Plinth

International giving · Oceania

Which US foundations give to Australia?

US foundations sent $549M to organizations in Australia across 2,133 grants, from 506 different funders. Read from IRS 990 filings.

The short version

The biggest funders, year by year

Each top funder of Australia with its total, and how that giving falls across the filing years — darker means more.

'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24'25*
GATES FOUNDATION$230M
BHP FOUNDATION$62M
EBOR CHARITABLE TRUST$52M
THE LEONA M AND HARRY B HELMSLEY$37M
SEQUOIA CLIMATE FOUNDATION$21M
WELLSPRING PHILANTHROPIC FUND INC$12M
FOUNDATION FOR A JUST SOCIETY$10M
GOOD VENTURES FOUNDATION$8M
GORDON E AND BETTY I MOORE FOUNDATION$7M
SERGEY BRIN FAMILY FOUNDATION$6M
ALCOA FOUNDATION$6M
THE BLOOMBERG FAMILY FOUNDATION INC$5M

* 2025 onward is still arriving — 990s lag 12–24 months, so the most recent years under-report.

Top US funders of Australia

274 grants · WA · 1.2% of its overseas giving

49 grants · DC · 51% of its overseas giving

3 grants · WY · 36% of its overseas giving

44 grants · NY · 7.0% of its overseas giving

6 grants · CA · 9.5% of its overseas giving

23 grants · NY · 2.3% of its overseas giving

Australia's dedicated funders

Foundations that send most of their overseas money to Australia — the specialists, not just the biggest checks.

TRAILSEND FOUNDATION$3M · 100% of its overseas giving
THE THEODORE J FORSTMANN CHARITABLE TR$4M · 66% of its overseas giving
Gordon Samstag Fine Arts Trust$1M · 100% of its overseas giving
THE JAMES G BOSWELL FOUNDATION$1M · 100% of its overseas giving

What the money funds

By the kind of organization receiving the money — universities, hospitals, research institutes, and so on.

Education & schools$164M

91 recipients

Research & science$81M

41 recipients

Health & medicine$52M

71 recipients

Human rights & democracy$8M

10 recipients

Economic & community development$4M

18 recipients

Environment & climate$4M

43 recipients

Children & youth$3M

21 recipients

Food, water & agriculture$1M

14 recipients

Largest recipients in Australia

Spelling, accent, abbreviation, and language variants of the same organization are merged into one recipient. Organizations abroad have no US EIN, so this resolution is best-effort.

University of Queensland, The$54M

45 US funders · 135 grants

MacDoch Foundation$52M

1 US funder · 3 grants

Monash University$38M

13 US funders · 40 grants

The Sunrise Project Australia Ltd$35M

10 US funders · 21 grants

Murdoch Children's Research Institute$34M

5 US funders · 43 grants

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research$28M

3 US funders · 35 grants

Who funds whom

The largest funder-to-recipient ties — which US foundation backs which organization in Australia.

EBOR CHARITABLE TRUST MacDoch Foundation$52M
GATES FOUNDATION Monash University$35M
GATES FOUNDATION University of Queensland, The$34M
GATES FOUNDATION Murdoch Children's Research Institute$33M
GATES FOUNDATION The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research$27M
SEQUOIA CLIMATE FOUNDATION The Sunrise Project Australia Ltd$21M

Where the funders are

The US states home to the foundations giving to Australia, shaded by dollars granted. Click a state.

Notable grants

The largest individual grants to Australia on record.

EBOR CHARITABLE TRUSTMacDoch Foundation · 2021$32M
EBOR CHARITABLE TRUSTMacDoch Foundation · 2022$10M
EBOR CHARITABLE TRUSTMacDoch Foundation · 2023$10M
GATES FOUNDATIONMurdoch Children's Research Institute · 2020$9M
SEQUOIA CLIMATE FOUNDATIONThe Sunrise Project Australia Ltd · 2023$9M
GATES FOUNDATIONMonash University · 2020$9M

Questions and answers

Which US foundation gives the most to Australia?
GATES FOUNDATION is the largest US funder of Australia organizations on record, with $230M across 274 grants.
How much do US foundations give to Australia?
506 US foundations have granted a combined $549M to organizations in Australia across 2,133 grants in the IRS filings on record, about $20.17 per resident.
What do US foundations fund in Australia?
The largest areas are education & schools, research & science, health & medicine, by the kind of organization receiving the money.

More from the funding graph