PorCausa Foundation

What PorCausa Foundation does

PorCausa Foundation (Fundación porCausa) is a private non-profit foundation registered in Madrid, Spain in 2013, focused on migration journalism, applied research, and strategic narrative change. It investigates migratory movements and barriers, and produces rigorous independent journalism, academic reports, and investigative pieces distributed through its own media platform 'Pública porCausa' (300+ articles published) and via co-publishing partnerships with The Guardian, The New York Times, El País, Der Spiegel, Le Monde, The Washington Post, and Lighthouse Reports. The foundation also convenes the world's only International Congress on Migration Journalism in Mérida and operates a regional entity (porCausa Chile) in Santiago.

The foundation's core intellectual asset is 'Narrativa Circular' (Circular Narrative) — a proprietary methodology that combines creative thinking processes, discourse substitution theory, and investigative frameworks merging journalistic and academic approaches. This methodology underpins the foundation's content production, training, advisory services, and capacity-building programs. The organization co-created Baynana, the first refugee-led media outlet in Europe (managed by Syrian refugees, 2019–2022), and published the first guide on new migration narratives in 2017, now adopted by tens of thousands of organizations, political parties, and governments across Europe.

The foundation's revenue model is multi-stream: recurring donations from 300+ individual donors with Spanish tax-deduction benefits up to 80%; episodic grants from institutional funders (Fundación La Caixa, Fundación AVINA, Ashoka, Pulitzer Center, AECID, EU); fee-based professional services including advisory, custom training, journalistic collaborations, and speaking engagements; merchandise e-commerce (tienda.porcausa.org); and legacy/testamentary donations. GTM is community-led and event-driven, anchored by the annual Mérida congress, partnerships with major international media, and a distributed donor/supporter network. The organization cites demonstrable policy impact — including contributing to Spain's largest-ever regularization of ~500,000 people in April 2026 — as the central proof point for its narrative-change thesis.

Name

PorCausa Foundation

Legal name

Fundación porCausa

Website

https://porcausa.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PorCausa Foundation is a Madrid-based non-profit (founded 2013) that produces migration journalism, applied research, and narrative-change methodology to counter hate speech and influence migration policy. It serves NGOs, media, governments, and international organizations across Spain, Chile, and Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Migration Journalism and Nonprofit Research

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721)

akta.pro primary industry

Refugee, Migration & Displacement Support (BPAGABAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Investigative & Nonprofit News Organizations (MPAJADAF), Nonprofit & Cause Communications (BPAFADAK)

Keywords

• Migration journalism
• Nonprofit research
• Narrative consulting
• Investigative reporting
• Migration policy research

Headquarters

HQ city

Madrid

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Membership: Individual donors and members contribute regular donations. Being a member/donor allows tax deductions of up to 80% of annual contributions under Spanish law. The foundation runs campaigns such as 'Objetivo 20K' to recruit donors and email subscribers.
2. Solidarity Legacy / Testamentary Donations: Individuals can include Fundación porCausa in their will as a beneficiary of a legacy donation (legacy Solidario). This allows donors to leave money, property, shares, or a percentage of their estate to the foundation.
3. Online Store (Tienda): The foundation operates an e-commerce storefront (tienda.porcausa.org) selling merchandise to supporters and the public.
4. Professional Services (Advisory, Training, Consulting): The foundation provides fee-based advisory services, bespoke training workshops, and speaking engagements/presentations. These include consultancy on circular narrative systems, media training, research services, and custom workshops on migration narratives, hate speech, and journalism. The organization notes that such engagements are paid as they contribute resources to the organization.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

PorCausa Foundation is a Spanish nonprofit research and journalism foundation that produces investigative reporting, academic studies, and journalistic content on migration and human rights. It operates the independent digital media platform 'Pública porCausa' (300+ articles), runs the annual International Congress on Migration Journalism in Mérida, and sells professional services (advisory, training, consulting, journalistic collaborations, and speaking engagements) to NGOs, media outlets, governments, and international organizations, applying its proprietary 'Narrativa Circular' (Circular Narrative) methodology.

Product overview

PorCausa Foundation is a non-profit journalism and research organization focused on migration and human rights. Its portfolio consists of two main pillars: (1) A media and content production operation anchored by 'Pública porCausa' (its independent digital media platform with 300+ articles) and the 'Congreso Internacional de Periodismo de Migraciones' (the world's only migration journalism conference); and (2) Professional services including academic research/investigations, journalistic collaborations, organizational consultancy, custom training programs, and speaking engagements. Central to all offerings is the proprietary 'Narrativa Circular' (Circular Narrative) methodology — a replicable framework for content creation, discourse substitution, and investigative work that combines journalistic and academic approaches. The foundation also publishes the 'Guía de Nuevas Narrativas Migratorias' and previously co-created the refugee-led media outlet 'Baynana.' Services are offered to media organizations, NGOs, governments, and civil society groups.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Pública porCausa: Independent editorial newsroom focused on migration journalism with over 300 published articles

Products and services

• Pública porCausa

Quantifiable outcome

• 500,000 people regularized in Spain's largest-ever regularization (April 2026), enabled by the foundation's five-year narrative strategy
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

