About the King Khalid Foundation

“Look after the weak, for the strong can look after themselves.”
                                                                                                       ~King Khalid

King Khalid served as the King of Saudi Arabia from 1975 to 1982. He is remembered by his country, his people and his family as a generous, caring and just Monarch, dedicated and passionate about improving the social and economic conditions and lives of all Saudi citizens.

His legacy and unwavering dedication to social development and philanthropy continue to live to this day through the work and impact of the King Khalid Foundation, a Royal Foundation established by King Khalid’s family, in his memory, in the Islamic year of 16/12/1421 or 11/3/2001 and headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

King Khalid Foundation aims to be the leader and role model in the philanthropic and development work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to positively impact peoples' lives by providing innovative solutions to critical socio-economic challenges in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The Foundation is a royal, family-run organization and is managed by a Board of Trustees composed of between nine and eleven members. Currently, the Foundation is run by nine Board of Trustees members, all of which are from King Khalid’s family.

KKF has an impressive list of accomplishments so far. Since establishment, the Foundation has developed and implemented a number of social and economic development and research projects and has awarded millions of riyals in grant and award money.

KKF programs, ranging from capacity building programs and grants to nonprofit organizations to awareness building, research in the field of social sciences and the King Khalid Awards have benefitted hundreds of organizations and thousands of people nationwide.

The list of Foundation’s programs includes but is not limited to:

1. Training and Capacity Building programs for NPOs and development practitioners with ESCWA, Columbia Business School, INTRAC, Gerhart Center for Philanthropy (AUC), and CEDPA. Topics ranged from “Capacity Building in the Social Participatory Development field,” to “Non-Profit Organization Management and Leadership,” “Project Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation,” “Board of Directors Training,” and other topics.
2. KKF has awarded twenty one grants to nonprofit organizations across the country in the past 3 years. Our grants range from SAR 100,000 to SAR 750,000 and focus on skill building, training and emergency grants. Our grant-making portfolio is growing as we strengthen the capacity of NPOs to manage grants and develop meaningful and accountable programs for the society.
3. As part of our awareness program about the importance of strategic philanthropy and sustainable development, KKF held three Development Debates for the past three years bringing together experts from KSA and internationally to discuss these important topics. Additionally, KKF lead the process of creating the National Strategy for Social Development, which has been submitted to the Ministry of Social Affairs for further consideration and adoption.
4. Saudi Youth @ Work is a youth program that focuses on designing and implementing projects related to youth employability by building the capacity of implementing agencies within the Kingdom to deliver training in basic life skills, entrepreneurship and service learning. The project focuses on developing partnerships to communicate success for scaling, replication and support.
5. In 2011 and 2012 KKF selected and supported the first two Saudi social entrepreneurs, one male, one female, to attend the highly acclaimed Acumen Fund Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship Program.
6. KKF’s Research programs have been highly recognized and include research on “Women and Child Abuse Prevention Law” which has been adopted by the Government of Saudi Arabia - the first time the legislation developed and proposed by an NGO has been adopted by the government; a research study into developing an "Islamic Orphans Village Organization"; research with Harvard Kennedy School’s CSRI Initiative on the corporate support in strengthening the capacity of the NPO sector and human capacity development; NPO Needs Assessment Survey; and other research studies.

King Khalid Awards in Nonprofit Excellence, Responsible Competitiveness, and the People’s Award for social initiatives are being awarded for the fourth year now. Our awards are a tool for social change and are designed to recognize, encourage and support exceptional achievements in the fields of corporate social responsibility, nonprofit management excellence and social innovation.

Internally, KKF is a very well-run and managed organization that believes in efficiency and exceptional quality. KKF has a medium-size team of highly qualified, young staff. KKF strongly believes in training and supporting its staff to learn new skills and improve performance. The Foundation also believes in the power of collective impact and it partners with world-class institutions to create and deliver our top quality programs. The Foundation recognizes that only by working together we can scale our efforts and make significant progress in social change and poverty reduction. The list of KKF’s partners includes but is not limited to the Columbia Business School, INTRAC, National Commercial Bank, Exxon Mobil, CEDPA, Harvard University’s CSRI, Acumen Fund, Gerhart Center, Al Nahda Philanthropic Society, WCMP, UNOP, and many other reputable organizations.

We live in a dynamic, fast-moving world and the external conditions change rapidly, which significantly affects the work of our Foundation. We believe that KKF, as well as the philanthropic, human, social, and economic development arena in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are at an important point of transition. This shift is reflected, among other things, in the need for a more in-depth understanding of the nature of development and philanthropic work; more responsible giving through rigorous selection, accountability, monitoring and evaluation; changes in policies and regulations; and the need for increased capacity building within the nonprofit sector in general.

Within this changing environment, KKF continuously works on determining what must be done to create the best future results and in turn take the necessary steps to ensure maximum impact. Transitions, while needing to be navigated carefully, can be a time to enliven and embolden organizations and can present excellent opportunities to achieve organizational success.