The Trust operates as a fully independent organization responsible for raising its own income. During its first years of operation, it was provided with core funding by Macat International, an educational business, founded by Salah Khalil, which is leading the development of a multi-media digital library of critical commentary and analysis of some 5,000 seminal works across 14 social sciences.

Other major funders include the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the UN Democracy Fund, Open Society Foundations, the Sultan Qaboos Higher Center for Culture and Science, and Lebanese philanthropist George Farha.

The Trust is laying plans to develop its fundraising capability in the US, UK and Arab region. It expects to seek funding from a variety of donors such as: