Saturday is international & global development day on The Grant Brief.

Myanmar work is hard to fund. Most US foundations that historically supported it stepped back after the 2021 military coup, leaving a small set of direct funders for organizations still on the ground or at the Thai-Myanmar border. The B.K. Kee Foundation is one of them — but the addressable pool is tighter than the $1.7 million lifetime giving figure suggests.

$10,000 to $100,000 (median: $56,000) / Myanmar and the Thai-Myanmar border / Rolling LOI

bkkeefoundation.org/grants/loi.html

Funder profile: kindora.co/funders/562545977

What we know: B.K. Kee made 14 grants totaling $1.7 million from 2023 to 2025. Two repeat partners absorbed roughly 77% of that: Community Partners International received $900,000 across two grants, and Parami University received $450,000 across two more. The remaining ~$350,000 spread across smaller awards. The foundation also made two expenditure-responsibility grants totaling $72,000 to Thailand, confirming it can and does fund directly outside the US — useful if your organization isn't a 501(c)(3). Sector mix leans toward health services and higher education, with a smaller religion category. Nine of fourteen US-side grantees are California-based.

Realistic fit: organizations with direct programming in Myanmar or at the Thai-Myanmar border, either as US 501(c)(3)s or as qualified foreign charities prepared for expenditure-responsibility review. The dominance pattern means outside applicants should expect to fight for one of the few remaining slots that don't go to existing partners.

If your international work isn't Myanmar-specific, this isn't the right fight. If it is, the rolling LOI is the right opening move: a short concept note that lets the foundation gauge fit before you commit to a full proposal.