Grants

Ploughshares Fund makes grants to support initiatives aimed at preventing the spread and use of nuclear weapons and toward their eventual elimination.  We also support efforts to prevent conflicts that could lead to the use nuclear weapons and to promote conflict prevention as a necessary approach to stability.

Problems of this magnitude demand multiple solutions. With the more than $4 million contributed annually by individuals all over the country, Ploughshares Fund invests in a wide range of innovative and practical programs, from scientific research to media, to behind-the-scenes dialogue, to grassroots organizing and even lobbying. Ploughshares receives hundreds of proposals every year, only a fraction of which can be funded.(In 2006-2007 we made 121 grants totaling $4.4 million.)

After research and with the counsel of advisors, Ploughshares' staff makes funding recommendations based upon these strategic principles:

• Can the project affect policy?
• Can it reach policymakers and the public with the information they need to make wise decisions about weapons and global security?

Beyond those criteria, we place very few restrictions on our grantmaking. We give whenever and wherever our grants can have the greatest impact – last year alone our grants went to ten countries around the world. And unlike most foundations, we fund individuals as well as organizations.