This report, developed by the Alliance for Feminist Movements with support from Mama Cash and Gender Funders CoLab, serves as a collective effort to map the devastating scope of current and future funding cuts to the feminist ecosystem. Updated as of May 15, 2025, this tracker is a living document intended to help partners and advocates visualize the “domino effect” of shifting donor priorities and government budget slashes that threaten to make the work of women’s rights organizations (WROs) nearly impossible.
Introduction
The global feminist funding landscape is facing an unprecedented withdrawal of resources, with at least $2.83 billion in project funding projected to leave the sector annually. This crisis is primarily driven by the closing of the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, the cessation of the Sigrid Rausing Trust’s women’s rights program, and significant budget cuts from the Netherlands and the United States. These donors have historically provided some of the highest-quality “core” funding, which allows organizations in the Global South and East to remain agile and respond to emerging crises—a capability that is severely hindered when funding is restricted to narrow project line items.
The implications of these cuts are already proving to be life-threatening and far-reaching. For example, the dismantling of USAID and subsequent aid freezes are estimated to deny essential care to 11.7 million women and girls over a 90-day period. Beyond health, these reductions weaken advocacy efforts, reduce women’s leadership in humanitarian responses, and embolden anti-gender movements. In some regions, up to half of all women-led organizations in humanitarian crisis zones may be forced to shut down within six months.
This financial retreat is occurring at a critical junction: the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration, a time when one in four countries is reporting a backlash against women’s rights. While funding for feminist movements remains fractional—amounting to just 0.7% of all gender equality ODA—anti-rights organizations have seen over $1 billion in directed funding in recent years. As gender equality stalls or regresses for 1.1 billion people globally, the Alliance for Feminist Movements urges a reversal of this trend, asserting that now is the time to accelerate investment in the movements that anchor broad human rights and sustainable development goals.