Survival International

What Survival International does

Survival International is a UK-registered nonprofit charitable trust (Charity No. 267444) and 501(c)(3) organization (US Tax ID 26-3208869), founded in 1969 and headquartered in London. The organization operates as the global movement for tribal peoples, advocating on behalf of Indigenous communities in over 90 countries and identifying more than 196 uncontacted peoples as populations at acute risk. Its core functional activity is conducting and publicizing field research, lobbying governments and international bodies (including the UN), documenting human rights abuses, and mobilizing supporter action — petitions, email campaigns, protests, and donor outreach — to pressure corporations and states on land rights, conservation policy, and forced contact issues.

Survival International's core products are digital advocacy assets rather than commercial goods: a multilingual website (10 languages), an action/petition platform (act.survivalinternational.org), a donation portal, an e-commerce shop, a Vimeo-hosted documentary film library, and a publications/reports section. Notable outputs include the 'Blood Carbon' report on carbon credit schemes, the 'Decolonize Conservation' campaign materials, and the 'Uncontacted Indigenous Peoples: at the edge of survival' report. The organization maintains operational offices in the UK, US, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, and Brazil, and coordinates a global network of Indigenous partner organizations including COIAB, FEPOIMT, the Indian Law Resource Center, and MISA.

The organization's business model is donation-led and structurally independent: it refuses national government funding and corporate donations from companies that could be violating Indigenous rights, sourcing its income almost entirely from small individual donors in over 100 countries, supplemented by bequests, merchandise sales, and event-based fundraising (including the London Marathon 2026). Its go-to-market motion is community-led, growing a global movement of individual supporters who take targeted actions — signing petitions, sending emails, donating, attending events — in support of specific Indigenous campaigns, with documented wins including the 2006 Botswana Bushmen high court case, the 2016 Kawahiva territory decree, the closure of the Andaman Trunk Road, and the withdrawal of BASF from a contested nickel project.

Name

Survival International

Legal name

Survival International Charitable Trust

Website

https://survivalinternational.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1969

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Survival International is a UK-based nonprofit advocacy organization, founded in 1969, that campaigns globally on behalf of Indigenous and tribal peoples through research, lobbying, and a community of individual supporters across 100+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices8 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: The vast majority of Survival's funding comes from small, individual donors in over 100 countries. The organization refuses national government funding and corporate funding from companies that could be violating Indigenous peoples' rights to maintain complete political and financial independence.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Survival International is a global campaigning and advocacy organization that supports Indigenous tribal peoples by lobbying governments, presenting evidence to UN bodies, and pressuring multinational corporations to stop the destruction of Indigenous lands, lives, and livelihoods by loggers, miners, and oil companies. The organization delivers this advocacy through digital action platforms (petitions and email campaigns), documentary films, publications, and direct field research, while operating donation-funded offices across eight countries.

