Open Society Institute
Open Society Foundations (formerly Open Society Institute) is the primary website for the Open Society network founded by George Soros and documents the foundation's grantmaking, programs, offices, leadership, and financials. The site includes pages for grants and fellowships, awarded grants, offices (including a New York office), leadership/board information, and contact details.
Source: Website · Mar 2026
Ideal Applicant
Civil society organizations, academic institutions, media and rights groups, or programmatic initiatives that advance democracy, human rights, public education, or related social justice causes at local, national, or international scale.
Good Fit
- • Work explicitly tied to human rights, democratic governance, information freedom, or racial and social justice.
- • Capacity to manage multi-year or large institutional grants or to run targeted public-education projects.
- • Willingness to partner with universities, networks, or pooled funds for cross-border work.
- • Clear monitoring, governance, and financial management systems for grant compliance.
- • Proposals that emphasize public education, research, or movement-building impact.
Geography
The latest observed year shows grants reaching recipients in 97 different states/regions, indicating a broad national and international footprint, even though a large share of dollars flowed to New York-based recipients.
Recipient Variety
In the most recent year the foundation funded over 500 distinct organizations across a wide range of purposes and sizes, combining several very large institutional awards with hundreds of smaller grants, which points to a materially diverse recipient set.
New Applicants
There is a public application route and concrete contact details on file, and the latest year included a large number of new grantees (about 350+ new recipients), so unfamiliar applicants appear able to enter the portfolio, though large institutional grants coexist with competitive opportunities.
Source: Zeffy Agent · Mar 2026
