Top Charitable Foundations in the US and UK
Working for a charitable foundation is appealing for many people as the work is gratifying and filled with purpose. This appeal is continuously growing as more and more people seek to find purposeful work, a shift in focus top charitable foundations are greatly benefiting from with their hiring capabilities. And the attention charitable organizations are attracting doesn’t stop with those seeking employment. In the US alone last year, total charitable donations rose five percent to $471.4 billion, a record level according to a recent report by Giving USA Foundation.
As donations and attention toward foundations increase, so too does their capabilities and job openings. With the exponential growth of foundation work available, it can be overwhelming to navigate the landscape to find employment within the sector. Here are some of the top charitable organizations in the US and UK and the perks to working with each.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- Opening Locations
- Seattle, WA, US
- Washington, DC, US
- London, UK
- New Delhi, India
- Johannesburg, South Africa
- Work: The foundation boasts $5.8 billion in direct grantee support.They are a nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world.
- Benefits: Offers competitive rates and health and financial benefits that match the foundation’s values, including unlimited PTO, insurance, retirement packages, and matching for employee charitable contributions.
Wellcome
- Opening Locations
- London, UK
- Work: Wellcome is a global charitable foundation that promotes science’s potential to improve health and save lives for everyone.
- Benefits: Core benefits, health and wellness programs, community contributions, employee discounts, and focus on work-life balance
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Opening Locations
- Throughout the US, predominantly California, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Maryland
- Work: The Howard Hughes Medical Institute advances science through research and science education, making discoveries that benefit humanity.
- Benefits: Core benefits, tuition reimbursement, professional development, employee assistance programs, and employee discounts
Ford Foundation
fordfoundation.org
- Opening Locations
- New York, NY, US
- Work: The foundation seeks to reduce poverty and injustice, strengthen democratic values, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement.
- Benefits: Core benefits, along with wellness, financial, and professional development programs
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
rwjf.org
- Opening Locations
- Princeton, NJ, US
- Work: The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funds a wide array of programs which are working to help build a national culture of health in the US.
- Benefits: Core benefits, generous time off policies, tuition reimbursement, professional development initiatives for growth, and retiree health benefits
National Church Institutions
churchofengland.org
- Opening Locations
- London, UK
- Remote
- Work: The National Church Institutions, which includes the Church of England, are a collective group of bodies that together support the mission and ministries of the Church by working with those who serve in parishes, Dioceses, schools, and other ministries, and with partners at a national and international level.
- Benefits: Competitive salaries, core benefits package, wellness and work-life balance programs, learning and career development opportunities, and recognition of trade unions
Open Society Foundations
opensocietyfoundations.org
- Opening Locations
- Berlin, Germany
- London, UK
- New York, NY, US
- Work: The Open Society Foundations are the world’s largest private funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights.
- Benefits: Core benefits and a commitment to transparency, fairness, and diversity
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
hewlett.org
- Opening Locations
- Menlo Park, CA, US
- Work: The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is a nonpartisan, private charitable foundation that advances ideas and supports institutions to promote a better world.
- Benefits: Core benefits, family support programs, and mental health coverage
United Nations Foundation
unfoundation.org
- Opening Locations
- Washington, DC, US
- London, UK
- New York, NY, US
- Port-Au-Prince, Haiti
- Remote
- Work: As a strategic partner of the United Nations, the UN Foundation advances human dignity and protects the planet through transformative work on issues critical to humanity’s shared future.
- Benefits: Health insurance, retirement, paid time off, commuter benefits, and health and wellness programs
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
macfound.org
- Opening Locations
- Chicago, IL, US
- Work: The foundation supports creative people, effective institutions, and influential networks building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. Focus areas include advancing global climate solutions, decreasing nuclear risk, promoting local justice reform in the US, reducing corruption in Africa, the role of journalism in a responsive democracy, and the vitality of their headquarters location in Chicago, IL.
- Benefits: Core benefits package
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
hiltonfoundation.org
- Opening Locations
- Thousand Oaks, CA, US
- Westlake Village, CA, US
- Work: The foundation improves the lives of individuals living in poverty and experiencing disadvantage throughout the world.
- Benefits: Comprehensive healthcare, disability, and retirement benefit plans, paid time off, flexible work schedules, learning and development opportunities, and matched employee gifts to qualified nonprofit organizations
UK Community Foundations
ukcommunityfoundations.org
- Location Openings
- London, UK
- Remote
- Work: UK Community Foundations provides inspirational leadership and advocacy at a national level for community foundations across the UK.
- Benefits: Core benefits, small team, and option to work fully remote
Mencap
- Location Openings
- Throughout England
- Work: Mencap supports people with learning disabilities, and their families and carers.
- Benefits: Core benefits, discounts programs, loans for things like season tickets, mobile phones, computers, laptops, and tablets, and a financial assistance hub
- Opening Locations
- London, UK
- Hastings, UK
- Birmingham, UK
- Portsmouth, UK
- Work: Ark is an education charity that works to provide all children, regardless of their background, access to a great education and real choices in life.
- Benefits: Wide range of special discount programs, employee assistance, core benefits, professional development, and learning opportunities
Marie Curie
mariecurie.org
- Opening Locations
- Throughout the UK
- Work: Marie Curie is the UK’s leading end of life charity providing frontline nursing and hospice care, a free support line, and a wealth of information and support on all aspects of dying, death, and bereavement.
