Partnerships and Funders

ISD’s Independence

ISD is non-partisan, non-profit and upholds the highest ethical standards. Our independence guarantees us the freedom and responsibility to only pursue projects that comply with our mission, core aims and the values of the organisation.  

To safeguard the continuing independence of our research and programming, ISD upholds the principles of integrity, independence, objectivityand accountability. ISD only accepts funding for work in line with our mission and strategic objectives, and our Ethical Funding Policy as outlined below. We do not undertake programming, pursue external partnerships or work with funders that could undermine ISD’s independence and credibility, or compromise the integrity and quality of our work. ISD’s contractual relationship with donors ensures funding in no way influences the findings and outcomes of our research or decision-making, and we reserve the right to refuse or return funding which conflicts with these principles.

Ethical Funding Policy

ISD actively fundraises from a diverse range of funding sources in support of our charitable and strategic objectives, to ensure that all our programmes and projects are sustainably funded in line with our mission and values. We receive funding from governments, trusts, foundations, companies and individuals and the diversity of our funding sources helps us to maintain and protect ISD’s independence.

This policy is intended to ensure that neither the opportunities we pursue, nor our funders’ requirements, impact our independence in any way, and to provide transparency to our stakeholders with regards to our fundraising activities. The policy outlines our standards and processes for accepting or declining funding, and how we ensure these are applied evenly and consistently.

Acceptance of Funding Criteria

ISD pursues and accepts funding in line with the following set of conditions:

1. The funder demonstrates respect for and adherence to universal human rights, freedom of speech, democracy and the rule of law, and does not support or condone extremism or terrorism
2. The funder does not conduct activities or implement policies that promote violence, hatred or prejudice on the basis of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, age or disability, and does not seek to deflect criticism from their involvement in any of the above by funding ISD
3. The funding will help to challenge extremism, hate, polarisation and disinformation and will support ISD in pursuit of its charitable objectives
4. The funder does not attempt to influence ISD’s objectives, policies or decisions, and the funding does not pose a risk to ISD’s independence, either explicitly or implicitly
5. The funding does not pose a risk of harm to ISD’s reputation, staff, partners or beneficiaries

ISD is registered in the UK with the Charity Commission of England and Wales; in the US as a non-profit corporation with 501(c)3 status; in Germany as a limited liability company with a charitable purpose (‘gGmbH’); in France as a non-profit Association; in Jordan as a non-profit limited liability company; and in Canada is a non-profit corporation. All ISD entities comply with all relevant local legislation and guidance in the countries in which we operate, including money laundering rules, lobbying rules, the UK Bribery Act and the Code of Fundraising Practice. We regularly review and update our internal governance and operations procedures and policies, including our Data Protection Policy, Diversity & Inclusion Policy and Privacy Policy.

Privacy & Transparency of Donors

ISD aims to be as transparent as possible, and we have published this policy to communicate our approach to all our stakeholders. We operate in accordance with the UK Charity Commission’s Know your Donor principle and will make reasonable and appropriate attempts to identify any individual or organisation that gives us financial support, particularly where significant sums are being donated or the circumstances of the donation give rise to notable risk.

If we receive anonymous individual donations, we will do everything possible to confirm that the origins of these donations are legitimate. Due Diligence will be carried out within one month of receiving a gift equal to or greater than €5,000/£5,000/$7000, including anonymous gifts. If a donor makes themselves known to ISD but wishes their gift to remain anonymous, we will honour these wishes on the basis that the donation is received in line with our Fundraising Criteria (above) and carries no significant reputational risk.

When deciding whether to accept a donation, ISD has a duty to demonstrate to regulators that we have acted in the best interest of the organisation, and that association with any particular donor does not compromise ISD in any way. Upon review, if any of these criteria are in question then a full risk assessment will be undertaken and reviewed by the Board for final decision. If at any point an existing or historic donor would no longer meet ISD’s fundraising criteria, the funding and donor will be re-evaluated and ISD reserves the right to no longer accept funding from that source.

Research Ethics

We hold our team to very high ethical standards in all our work. This includes in our research, where the topics we address pose unique challenges to researchers, such as difficulties in terms of accessing research subjects; managing researcher security and wellbeing; the traumatic and disturbing nature of much extremism content; and the particular vulnerability of members and followers of extremist groups.

To ensure our ethical standards are met and maintained, we exhaustively consider the ethical responsibilities, methods and systems that must guide our work. To this end, ISD’s programming is guided by six core ethical principles: Respect for Persons; Concern for Welfare; Pursuing Justice; Minimising Online Harms; Safeguarding Researchers; and Considering Exploitation. The principles are outlined to all staff in regular training and our Ethics Policy which is available upon request.

