bilateral allocable ODA, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.
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