April 17, 2024

Opportunities for Philanthropic Support of Abortion Access and Reproductive Rights in the United States

In response to requests from prospective funders seeking to support abortion access and reproductive rights, The Bridgespan Group has identified a variety of grantmaking opportunities. This article shares opportunities across two categories: surmounting barriers to direct service and advancing reproductive rights and justice.


By: Marina Fisher, Julia Finnerty, Kristen Loureiro

In response to requests from prospective funders seeking to support abortion access and reproductive rights, The Bridgespan Group has identified a variety of grantmaking opportunities. We broadly categorize these as opportunities to help:

  1. Surmount barriers to direct service
  2. Advance reproductive rights and justice

Four Ways to Ensure Equitable Access

Mounting access and cost issues, combined with substantial limits on public and private insurance funding, put abortion care increasingly out of reach for millions of people. In "The Evolving Philanthropic Landscape for Supporting Abortion Access and Reproductive Services" we share four ways philanthropy can ensure equitable access to abortion care in the years ahead.

The former category includes support for clinics, abortion funds, and their support networks. The latter covers organizations that champion legal assistance for abortion seekers, conduct policy advocacy, and engage in movement building.

Listed below are more than 40 organizations that fall within these categories, organized into subgroups by their missions. Most of the organizations are of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit variety with which many funders are familiar. Others are 501(c)(4) or 527 organizations, which fall under different sections of the US tax code. (See “Using All the Tools in the Toolkit: Funding Advocacy for Social Change” for more information on giving to different types of organizations.)

The list is illustrative, not exhaustive. It represents a snapshot in time as of publication. For continuously updated lists, we recommend visiting the websites of providers, funds, and ally organizations, such as:

Organizations That Surmount Barriers to Direct Service

carafem: As a national provider of abortion care and birth control, carafem offers clients access to care and resources online, via video, or in medical offices, with additional 24/7 support from Cara, a text-based information platform. It operates in 18 states, adapts to changing US regulations, and is working to expand compassionate care to more states.

CHOICES-Center for Reproductive HealthThe clinic offers comprehensive reproductive care, including medication and procedural abortions, gynecological wellness care, gender-affirming hormone therapy, HIV testing and referrals, no-cost birth control, midwife-led prenatal care and births, and more. CHOICES recently opened an Illinois location after Tennessee—where its original clinic remains open—banned abortions.

Feminist Women’s Health CenterFrom its base in Atlanta, the center provides direct reproductive care services, education, advocacy, leadership development, and movement building. Clinic services include abortion care, birth control, emergency contraception, HIV testing and counseling, sexually transmitted disease infection testing and treatment, pregnancy testing, and gender-affirming care.

Just the Pill: The organization provides equitable access to abortion, contraception, and other sexual and reproductive health services by combining telemedicine and mobile clinics. Just the Pill currently serves people in Minnesota, Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming, including those who travel to receive care.

Planned Parenthood: Planned Parenthood affiliate health centers provide comprehensive reproductive health care services, including family planning, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections, cancer screenings, gender affirming care for transgender and non-binary patients, and abortion. Nationally, Planned Parenthood Federation of America supports access to care through direct patient assistance funds, digital wayfinding, and other resources to support affiliates.

Keep Our ClinicsA campaign of the Abortion Care Network, Keep Our Clinics supports independent clinics with the resources they need to cover expenses such as increased security, building repairs, legal fees, staff, and community education and advocacy. The Abortion Care Network is a membership organization committed to supporting the roughly 350 independent abortion clinics that provide the majority of abortion care in the United States.

Resources for Abortion Delivery: The organization promotes the resilience of US abortion service providers so that abortion seekers have timely and equitable access to quality care. It distributes resources—including grants and loans, technical support, and free legal compliance advice—to abortion providers to maximize abortion access. It also assists funders in making grant decisions.

National Network of Abortion Funds (NNAF)The network of 100 independent abortion funds supports member abortion funds by providing grants, leadership development, infrastructure support, and technical assistance. Because this article’s list is not comprehensive, you can also refer to NNAF’s list of funds to find other funds, searchable by geographies served. The list indicates when a fund is “paused”—that is when the fund has no available support.

Other abortion funds:

Apiary for Practical Support: This is a national hub for groups that provide logistical assistance—transportation, lodging, childcare, and more—to people seeking abortions. Apiary provides tactical tools, trainings, resources, and community spaces to make it easier for new and existing practical support organizations to grow sustainably.

