95 Organisations

Foundations & Philanthropy

Philanthropic organisations and donor networks funding psychedelic research, education, and policy initiatives outside traditional venture capital.

Philanthropy built modern psychedelic research. Before public funders arrived, nearly all of the foundational trials ran on donated money, and foundations remain the most flexible capital in the field: they fund the research, education, and policy work that neither venture capital nor government programmes will touch. The organisations tracked here range from psychedelic-specific foundations to large grant-makers for whom this is one programme area.

For anyone seeking funding, the useful questions are narrow ones. What does this funder actually support? What have they funded before? Are they still giving? Each profile records focus areas, support types (grants, fellowships, prizes), geography, and source-backed funding activity where we have it.

Specific Groups

Grant-Making OrganizationsPsychedelic-Specific FoundationsTraditional Foundations
Funders
95
Funders with activity
57
Sourced activities
145

Looking for other capital? InvestorsGovernment funding

Frequently asked questions

Who funds psychedelic research outside government and industry?

Around a third of the funders tracked here are psychedelic-specific foundations built for this field. The rest are broader grant-making organisations with a psychedelic or mental-health programme. Their focus areas span research, training, policy reform, harm reduction, and access programmes.

How do I find out what a foundation has actually funded?

Where public evidence exists, profiles carry funding activity records with source links: named recipients, dates, and amounts where disclosed. Coverage is uneven because much philanthropic giving is never published; treat an empty funding record as absence of public evidence, not absence of giving.

Are these foundations open to applications?

It varies, and the profiles record engagement status where known. Some run open grant rounds, others give only through invitation or long-standing relationships. Checking the funder’s primary link (each profile carries one) before investing time in an approach is the sensible first step.

How does philanthropic funding compare to government funding in this field?

They complement each other. Philanthropy moves faster and takes more risk (first-in-human studies, policy work, training programmes), while government funders such as the NIH bring scale but narrower eligibility. Our separate Government Funding category tracks the public side.