Ben & Jerrys Foundation

Ben & Jerry's Foundation has historically funded two distinct tracks: a National Grassroots Organizing program (unrestricted general operating support up to $30,000, averaging ~$20,000/year, for organizations with budgets under $350,000) and a Vermont-focused Equity & Justice program (up to $15,000, averaging $10,000, for Vermont groups under $500,000 in budget). As of July 2026, the national track is closed indefinitely — the Foundation states plainly it has 'no plans to reopen' it given uncertainty over its own funding. The only live door is the 2026 Vermont Equity & Justice cycle, opening May 15 and closing August 19, 2026 at 4:00 p.m., with a fixed $300,000 pool. This is roughly half of the Foundation's typical ~$600,000/year in Vermont giving, a direct consequence of Magnum Ice Cream Company (Unilever's spinoff) cutting off the Foundation's funding in April 2025. The Foundation itself has announced it will suspend all operations December 31, 2026 unless it wins its federal lawsuit against Magnum — a case tied to allegations of board interference and a disputed governance audit. Grant seekers should treat this funder as high-risk for anything beyond a single-year, Vermont-based ask: there is no endowment (the Foundation depends entirely on annual corporate contributions from Ben & Jerry's parent, which is precisely what's now been cut), so multi-year relationship-building of the kind the Foundation traditionally favored (LOI-free but relationship-driven, employee-committee vetted) may not be sustainable. Historically the Foundation favored small, constituent-led grassroots organizations — of the 1,347 grants in the DB sample totaling $19.9M at an average of $14,804, the overwhelming majority went to small, unrestricted general-support grants (3 grants apiece to most top recipients, $60,000–$90,000 cumulative), reflecting a preference for modest, renewable support over one-time large awards, aside from a small number of very large pass-through/DAF-style grants (e.g., $7.57M across just 2 grants to 'Various Grantees,' almost certainly an omnibus IRS filing line rather than a typical award). First-time Vermont applicants in 2026 should apply now, understanding funding may not continue past this cycle.

From the DB grantee sample (1,347 total grants, $19.9M total, avg. $14,804/grant), funding is heavily concentrated in small, general-support awards: excluding the two outlier 'Various Grantees' pass-through grants ($7.57M combined), the median identifiable award to a named organization sits around $60,000–$90,000 cumulative across a 2-3 year commitment, or roughly $20,000-$30,000 per year — consistent with the National program's stated $20,000 average and Vermont's $10,000 average. Geographically, Vermont dominates with 679 of the mapped grants, followed by New York (87), California (89), Massachusetts (54), DC (31), Pennsylvania (30), South Dakota (25), Florida (24), Illinois (23), and Ohio (19) — confirming a dual-track model of deep Vermont commitment plus a national grassroots-organizing footprint. Nearly all top-50 grantees (e.g., Tides Foundation $825,000/3 grants, Social Good Fund $262,000/3 grants, Resist $191,000/3 grants, Western Regional Advocacy Project $146,000/3 grants) carry the purpose code 'GENERAL SUPPORT,' underscoring the Foundation's unrestricted-funding philosophy rather than project-specific grants. Total giving has grown steadily but modestly: from $2.25M (2012) to $3.58M (2019) to a peak of $4.61M (2022), settling to $4.25M (2023) — a roughly 89% increase over eleven years, tracking Ben & Jerry's own profit-based 7.5% pretax-profit commitment. Total assets have grown from $5.18M (2012) to $9.22M (2024), and the Foundation carries no meaningful endowment cushion — net investment income is negligible in most years ($0–$53K), meaning virtually all giving is funded by fresh annual contributions ($5.3M–$5.5M/year in 2021-2023) rather than an asset base. This structural dependency is exactly what has now put the Foundation's future in jeopardy. For 2026, the confirmed pool is just $300,000 for the Vermont track — a sharp step down from the $4.2M+ total giving seen as recently as 2023, and the national track (historically the larger dollar channel) is currently zero.

The dominant recent event is existential: on July 15, 2026, the Foundation announced it will suspend all operations on December 31, 2026 unless it prevails in a federal lawsuit against Magnum Ice Cream Company, the Unilever spinoff that now controls Ben & Jerry's corporate parent. Magnum cut off the Foundation's funding in April 2025 after an internal audit alleged conflicts of interest and inadequate governance controls; the Foundation and its board dispute those findings and are pursuing litigation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, with resolution expected to extend into 2027. Foundation president Liz Bankowski stated Magnum would continue withholding funding unless the board was restructured to Magnum's terms. Co-founder Ben Cohen publicly called the audit findings 'trumped-up charges.' Staff have already been evicted from the Foundation's longtime office at 530 Community Drive, South Burlington, VT (as of July 15, 2026). Concretely, this has already closed the National Grassroots Organizing program indefinitely — the Foundation's own website states it has no plans to reopen it. The Foundation has, however, kept a scaled-down Vermont Equity & Justice cycle alive for 2026, with a $300,000 pool (roughly half the historical ~$600,000/year Vermont commitment), opening May 15 and closing August 19, 2026. Known affected grantees losing support include Vermont organizations such as Migrant Justice and Outright Vermont. Since Unilever's 2000 acquisition of Ben & Jerry's, the Foundation has received an estimated $60 million in corporate funding, all of which is now at risk.

Given the Foundation's current crisis, the single most important tip is to apply only to the live 2026 Vermont Equity & Justice cycle (opens May 15, closes August 19, 4:00 p.m.) — the National Grassroots Organizing program is closed with no reopening plans, so time spent preparing a national application is currently wasted effort. Start with the online eligibility questionnaire at benandjerrysfoundation.org/eligibility-questionnaire/ before attempting a full application; the portal (hosted on grantinterface.com under urlkey 'benandjerry') gates access to the full application behind this screen, and organizations that don't meet the under-$500,000 budget threshold or Vermont-focus requirement will be screened out immediately. Because the Foundation's historic giving is overwhelmingly coded 'GENERAL SUPPORT' rather than project-restricted, frame the ask as unrestricted operating support tied to a grassroots, constituent-led theory of change — the Foundation has consistently favored organizations where people directly affected by an issue (not outside experts or service providers) lead the campaign and decision-making. Do not apply if your program is direct-service delivery, school- or government-affiliated, religious in nature, or led by paid staff/experts rather than affected community members — these are explicit exclusions. Community sources describe the historic national process as highly competitive (roughly 7% acceptance), so expect the smaller 2026 Vermont pool ($300,000 across likely 20-30 awards of $10,000-$15,000) to be similarly selective. Because the Foundation's decisions are made by employee-staffed Community Action Teams rather than program officers, avoid jargon-heavy grant-speak — write for a lay, mission-driven employee reviewer rather than a professional foundation staffer. Finally, given the funding uncertainty, do not build a budget or program plan that assumes renewal — ask directly via info@benandjerrysfoundation.org or (802) 495-1378 whether the Foundation expects to fund this program again in 2027 before making it a load-bearing part of a multi-year plan.