The Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, one of the world’s largest philanthropic organizations focused on improving the lives of children, announced it will no longer fund U.S.-based nonprofits, citing uncertainty over the U.S. policy environment for foreign funders, causing these global funders to pull back from the U.S.

In a statement released Friday, CIFF said its board had decided “as a precautionary measure” to redirect funding and restructure contracts away from U.S., NGOs until the “applicable laws and rules, and the execution of them, are made clearer by relevant authorities.” The foundation emphasized that it remains committed to its global mission and will continue to scale its work through non-U.S. partners.

While CIFF does not break down its giving by country to quantify how global funders are pulling back from the U.S., in 2024, it gave $12.7 million to the Rockefeller Foundation; $7.3 million to PATH Foundation; $7.1 million to Piramal Foundation USA; and $6 million to The Carter Center. Its total grants added up to $640 million in 2024.

CIFF declined to provide further comment to Devex about global funders pulling back from the U.S. upon request.

“This is a deeply sobering signal: major funders are stepping back from life-saving and life-improving work because of policy uncertainty,” the CEO of an organization that received a termination notice told Devex, regarding global funders pulling back from the U.S. “First USAID, now this -- organizations are left feeling there is no safe harbor for sustaining critical missions. For grantees, the risks that would warrant such an abrupt end were never made clear. A more responsible approach would have included longer notice and time for leaders and communities to plan a thoughtful transition.”

The decision signals growing unease among foreign foundations about regulatory ambiguity in the United States, particularly around cross-border philanthropy and foreign funding compliance. While CIFF did not specify which U.S. policies prompted the move, legal experts say recent shifts in enforcement and increased scrutiny under laws governing foreign influence and tax compliance may be driving the caution.

CIFF, founded by British hedge fund billionaire Chris Hohn, has long worked with major U.S. development and advocacy groups on issues ranging from child health to climate change. The foundation disburses much of its finances through partnerships that channel funds overseas, but has made the decision as a global funders to pull back from the U.S.

Read the full article about global funders withdrawing from the U.S. by Jesse Chase-Lubitz at Devex.