Product overview

Survival International operates a digital advocacy platform centered around its main website (survivalinternational.org), which serves as a unified portal for campaign information, petitions, donations, and multimedia content. The organization offers an action platform (act.survivalinternational.org) for petitions and email campaigns, an e-commerce shop for merchandise, a dedicated donation portal, a films section hosting documentary videos on Vimeo, publications and reports including the Blood Carbon and Decolonize Conservation campaign materials, and educational resources for schools and activists. The product portfolio functions as an integrated advocacy ecosystem enabling supporters to learn about issues, take action, donate, and access multimedia content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Won landmark 2006 High Court case in Botswana upholding Bushmen's right to live and hunt in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• COIAB (Coordenação das Organizações Indígenas da Amazônia Brasileira)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOIAB is a Brazilian Indigenous peoples' organization that Survival works alongside in campaigns such as the Kawahiva demarcation. COIAB coordinates Indigenous organizations across the Brazilian Amazon and serves as a key local partner in land rights advocacy.
• FEPOIMT (Federação dos Povos e Organizações Indígenas de Mato Grosso)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFEPOIMT is a federation of Indigenous peoples and organizations in Mato Grosso state, Brazil. Survival campaigns alongside FEPOIMT for the land rights of the Kawahiva and other Indigenous peoples in the region.
• Indian Law Resource CentercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Indian Law Resource Center is a legal advocacy organization that Survival works with alongside Brazilian Indigenous organizations to advance land rights cases for the Kawahiva and other tribes.
• OPAN (Operação Amazônia Nativa)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOPAN is a Brazilian organization providing legal and financial support to Indigenous-led projects. Listed as an ally in the Kawahiva campaign.
• Opi (Observatório dos Povos Indígenas Isolados)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpi is an observatory focused on isolated Indigenous peoples in Brazil. Listed as an ally in the Kawahiva campaign alongside OPAN.
• FUNAI (Fundação Nacional dos Povos Indígenas)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFUNAI is Brazil's government Indigenous affairs department. Survival has collaborated with FUNAI on protection operations for uncontacted peoples such as the Kawahiva, including ground operations to remove illegal ranchers from Indigenous territories.
• Mark RylanceminorOthersOscar-winning actor Mark Rylance fronted Survival's Kawahiva campaign and narrated a short film, lending high-profile public support to the land rights campaign.
• Maasai International Solidarity Alliance (MISA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMISA is a Maasai-led organization that Survival collaborates with on campaigns including resistance to carbon credit projects and evictions in Tanzania and Kenya. MISA produces reports and public statements in coordination with Survival.
• Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT)minorOthersNRT is a conservation organization operating in northern Kenya whose carbon credits project (Northern Kenya Grassland Carbon Project) is the subject of Survival's 'Blood Carbon' campaign. Survival documents and opposes NRT's practices, which it characterizes as violating Maasai land rights.
• UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)minorOthersSurvival presents evidence of human rights abuses to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which has raised concerns about Botswana's treatment of CKGR Bushmen and urged full implementation of court rulings.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Amazon Watch: US-based NGO protecting the Amazon rainforest and its Indigenous peoples through campaigns, partnerships, and corporate accountability — directly comparable regional focus (Brazil, Peru, Bolivia) and methodology.
• Cultural Survival: Indigenous rights organization founded in 1972 that supports Indigenous communities' self-determination, land rights, and cultural preservation — directly comparable mission, advocacy model, and constituency to Survival International.
• Indigenous Peoples Rights International (IPRI): Dedicated Indigenous rights organization focused on protecting isolated/tribal peoples and supporting Indigenous-led advocacy — direct comparability with Survival's uncontacted-peoples campaign.
• Forest Peoples Programme: UK-based NGO supporting the rights of forest-dwelling Indigenous peoples, particularly in tropical forest countries — closely mirrors Survival's land-rights and conservation-conflict focus areas.
• International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA): International NGO working for Indigenous peoples' rights through documentation, advocacy, and lobbying at UN bodies — highly comparable in scope, methodology, and global geographic reach.
• Rainforest Foundation: Supports Indigenous and traditional peoples' rights to rainforest lands, with US, UK, and Norwegian entities — closely overlaps with Survival's lands-and-lives and conservation campaigns.
• Survival International Charitable Trust: Self-reference retained for completeness — Survival International itself, against which other peers are benchmarked on scope, constituency, and methodology.

Broad incumbents

• Global Witness: Investigative NGO exposing environmental and human rights abuses linked to natural resource extraction — directly comparable in corporate-accountability campaign methodology and overlap in geographies.
• Amnesty International: Much larger, broader human rights organization with a global membership-funded model and similar advocacy/lobbying methodology, but does not specialize in Indigenous/tribal peoples.
• Human Rights Watch: Global human rights organization that documents abuses and lobbies governments; covers Indigenous rights among many other issue areas but lacks Survival's tribal-peoples specialization.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Survival
• Facebookfacebook.com/survival
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/survival-international

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Survival International