The IKEA Foundation is a Dutch not-for-profit organisation founded in 1982 by Ingvar Kamprad as a means to support advancement in interior design and architecture.

[4] In 2009, following the publication of the Economist article, Kamprad fought a court battle to change the legal mission of the IKEA Foundation to benefit vulnerable children.

][better source needed] The Foundation is organised as a not-for-profit Public Benefit Organization with the Tax and Customs Administration.

Inside Philanthropy described the Foundation as transparent but difficult to reach, noting that it does not accept unsolicited proposals and prefers to provide grants to established organizations over recently created initiatives.

[9] In 2021, the IKEA and Rockefeller foundations partnered to create a fund to expand access to renewable energy generation in India, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and other countries.

[11] The same year, the IKEA Foundation partnered with Enviu and the Circular Apparel Innovation Factory to reduce textile waste in India.

[14] In November of the same year, the Foundation and Acumen partnered on a €21.14 million energy investment initiative to provide renewable power generation and efficient appliances to people living in extreme poverty.

[20] The Foundation is a funder of the We Mean Business Coalition,[21] Science Based Targets initiative,[22] Instituto Clima e Sociedade,[9] InfluenceMap,[23] and Climate Breakthrough.

From 2012 through 2014, a €46.29 million grant was distributed to address infrastructure and emergency aid needs, including investments in education, shelter, nutrition, water, sanitation, and hygiene.

It ran a similar campaign that year to provide additional lighting to refugee camps in Bangladesh, Chad, Ethiopia, and Sudan.

[31] According to data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and UNDP, the Foundation paid $22.5 of donations for Ukraine (as of 31 August 2024).

[33] Following the 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, the Foundation donated €9.05 million to Doctors Without Borders, which had already been established in the region due to ongoing conflict.