Midwest Coalition members do not pay a fee to belong to the membership. Members do, however, contribute extensively to the continued success of the Coalition through in-kind donations and the sharing of expertise and resources. The commitment of members to come together collaboratively is a unique and impressive characteristic of the membership. This collaboration enables all members to leverage their individual efforts in working to promote and protect the human rights for all.

In December 2009, the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights received a two-year, $100,000 grant from the US Human Rights Fund to support its initiative, "Promoting Fair and Humane U.S. Detention Practices". The Coalition has framed its efforts through the lens of human rights, to pressure the U.S. government, at the federal, state and local levels, to comply with international obligations to guarantee due process, humane conditions of confinement and freedom from cruel and degrading treatment and torture for all detainees.

The Mertz Gilmore Foundation awarded a two-year, $150,000 grant to the Midwest Coalition for Human Rights in January 2009 in support of its “Building Leadership for Human Rights” initiative.  Objectives of the initiative include to 1) build the human rights expertise of members and partners and 2) build the effectiveness of members and partners as they conduct their advocacy work.

In March of 2010, the Coalition received a $25,000 grant from the Public Welfare Foundation to fund a regional worker’s rights initiative. This grant will be used for a joint effort between the Coalition and Nebraska Appleseed Center for Law in the Public Interest to continue acting on the momentum generated by Nebraska Appleseed’s 2009 safety report “The Speed Kills You”: The Voice of Nebraska’s Meatpacking Workers.