Ben & Jerry's Foundation

About Ben & Jerry's Foundation

Ben & Jerry's Foundation Inc backs grassroots organizations working on social and environmental justice, with an emphasis on communities historically denied power. Its recent grantmaking shows a strong preference for general operating support, including repeated awards to groups organized around constituent-led campaigns and community accountability. The foundation also keeps a distinct Vermont stream alongside national organizing grants, linking statewide equity work with broader systemic-change efforts. Recent grants show that the foundation gives across a wide range of sizes, from smaller community awards to larger operating grants for organizations advancing justice goals. Among its recent recipients, Tides Foundation appears with some of the largest awards, while Resist is another recurring grantee in the national organizing lane. The foundation’s portfolio also includes intermediaries and fiscal sponsors such as Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs and Social Good Fund, alongside place-based organizations working in Vermont and other U.S. communities. The foundation’s stated priorities include racial justice, environmental justice, immigrants and refugees, LGBTQ+ rights, low-wage labor organizing, criminal justice reform, local food systems and food security, and capacity building. Its grantmaking pattern points to support for organizations using non-violent, strategic grassroots organizing and for nonprofits that need flexible core support to sustain long-term advocacy.

What Ben & Jerry's Foundation Funds

In grassroots organizing, Ben & Jerry's Foundation Inc funds constituent-led campaigns that seek systemic change. A 2025 grant of $75,000 to Resist was listed as general support, and the same organization received $71,000 in 2024 and $60,000 in 2023, showing repeated support for the same organizing vehicle. For environmental and social justice work, the foundation has funded organizations acting through fiscal sponsorship and intermediary structures. It gave $120,000 in 2025 to Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs, following $102,000 in 2023 and $41,000 in 2024, all listed as general support. In Vermont, the foundation supports equity and access through place-based grants. Recent examples include $50,000 in 2025 to Equitable Opportunities Now Foundation, $40,000 in 2023 to Vermont Peace & Justice Center, and $30,100 in 2023 to 350vermont.

How Ben & Jerry's Foundation Gives