The Navigation Fund

What The Navigation Fund does

The Navigation Fund (legal name: Navigation Charitable Fund, EIN 92-1117448) is a U.S. 501(c)(3) philanthropic grantmaking organization founded with an initial gift from Jed McCaleb and co-founded by Seemay Chou (Chair) and David Coman-Hidy (President). It deploys more than $60 million annually to 217 organizations across three primary cause areas — Climate Change, Farm Animal Welfare, and Transforming Criminal Justice — plus nuclear safety grantmaking delivered in partnership with Longview Philanthropy, and a wind-down open-science portfolio migrating to Astera. The fund scales year-long grantmaking through a small team of approximately 8 staff and 3 board members.

Product surface is composed of cause-specific grant programs (Climate, Farm Animal Welfare, Transforming Criminal Justice), donor-advised campaign funds (Cage-Free, European Animal Welfare), a rapid-response Bridge Grant Program for displaced federal public servants, and an Open Science Policy Framework governing research outputs. There is no proprietary technology platform: operations run on third-party infrastructure — Webflow for web, FillOut for forms, GivingData for grant management, Google Analytics for web analytics — with AI used internally for document drafting, summarization, and application review.

Revenue mechanics are philanthropic rather than commercial. The fund is funded by Jed McCaleb's founding endowment plus contributions from institutional and individual philanthropists, and accepts donations via Donor-Advised Fund, wire/ACH, and Bill.com. One hundred percent of donations go directly to grantees; the organization does not retain overhead from contributions. Go-to-market is invitation-only: program officers conduct year-round research and network outreach to identify grantees rather than accepting open applications. Beyond direct grantmaking, the fund offers regranting, donor collaborations, pooled funds, and strategic advising to other philanthropists. The endowment is managed to support long-term philanthropic work, including a strategic investment in Lightning AI (formerly Voltage Park) intended to generate returns that fund additional grantmaking.

Name

The Navigation Fund

Legal name

Navigation Charitable Fund

Website

https://navigation.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Navigation Fund is a practitioner-led 501(c)(3) that deploys over $60 million annually through invitation-only grantmaking across climate change, farm animal welfare, and criminal justice reform, serving more than 200 grantee organizations with a lean staff and founding endowment from Jed McCaleb.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM), Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI), International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grantmaking
• Climate change grants
• Farm animal welfare funding
• Criminal justice reform grants
• Donor-advised funds

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Donations and Grants: The Navigation Fund operates as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization funded primarily through an endowment provided by founder Jed McCaleb, supplemented by donations from institutional and individual philanthropists. They have also managed strategic investments including in Lightning AI (formerly Voltage Park). The fund deploys 100% of donations directly to grantees without retaining any portion.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Navigation Fund is a 501(c)(3) philanthropic grantmaking organization that deploys over $60 million annually to nonprofits working in three core cause areas: Climate Change, Farm Animal Welfare, and Transforming Criminal Justice, with additional partner-led programming in Nuclear Safety (via Longview Philanthropy). It accepts donations through Donor-Advised Funds, wire/ACH, and Bill.com and passes 100% of donated funds directly to grantees, while also offering regranting, donor collaborations, pooled funds, and strategic advising to other philanthropists.

Product overview

The Navigation Fund is a philanthropic grantmaking organization that operates multiple cause-specific grant programs, donor campaigns, and partnership initiatives. Its core programs include Climate Change, Farm Animal Welfare, and Transforming Criminal Justice grant programs, along with a partnership with Longview Philanthropy for Nuclear Safety. The fund also hosts donor-advised campaigns such as the Cage-Free Campaign Fund and European Animal Welfare Campaign Fund. The organization manages grantmaking through invitation-only processes and supports open science research practices. The Navigation Fund has scaled from $4 million in its first year to over $60 million annually, supporting organizations across its focus areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hatching Plans: A Substack publication by The Navigation Fund's farm animal welfare team covering movement strategy, what philanthropy can and can't do for a field, and hard questions the animal advocacy movement is working through.

Products and services

• Climate Change Grant Program Invitation-only grant program funding organizations working on climate stabilization, decarbonization, carbon dioxide removal, sunlight reflection methods (SRM) research, and emergency climate interventions; serves climate-focused nonprofits globally.
• Farm Animal Welfare Grant Program Invitation-only grant program funding organizations working to end factory farming, build movement power, run corporate accountability campaigns, and shift institutional policies and public attitudes toward farm animals; serves animal welfare nonprofits globally.
• Transforming Criminal Justice Grant Program Invitation-only grant program funding organizations working to end mass incarceration, expand non-carceral solutions, advance restorative justice, and promote community-based approaches to public safety; serves criminal justice reform nonprofits.
• Open Science Grant Program Former grant program that funded open science research; the program has concluded and future open science efforts continue through a program at Astera.
• Nuclear Safety Grantmaking Partnership Partnership with Longview Philanthropy providing grantmaking that reduces nuclear war risk through policy engagement and field-building for stability and long-term security; The Navigation Fund does not operate an internal nuclear safety program or accept applications for this area.
• Cage-Free Campaign Fund Donor-advised fund partnering with Coefficient Giving and Senterra Funders to support campaign groups holding companies accountable to cage-free commitments for egg-laying hens as part of the Bringing an End to Cages campaign.
• European Animal Welfare Campaign Fund Donor-advised fund partnering with Senterra Funders to support frontline advocates working to end cruel cages and improve animal welfare across Europe as part of the Transforming Animal Welfare in Europe campaign.
• Climate Change Bridge Grant Program Time-sensitive bridge grant program that awarded over $1 million across 8 grants to support displaced federal public servants working on climate projects.