- Benefits: Core benefits, flexible work hours and locations, and free will-writing service
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
rspb.org.uk
- Location Openings
- Throughout the UK
- Work: The foundation is the largest nature conservation charity in the UK, consistently delivering successful conservation, forging powerful new partnerships with other organizations, and inspiring others to stand up and give nature the home it deserves.
- Benefits: Core benefits, green loans, and pension
British Heart Foundation
bhf.org.uk
- Location Openings
- Throughout the UK
- Work: The British Heart Foundation funds over £100 million of research each year covering all heart and circulatory diseases and the things that cause them.
- Benefits: Core benefits, a focus on inclusivity, and flexible working
World Wildlife Foundation
- Location Openings
- Washington, DC, US
- Work: WWF conserves nature and reduces the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth.
- Benefits: Great benefits and a firm commitment to affirmative action and inclusivity
Samaritans
- Location Openings
- Throughout the UK
- Boston, MA, US
- Remote
- Work: Samaritans works to prevent suicide and support those who have lost someone to suicide.
- Benefits: Core benefits and a focus on engagement, inclusivity, and flexibility.
Keep Britain Tidy
keepbritaintidy.org
- Location Openings
- London, UK
- Remote
- Work: Keep Britain Tidy is an independent charity aimed at eliminating litter, ending waste, and improving places.
- Benefits: Livable wages, core benefits, professional development opportunities, and flexible working
TOP HIRING ORGANIZATION IN THE US
The Rockefeller Foundation
- Location Openings
- New York, NY, US
- Washington, DC, US
- Work: The foundation improves lives and the planet by unleashing human potential through innovation.
- Benefits: Core benefits, competitive salaries, summer hours, flexible work, retirement benefits
Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
helmsleytrust.org
- Location Openings
- New York, NY, US
- Work: This global organization invests in new ideas or research across six program areas: Crohn’s disease, Israel, rural healthcare, type 1 diabetes, vulnerable children in sub-saharan Africa, and New York City.
- Benefits: Core benefits
John Templeton Foundation
templeton.org
- Location Openings
- Philadelphia, PA, US
- Work: The foundation strives for infinite scientific and spiritual progress, in which all people aspire to and attain a deeper understanding of the universe and their place in it.
- Benefits: Core benefits and staff donation program
American Humane
americanhumane.org
- Location Openings
- Palm Beach, FL, US
- Washington DC, US
- New York, NY, US
- New Orleans, LA, US
- Atlanta, GA, US
- Work: American Humane is committed to ensuring the safety, welfare and well-being of animals.
- Benefits: Core benefits and commitment to diversity and inclusivity
Catholic Charities USA
catholiccharitiesusa.org
- Location Openings
- Alexandria, VA, US
- Work: Catholic Charities provides service to people in need, advocates for justice in social structures, and calls on the entire church and other people of goodwill to do the same.
- Benefits: Core benefits
Wounded Warrior Project
woundedwarriorproject.org
- Location Openings
- Across the US
- Work: The organization helps veterans and service members who incurred a physical or mental injury, illness, or wound while serving in the US military.
- Benefits: Core benefits and competitive salaries
Paul Getty Trust
- Location Openings
- Pacific, Palisades, CA, US
- Work: The J. Paul Getty Trust is the world's largest cultural and philanthropic organization dedicated to the visual arts.
- Benefits: Core benefits, employee assistance program, on-site fitness, health programs, savings and retirement assistance
Children’s Investment Fund Foundation
- Location Openings
- London, UK
- New Delhi, India
- Nairobi, Kenya
- Work: The foundation is the world’s largest philanthropy that focuses specifically on improving children’s lives.
- Benefits: Core benefits, generous time off, 26 weeks of paid parental leave, career development opportunities, health and wellness programs
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
- Location Openings
- San Francisco, CA, US
Palo Alto, CA, US
- San Francisco, CA, US
- Work: The foundation fosters path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements, and preservation of the special character of the San Francisco Bay Area.
- Benefits: Core benefits
Rainforest Foundation US
- Location Openings
- Brooklyn, NY, US
- Remote
- Work: Rainforest Foundation US works to address climate change and safeguard biodiversity by promoting the rights of indigenous peoples and supporting their efforts to protect and defend their rainforests.
- Benefits: Core benefits, flexibility, inclusive work environment
Environmental Defense Fund
- Location Openings
- Throughout the US
- London, UK
- Other international locations
- Remote
- Work: The Environmental Defense Fund is one of the world's leading environmental organizations, using science and different perspectives to make the environment safer and healthier for us all.
- Benefits: Core benefits, adoption reimbursement, emergency evacuation and travel assistance, tuition and professional development reimbursements
Leonard Cheshire
- Location Openings
- Work: Leonard Cheshire provides support to people with disabilities to live, learn and work as independently as they choose whatever their ability.
- Benefits: Core benefits
Age UK
- Location Openings
- Throughout the UK
- Work: Age UK offers care, support, research, advocacy, and campaigning for the elderly population.
- Benefits: Core benefits
The Prince’s Foundation
- Location Openings
- Cumnock, Scotland, UK
- Work: The Prince’s Foundation provides holidatic solutions to challenges facing the world today, including sustainable approaches to building communities, education and training programs, and community care.
- Benefits: Core benefits
Shaw Trust
- Location Openings
- Throughout England
- Work: The Shaw Trust creates high-quality employability programs and complementary services for people with complex needs, challenging life circumstances, or other barriers that impact their access to work.
- Benefits: Core benefits
Action for Children
- Location Openings
- Throughout England
- Work: The foundation protects and supports children and young people, providing practical and emotional care and support.
- Benefits: Core benefits