ISD’s Core Ethics Principles are put into action and enforced, both in their letter and spirit, through our Ethics Process. The ISD Ethics Process is the series of activities that ISD staff undertake when planning a new research activity, as well as the regular activities that ISD undertakes as an organisation in order to ensure that its actions remain compliant with its ethics principles, and that those principles remain up to date. This work is overseen by our designated Ethics Officer, who at present is Jacob Davey.

For more information about our programming ethics, or to learn more, please email [email protected]. If you have any concerns about our work, our Complaints Policy outlines methods for contacting us.

Partners and Funders (2024-Present)

Academic Institutions

Coventry University 
Research Foundation of CUNY on behalf of Queens College 
Free University Berlin
Macquarie University
The McCain Institute at Arizona State University 
University of Leipzig 
University of Ontario Institute of Technology 
University of Galway 
University of San Diego 

Civil Society Organisations

British Muslim Trust
Campact e.V. 
Center for Internet Security 
Centre for Information Resilience 
Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy 
Debunk 
Equimondo
Global Action Plan 
Jewish Columbus 
Next Level Initiatives 
Onyx Impact, Inc. 
Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
States United Democracy Centre
We The Veterans

Private Sector

Faculty Science Limited 
FIFA
Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT)
Google.org 
Hardcastle Advisory Limited 
Hope Lab 
Human Digital  
Microsoft 
Ramboll 
Spotify
Teatro SRL 
The Bright Initiative by Bright Data
Volkswagen Stiftung 

Foundations

Alfred Landecker Foundation 
Antisemitism Policy Trust 
Aspiration  
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 
Bohemian Foundation 
Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation 
Carter Centre 
California Community Foundation 
CAF Canada 
Canada Race Relations Foundation
Christchurch Call Foundation 
Community Foundation Ireland 
David B Lynch Foundation 
Digital Safety Initiatives
EMIF 
Excelerate Foundation 
Expertise France 
Falconwood Foundation, Inc 
Fondation Hirondelle 
Fourth Freedom Forum
Foundation for a Path Forward 
Ford Foundation 
Frederick Mulder Foundation 
The Gill Foundation 
Helen Clay Frick Foundation 
Hertie Stiftung 
Konrad Adenauer Stiftung UK & Ireland
Lakhan Pal Family Fund 
Luminate
MacArthur Foundation 
Mercator Stiftung 
Movember Foundation
Moxie Fund 
MKM Foundation 
New Venture Fund 
Open Society Foundations (OSF) 
Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation 
Quadrivium Foundation 
Reset Foundation 
Robert Bosch Stiftung 
Rowan Trust 
Seven Pines Foundation 
Skoll Foundation 
The Battery Foundation
The Bernard and Anne Spitzer Charitable Trust 
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
The Finklestein Foundation 
The Goodnation Foundation 
Toronto Foundation 
The Guardian Fund  
The Jewish Community Foundation of the Bay Area
The Jewish Community Foundation of LA
The Joyce & Irving Goldman Foundation 
The Klarman Family Foundation 
The Meliore Foundation 
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation 
Tides Foundation 
Wellspring Philanthropic Fund 
Workday Foundation 

Governments & Multilateral Organisations

Association of Manitoba Municipalities 
Australia Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)  
Canadian Embassy Berlin
Canada Heritage 
Canadian Municipal Network on Crime Prevention 
City of Fuenlabrada  
City of Cape Town
City of Oslo
City of Toronto  
Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
European Commission (EC Horizon, DG-CNECT, DG-JUST, FPI) 
EU Knowledge Hub via NTU International 
German Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb) 
German Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt)  
German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) (via VDI/VDE-IT) 
German State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia 
Global Affairs Canada
Federal Network Agency Germany (‘Bundesnetzagentur’, BNetzA) 
International Organization for Migration (IOM) 
London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) 
New South Wales Premier’s Department
New Zealand Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet 
Public Safety Canada
South African Film and Publications Board
Swedish Centre for Preventing Violent Extremism 
UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) 
UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)  
UK Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) 
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) 
UN Women
US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
US Department of Justice (DOJ) 
US Embassy Berlin 
US Embassy Paris
US Embassy Islamabad
US Embassy London
US Embassy Ottawa 
US Embassy Pretoria 
US Embassy Rabat 
US Embassy Stockholm
US State Department (DOS)
VIGINUM 

This list captures all institutions donors and partners who have given over £1,000 in local currency to an ISD entity since 1 January 2024. This does not include individual philanthropic donors or donors who have wished to remain anonymous. For more information about donors predating 2024 please email [email protected].