Fund Texas ChoiceThis practical support abortion fund provides financial, logistical, and emotional support to Texans traveling an average of over 1,500 miles round trip to safely and legally access abortion care in other states. They pay for flights, hotel accommodations, gas, ride shares, food, childcare, and a variety of other expenses Texans encounter on their journey to the abortion clinic. 

The Brigid Alliance: This referral-based service arranges and pays for local and long-distance travel, lodging, meals, childcare, and other logistical needs for those who travel long distances for abortion care. Two-thirds of its clients are BIPOC, and one-third are already parents. They travel an average of 1,218 miles for care, and the average cost per itinerary is $2,300.

Jane's Due ProcessThis organization helps young people in Texas navigate parental consent laws and abortion bans to confidentially access abortion and birth control. This includes providing funding for abortion and practical/travel support, free emergency contraception, and stigma-free information on sexual and reproductive health.

Midwest Access Coalition: The coalition helps people traveling to, from, and within the Midwest to access a safe abortion by assisting with travel coordination and costs, lodging, food, medicine, childcare, and emotional support.

National Abortion Hotline: This is the largest national, toll-free, multi-lingual Hotline that helps people find accurate information about abortion, referrals, and financial assistance in the U.S. and Canada. The National Abortion Hotline helps people find a provider and plan their care no matter where they live. The Hotline provides comprehensive case management services and financial assistance to help patients afford the cost of their care and travel-related expenses. In 2023, the National Abortion Hotline provided financial assistance to over 106,000 people seeking abortion care nationwide and provided nearly $2 million in travel assistance support to 1,200 patients through its travel assistance fund.

ineedana.com: This easy-to-use, up-to-date information resource allows users to enter non-personally identifiable information to get a list of the closest clinics, relevant laws, and local support resources, such as abortion funds.

Online Abortion Resource Squad: The organization uses Reddit to fight disinformation, counter myths and misinformation, and ensure that people have the information and support they need to access safe abortion care no matter where they live. The Online Abortion Resource Squad recruits, trains, supports, and coordinates an international team of abortion experts to provide information and individualized navigational support to the 80,000-plus individuals from the United States and around the world who visit the abortion subreddit each month.  

Plan C: This national public health organization provides practical information about how to access abortion pills by mail in every state. Plan C’s website offers a research-based guide to abortion pill accessIt works with technology innovators, artists, and media providers to promote information on medication abortion.

Right By You: This free and confidential text service provides teens in Missouri with information on abortion care, birthing care, adoption and parenting supports, birth control, and legal rights.

SASS-Self-Managed Abortion; Safe & SupportedThe US project of Women Help Women, a global nonprofit organization that supports the rights of people to have information about and access to safe abortion with pills. The project provides information and support regarding self-managed abortion to empower people to have reproductive choices, regardless of income or zip code.

Digital Defense Fund: The organization provides digital security and technology support to organizations and individuals working in the abortion access movement. It works to support and expand the capacity of abortion rights and provider organizations, and individual organizers.

National Abortion Federation (NAF): The professional association of abortion providers, NAF supports abortion providers in delivering patient-centered, evidence-based care. The federation also operates the National Abortion Hotline and the nation’s largest patient assistance fund, which pays for roughly 100,000 abortion procedures and related travel expenses each year.

Nurses for Sexual and Reproductive HealthThe organization provides students, nurses, and midwives with education and resources to become skilled care providers and social change agents in sexual and reproductive health and justice.

Reproductive Health Access Project: The project trains, supports, and mobilizes primary care clinicians to ensure equitable access to sexual and reproductive health care, including abortion. By centering communities most impacted by barriers to care, it fills critical gaps in clinical education and care delivery.

Abortion Bridge Collaborative Fund: This philanthropic fund supports organizations that provide, fund, and facilitate abortion access across the United States. An advisory council comprising leaders in the reproductive health, rights, and justice movements makes the collaborative’s grant decisions.

Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity: This collaborative and funder community creates space for donors to learn together, amplify the impact of their giving, and accelerate change in five-year increments by funding organizations led by and for those most impacted by gender, reproductive, and racial inequities. It invests in state power-building, state courts, and new alliances that expand the tent of supporters working across abortion and contraception access, as well as gender and racial equity. 

