GiveWell Hits Record $418M in Grants, Fills Gap Left by US Aid Cuts
February 28, 2026 · 2 min read
Arthur Griffin
GiveWell, the nonprofit that evaluates charities for cost-effectiveness, distributed a record $418 million in grants to 69 organizations during its 2025 grantmaking year — more than the combined international giving of the Ford and Rockefeller foundations.
The figure represents a 20% increase over 2024 and more than double the number of individual grants, with 131 awards spanning 30 countries across Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Crisis Response: $53M to Fill the Aid Gap
The most striking line item: $53 million — 13% of total grantmaking — went directly to programs addressing urgent needs created by cuts to U.S. foreign aid. That funding covered direct program support, advisory services for governments, health supply purchases, and funding guarantees designed to keep critical programs running while government pipelines dried up.
Nigeria, India, and the Democratic Republic of Congo received the most grants. Malaria prevention and treatment remained the largest single focus area, but $309 million went to programs beyond GiveWell's traditional Top Charities, signaling an expanding scope.
What the Numbers Mean
GiveWell's cost-effectiveness threshold requires grants to deliver at least 8x their benchmark impact. The actual 2025 portfolio averaged 16x — meaning every dollar granted produced roughly double the minimum return GiveWell demands. That standard makes GiveWell's grantmaking among the most rigorously evaluated philanthropic capital in the world.
The organization has announced a target of $500 million or more for 2026, which would make it one of the largest global health funders outside of government and the Gates Foundation.
What Grant Seekers Should Know
GiveWell's expansion creates real opportunities for organizations working in global health, particularly those that can demonstrate measurable, cost-effective impact. The pivot toward filling gaps left by government aid cuts also suggests GiveWell is increasingly willing to fund programs that previously relied on USAID or other federal channels.
Organizations seeking to understand how their work compares across the broader funding landscape — from federal grants to major philanthropies — can explore matching tools on Granted to build multi-source funding strategies.
Additional analysis of foundation giving trends is available on the Granted blog.