January 31, 2023 With Big Backing From MacKenzie Scott and More, Co-Impact Targets Global Gender Inequality January 31, 2023/ Liz Longley Co-Impact seeks to improve health, education and economic outcomes for women across the Global South by tackling underlying forces at play. Here’s why the philanthropic collaborative has been a big draw for funders.Read More
January 10, 2023 A Matter of Trust: With a Big Boost from MacKenzie Scott, GiveDirectly is on the Rise January 10, 2023/ Liz Longley GiveDirectly, a leader in the push to give unconditional cash donations to those in need, has grown significantly since the pandemic hit. Part of that growth is a result of some huge gifts from MacKenzie Scott. Read More
January 05, 2023 MacKenzie Scott Is Funding to Empower People Globally. Here’s What We Know About Her Priorities January 05, 2023/ Liz Longley and Tate Williams At the end of the year, we gained a lot of new data about what MacKenzie Scott is funding, including a growing international portfolio. Here’s what we’re learning based on the latest donations and a new database.Read More
November 15, 2022 MacKenzie Scott’s Far-Reaching Giving Continues to Grow. What Impact Is She Having? November 15, 2022/ Philip Rojc Another update from America’s most exciting mega-donor shows an ever-evolving set of focus areas, which now include charter schools and lots of global giving. One question we still have: How does it all fit together?Read More
October 19, 2022 Global Gender Equity Requires Access to the Online Economy. Who’s Backing Digital Financial Inclusion? October 19, 2022/ Liz Longley Entrepreneurship among women is on the rise globally, but lack of digital financial tools is holding many of them back. Some heavy hitters are rallying around an effort to bring about greater digital financial equity. Read More
September 27, 2022 Philanthropy Made a Flurry of Commitments During the UN Meeting. Here’s Where the Money is Headed September 27, 2022/ Liz Longley Philanthropy was more active than usual in last week’s United Nations General Assembly, as the secretary general called for a “rescue mission” to get Sustainable Development Goals on track. Here’s a rundown of the big pledges.Read More
September 22, 2022 Does Global Philanthropy Have a Colonialism Problem? September 22, 2022/ Philip Rojc Efforts such as Bill Gates’ support for a Green Revolution in Africa are frequently criticized as neo-colonialism. That may be overstating things, but parachuting in with big money and big ideas remains common in global giving.Read More
August 09, 2022 Inside the Howard G. Buffett Foundation's Big Bet on Rwanda August 09, 2022/ David Callahan IP reports from Africa on Buffett’s $435 million investment and lofty ambitions for transforming agriculture in Rwanda and beyond. The push includes a new university, a large irrigation project, and close government partnership.Read More
June 10, 2022 Why Open Philanthropy’s Backing This Evidence-Based Solution for Safe Water June 10, 2022/ Liz Longley Open Philanthropy and GiveWell are bringing their close-knit effective altruist partnership to bear on the problem of unsafe water. Here’s how they’re helping provide community chlorine dispensers to several African countries.Read More
May 22, 2022 Philanthropy Can Seed Agroecology May 22, 2022/ Wendy Schmidt, Guest Contributor Philanthropist Wendy Schmidt makes a case for greater funder support for agroecology, which draws upon Indigenous knowledge to create resilient food systems that safeguard biodiversity.Read More
April 14, 2022 With a Flurry of Gifts, MacKenzie Scott And Dan Jewett Make a Statement in Brazil April 14, 2022/ Liz Longley One area of focus to emerge in MacKenzie Scott and Dan Jewett’s global giving is civil society and human rights work in Brazil. A series of donations makes it clear the country is a priority. Here’s why and where the money is going.Read More
April 07, 2022 This Funder Collaborative Is Taking on Sovereign Debt, a Growing Problem in the Global South April 07, 2022/ Martha Ramirez Sovereign debt has a big impact on the ability of nations in the Global South to ensure basic human rights and protections, especially post-COVID. A pooled fund with some huge backers is looking to make a difference.Read More
March 24, 2022 Round Four: Here’s What You Need to Know About MacKenzie Scott's Latest List of Gifts March 24, 2022/ Philip Rojc At long last, our two-time winner for Philanthropist of the Year has dropped another Medium post—this time with the names of grantees included. Here are some key takeaways. Read More
February 24, 2022 To Progress On Food and Hunger, Funders Need to Redefine “Evidence” and Decolonize Research February 24, 2022/ Lauren Baker, Guest Contributor Guest contributor Lauren Baker argues that when it comes to complex challenges like transforming food systems, rethinking predominant assumptions about evidence should be a priority for funders.Read More
January 26, 2022 A Billionaire, a Baroness and Bridgespan: What We Know—and Don’t Know—About Gates’ New Board January 26, 2022/ Philip Rojc It’s finally happened. The Gates Foundation has four new trustees, three of whom are newcomers. Here’s a bit about each of them, and what this new arrangement may tell us about the world’s largest foundation.Read More
December 07, 2021 How the LEGO Foundation Adapted to Support Children Struggling During the Pandemic December 07, 2021/ Liz Longley Since 1986, the LEGO Foundation has been supporting children based on a core belief in the “power of play.” When the pandemic hit, the funder had to reconfigure its giving to meet new, urgent needs. Read More
November 23, 2021 Amid Humanitarian Crisis, These Three Funders Are Supporting Nutrition in Ethiopia November 23, 2021/ Liz Longley Civil war has created a humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia, killing thousands, including hundreds from starvation. A U.K.-based charity recently formed a $30 million partnership of three funders to support nutrition over five years. Read More
October 25, 2021 How One Leading Water NGO Is Responding to the Rippling Effects of COVID-19 October 25, 2021/ Liz Longley Founded by Matt Damon and Gary White 12 years ago, Water.org is a leading provider of micro-loans to expand water access and work toward fulfilling the U.N.’s SDG 6. But in an already complex space, COVID has shaken things up.Read More
September 24, 2021 A Leading Funder in Africa Boosts Its Support for the Next Generation September 24, 2021/ Liz Longley The Mastercard Foundation is a big-time funder in Africa, committing $1.3 billion there to fight COVID and another $1.3 billion to support students. Its new $55 million partnership with the University of Rwanda furthers that work.Read More
September 20, 2021 Why We’re Investing to Transform Global Food Systems September 20, 2021/ Tonya Allen, Andre Degenszajn and Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Guest Contributors The social and environmental costs of today’s global food systems are vast. In this guest piece, the authors make a case for philanthropic action on the eve of the first-ever U.N. Food Systems Summit.Read More