Quantifiable outcome

• 217 organizations supported in 2025 with over $60M in grants
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Longview PhilanthropycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Navigation Fund partners with Longview Philanthropy to guide grantmaking in nuclear safety. The Navigation Fund does not operate an internal nuclear safety program or accept applications for this area, directing interested parties to Longview Philanthropy instead. The partnership leverages Longview's expertise in nuclear risk reduction through policy engagement and field-building that promote stability and long-term security.
• Coefficient GivingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Navigation Fund partners with Coefficient Giving on the 'Bringing an End to Cages' campaign to support high-impact campaign groups holding companies accountable to their cage-free commitments. Hundreds of companies have committed to spare hens from cages by 2025, and the fund directs resources to the most effective groups to turn broken promises into real change.
• Senterra FunderscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Navigation Fund partners with Senterra Funders on both the 'End Cages' campaign and the 'Transforming Animal Welfare in Europe' campaign. Senterra Funders provides a valuable affinity group and community for funders in the farm animal movement, offering resources, advice, and collaborative funding opportunities. The Navigation Fund actively participates and refers funders to join.
• Energy for Growth HubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Navigation Fund supported the Energy for Growth Hub's own bridge grant program for displaced federal workers. Jeffrey Haeni was placed as a fellow at The Energy for Growth Hub to identify best practices for utility and grid modernization in the Global South. The partnership represents aligned funding on shared infrastructure priorities.
• One Earth PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMonica Bansal and Hadas Kushnir from One Earth Partners conducted a massive review of cancelled USAID projects and catalyzed $14M in funding to high-quality vetted projects through the Momentum for the Environment Initiative. TNF bridge grant recipients partnered with this initiative.
• AsteracoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFuture open science efforts previously housed at The Navigation Fund will continue through a program at Astera. Seemay Chou, Chair of the Board at The Navigation Fund, is also a Board Member of Astera. Seemay Chou is Co-Founder and CEO at Arcadia Science.

Scale indicators12 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Open Society Foundations: Large, established philanthropic foundation with a long history of funding criminal justice reform and progressive advocacy. Overlaps with The Navigation Fund on criminal justice, climate, and rights-based grantmaking but at a much larger scale and broader portfolio.
• MacArthur Foundation: Major U.S. foundation with significant programs in criminal justice reform and climate solutions, and a long-standing commitment to bold, high-risk grantmaking. A larger, more established analogue to The Navigation Fund's practitioner-influenced model.

Direct peers

• Open Philanthropy: Large-scale, high-impact-focused grantmaking foundation that prioritizes evidence-driven and underfunded cause areas with a similar practitioner-influenced model. The Navigation Fund's invitation-only, high-risk, high-reward grantmaking approach closely mirrors Open Philanthropy's thesis-driven funding style.
• GiveWell: Influential high-impact grantmaking organization that identifies and funds cost-effective, under-resourced interventions with rigorous evaluation. Shares The Navigation Fund's evidence-and-expertise-driven approach to filling philanthropic gaps.
• Longview Philanthropy: Direct grantmaking partner of The Navigation Fund for nuclear safety, with a similar practitioner-led, high-conviction approach to underfunded existential risk areas. Operates the same invitation-only, coordinated grantmaking philosophy.
• Effective Altruism Funds: Pooled, community-driven grantmaking vehicles for high-impact cause areas, with similar cause-area breadth (animal welfare, global health, climate). Comparable in scale, donor pass-through structure, and willingness to fund high-risk, high-reward opportunities.
• Astera: Took over The Navigation Fund's open science program via a board overlap with Chair Seemay Chou. Astera is a high-impact funder with a comparable practitioner-led, research-focused grantmaking model for emerging science opportunities.
• Coefficient Giving: Co-funds the 'Bringing an End to Cages' campaign with The Navigation Fund. Functions as a pooled fund for high-impact animal welfare advocacy with a comparable focus on expert-advised, time-sensitive grantmaking.
• Senterra Funders: Affinity group for funders in the farm animal movement, partnering with The Navigation Fund on End Cages and Transforming Animal Welfare in Europe. Operates the same collaborative pooled-fund model for donor coordination in a shared cause area.

Others

• New Harvest: Research and advocacy nonprofit that funds open science in cellular agriculture. While focused on a narrower cause, its grantmaking approach — funding under-resourced research in a high-leverage area — closely parallels the open science and farm animal welfare work TNF has supported.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-navigation-fund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 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 The Navigation Fund