21 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The GuardiancoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor international media outlet collaborating on investigative journalism about migration. The Guardian has co-published the foundation's investigations on migration topics.
• The New York TimescoreGTM or Marketing PartnerLeading international newspaper partnering with the foundation on migration journalism investigations.
• El PaíscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor Spanish daily newspaper; primary media partner for multiple investigations including the special on the Migration Control Industry and coverage of the Melilla massacre. Co-published the 'Melilla Vice' investigation.
• El ConfidencialcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerSpanish digital newspaper co-publishing investigations including the 'Melilla Vice' corruption exposé with the foundation.
• Der SpiegelcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerLeading German news magazine collaborating on international migration journalism investigations.
• UnivisióncoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor US Spanish-language media network partnering on migration journalism coverage.
• The Washington PostcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerMajor US newspaper that published the foundation's investigation into the Melilla massacre alongside El País and Le Monde.
• Le MondecoreGTM or Marketing PartnerLeading French newspaper collaborating on the Melilla massacre investigation published as part of an international consortium.
• Lighthouse ReportscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerInvestigative journalism outlet collaborating with the foundation on the investigation into Spain building migrant detention facilities in Mauritania (2025).
• ACNUR (UNHCR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUN refugee agency collaborating with the foundation and was informed of documented human rights abuses in Mauritania as part of the investigation into migrant abandonment in the desert.
• IOM (International Organization for Migration)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational Organization for Migration collaborated with the foundation and was informed of documented abuses in Mauritania.
• UNICEFcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUN agency for children collaborating with the foundation on issues related to migrant children and youth.
• ONU MujerescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUN Women entity collaborating with the foundation on gender and migration issues.
• Human Rights WatchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational human rights organization collaborating with the foundation on documenting Spain's sponsorship of migrant abandonment in Mauritania's desert, published alongside Lighthouse Reports.
• Universidad Carlos III de MadridcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner for the landmark 2020 study on irregularity in Spain (475,000–514,000 people), the first such study in 15 years. Findings were cited by the General Prosecutor's Office, European Parliament, UN Human Rights Council, and Human Rights Watch.
• HarvardminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHarvard University listed as a university partner of the foundation.
• Save the ChildrenminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational child rights organization collaborating with the foundation on issues related to migrant children.
• Oxfam IntermónminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational development NGO collaborating with the foundation on migration and development issues.
• CGD (Center for Global Development)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWashington DC-based think tank on global development listed as an academic/research partner of the foundation.
• Discurso MigratoriocoreGTM or Marketing PartnerChilean platform for migration discourse, linked from the porCausa Chile page as a partner platform for disseminating the foundation's work in Chile.
• 900 civil society organizations (Spain)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner900 civil society organizations mobilized into a coalition that successfully pushed for Spain's largest-ever regularization (April 2026). This broad coalition was built and coordinated by the foundation over five years.

Scale indicators19 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• PICUM (Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants): Brussels-based nonprofit that combines research, advocacy, and narrative change to defend undocumented migrants' rights across Europe. Mirrors PorCausa's blend of rigorous research, coalition-building, and engagement with EU policymakers.
• Civio: Madrid-based nonprofit investigative journalism foundation that produces data-driven reporting on public-interest issues and runs its own media platform. Closest Spanish analogue to PorCausa in size, methodology mix (journalism + research), and donor-supported nonprofit structure.
• Newtral: Spanish nonprofit media organization combining investigative journalism with fact-checking. Comparable in size and structure to PorCausa, operates a similar owned-media-plus-services model within the Spanish information ecosystem.
• The Fuller Project: Nonprofit journalism outlet producing investigations on migration, gender, and human rights, with co-publishing arrangements across major US and international outlets. Direct peer in scope, methodology, and cross-border investigative-journalism model.
• Lighthouse Reports: Collaborative cross-border investigative journalism outlet that partnered with PorCausa on the Mauritania migrant-detention investigation. Operates a comparable model of nonprofit investigative journalism co-published with major media outlets, focused on migration and human rights.
• CEAR (Comisión Española de Ayuda al Refugiado): Spanish refugee support NGO with comparable scope and target population to PorCausa. Direct Spanish peer operating in the same migration/refugee policy debate and engaging similar donor and institutional funder ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• Human Rights Watch: Global human rights organization that produces investigative research and reports on migration policy. Co-published with PorCausa on the Mauritania migrant-abandonment documentation, operating at far larger scale across a wider portfolio of issues.
• ProPublica: US nonprofit investigative newsroom that pioneered the donor-supported, Pulitzer-style investigative journalism model. Far larger and more established than PorCausa but the most-cited reference benchmark for the foundation's combination of rigorous journalism and nonprofit governance.
• Migration Policy Institute (MPI): Washington-based think tank producing the kind of migration data and policy analysis that PorCausa's irregularity study competes with as a reference source. Operates at a much larger scale but with the same research-driven, policy-citation business model.
• ECRE (European Council on Refugees and Exiles): Brussels-based umbrella network coordinating refugee-rights NGOs across Europe. Highly comparable mission and audience (EU policymakers, civil society) to PorCausa but operates as an advocacy federation rather than a journalism-led research foundation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/porCausaorg
• Facebookfacebook.com/PorCausaOrg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/porcausa

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about PorCausa Foundation