The Catalyst Fund for Reproductive Justice: The fund supports organizations led by women of color, low-income women, and transgender people. It aims to advance reproductive justice and systems change. It is sponsored by the Groundswell Fund, one of the largest funders of the reproductive justice movement.

Women’s Funding Network: This global alliance provides strategies, research, and resources to support women’s foundations and gender-justice funders in the movement for equality, justice, and power for all. The network promotes a broad approach to reproductive justice that entails funding abortion access, birth justice, climate and economic justice, as well as freedom from state violence.

Avow: The organization works to secure unrestricted abortion care and reproductive rights for every Texan by pursuing community building, education, and political advocacy.

Guttmacher Institute: The institute combines rigorous scientific investigation with sophisticated advocacy and communications to bring about evidence-based policies and programs. It has played an essential role in fortifying a facts-based foundation critical to the sexual and reproductive health, rights, and justice movement.  

Gynuity Health Projects: This organization develops and advocates for the use of scientific, clinical, and programmatic evidence in reproductive and maternal health. It works to make medication abortion care more attainable and economical without diminishing safety and efficacy.

National Institute for Reproductive Health: This advocacy organization fights for just and equitable access to reproductive health care nationwide. It works with state and local reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations, and other groups invested in the fight to pass laws that expand access to abortion and contraception and advance health equity.

Planned Parenthood Federation of America: The organization works with 49 Planned Parenthood affiliates and 19 million Planned Parenthood supporters nationwide to secure access to abortion and other sexual and reproductive health services. PPFA does this through organizing and advocacy to defend and expand reproductive rights and access at the state and federal levels; outreach and leadership development to engage Black and Latinx supporters, young people, and Planned Parenthood patients in the movement; and by supporting Planned Parenthood affiliates in litigation to block bans and restrictions on care.

Society of Family Planning: The society advances just and equitable access to abortion and contraception by working to ensure practices and policies are grounded in science and center people whose access to care is constrained by systems of oppression. It seeks to cultivate a diverse and inclusive community to foster scholarly activity and leadership in family planning.


In Our Own Voice: National Black Women’s Reproductive Justice Agenda: This national/state partnership focused on lifting the voices of Black women leaders to secure reproductive justice for all women, girls, and gender-expansive individuals. It involves eight strategic partners: Black Women for Wellness; Black Women’s Health Imperative; New Voices for Reproductive Justice, Pittsburgh; SisterLove; SisterReach; SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW; The Afiya Center; and Women With A Vision.

National Women's Health Network: This network represents the health interests of women, maintaining an intersectional focus on sexual and reproductive health, maternal health, and the health and well-being of aging women. It works to improve women’s health outcomes through state and federal advocacy, consumer health education, and grassroots technical assistance initiatives.

Religious Coalition for Reproductive ChoiceA multi-faith, intersectional movement, the coalition seeks to remove barriers that impede individuals, especially those in marginalized communities, from accessing comprehensive reproductive health care with respect and dignity. It works through spiritual companionship, curating frameworks for faith leaders, and training the next generation of activists.

Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America): Reproductive Freedom for All organizes and mobilizes its four million members to fight for access to abortion, birth control, paid parental leave, and protections from pregnancy discrimination. It works at both the state and national levels to enact policies for reproductive freedom and hold anti-abortion extremists accountable.

UltraViolet: This feminist cultural and political change organization works to protect abortion freedom and destabilize the anti-abortion movement by countering abortion disinformation online, holding corporations and media accountable for misinformation and bias, and organizing to defeat abortion bans. Ultraviolet leverages education, advocacy, policy change, cultural campaigning, and mobilization of its one-million-member community.

We Testify: This Black-led organization works with people who have had an abortion to share their stories and campaign to address abortion stigma by changing the conversation about who has abortions and why. We Testify is dedicated to leading and representing people who have abortions, increasing the spectrum of abortion storytellers in the public sphere, and shifting the way the media understands the context and complexity of accessing abortion care.


[1] According to a report by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, crisis pregnancy centers “use false advertising and medical misinformation to target and pressure abortion seekers to carry unwanted pregnancies to term.” The report estimates that crisis pregnancy centers are located in every state, outnumber legitimate abortion clinics three-to-one, and hold a five-to-one funding advantage. Reproaction has created a “fake clinic” database that lists crisis pregnancy centers across the United States.
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