Key Findings | The State of Global Giving by U.S. Foundations: 2026 Edition

For almost 30 years, the Council on Foundations and Candid have partnered on studies of globally focused giving by U.S. foundations. Our newest edition of The State of Global Giving by U.S. Foundations analyzes how U.S. foundations are engaging globally, through support of efforts that improve health, expand opportunity, protect human rights, and help communities respond to crises.

Our analysis covers 2020 – 2023 with partial data from 2024 and examines foundation grantmaking data in Candid’s “Foundation 1000” research set, which includes all grants of $10,000 or more awarded by 1,000 of the largest U.S. private, community, and corporate foundations.

For the first time, our report also presents data from 51 of the largest national charitable gift funds and donor-advised fund (DAF) sponsoring organizations that are not community foundations. Given the rapid growth of DAFs in the past decade, this serves as an important first step in better understanding their role in global grantmaking.

Key Findings

Global Giving by U.S. Foundations Remained Consistent as a Share of Overall Giving

Approximately four out of five foundations included in Candid’s Foundation 1000 dataset made at least one globally focused grant each year, indicating a broad commitment to addressing priorities beyond U.S. borders.
Since the late 2000s, these funders have awarded approximately 25% of their overall grant dollars and roughly 10% of their number of grants for globally focused activities.
Independent and family foundations accounted for most global foundation giving. In the 2020 – 2023 period, these funders, led by the Gates Foundation, provided close to nine out of 10 globally focused grant dollars.
The largest institutions continued to dominate global giving, with the top 10 foundations providing 64% of global grant dollars.
The Gates Foundation continued to be the largest global grantmaker, accounting for approximately 45% of global grant dollars during this period.

Community Foundations Surpassed Corporate Foundations in Global Giving for the First Time

Community foundations nearly doubled the share of overall global foundation funding they provide, from 4% in the 2016-2019 period to 8% in the 2020–2023 period.
As a result, community foundations have surpassed corporate foundations in share of global giving for the first time.
The Silicon Valley Community Foundation drove much of this increase, accounting for roughly two-thirds of globally focused community foundation grant dollars in the latest period.
Community foundations awarded about three-quarters of their global-purpose dollars (74%) to U.S.-based organizations working abroad.
While community foundations increased their global giving, most of their focus remains on supporting local communities. Community foundations included in the Foundation 1000 directed 90% of their overall grant dollars toward domestic purposes between 2020 and 2023.

Global Giving for the Environment More Than Doubled and Surpassed Health for First Time (excluding the Gates Foundation)

Between 2020 and 2023, close to half of globally focused foundation grant dollars prioritized health (46%).
Excluding the Gates Foundation, the picture shifts: The environment, including efforts to address climate change, became the largest funding priority, surpassing health for the first time (21% versus 18%).
Between 2020 and 2023, funders in the Foundation 1000 awarded $4.3 billion to address climate change both domestically and globally, up markedly from the $1.8 billion they provided between 2016 and 2019. Climate change rose from 17% of total environmental giving in the earlier period to 24% in the most recent period.

Direct Global Giving in Support of Locally Led Development Increased, but Still Represented a Small Portion of Overall Global Support

Between 2020 and 2023, foundations included in Candid’s Foundation 1000 dataset awarded 14% of their globally focused grant dollars to organizations headquartered in other countries for work taking place exclusively in those countries. This share was up slightly from 13% in the 2016–2019 period. Direct grant dollars rose to $7.3 billion in the 2020– 2023 period, up from $4.2 billion.
The majority of global giving by U.S. foundations still went through U.S.-based nonprofits (54% of global grant dollars and 65% of global grants).
Certain types of funders were more likely to support global issues through U.S.-based nonprofits, especially community foundations (74%) and national DAF sponsors (73%).
Among foundations making direct grants (366 of the Foundation 1000), this giving generally represented a small portion of their overall global support. Foundations making direct grants awarded a median of seven direct grants for this purpose between 2020 and 2023 — fewer than two per year. By comparison, these same foundations made a median of 54 globally focused grants overall during this period, or close to 14 grants per year.

National DAF Sponsors Rivaled Foundations in Global Giving

Analyzed in our report for the first time, 51 national charitable gift funds provided more than 89,000 grants totaling $14.1 billion for globally focused activities between 2020 and 2023. This support equaled more than one-quarter (27%) of the total global grant dollars reported by Foundation 1000 funders during this period. Excluding the Gates Foundation, support from these funds was equivalent to about half (49%) of Foundation 1000 global giving.
Approximately 15% of these DAF sponsors’ total grant dollars and almost 10% of grants between 2020 and 2023 supported global activities, roughly matching the shares reported for the Foundation 1000 excluding the Gates Foundation.
The median global grant size reported was far smaller for the 51 national charitable gift funds ($15,000) than for the Foundation 1000 funders ($125,000). Each grant represents the recommendation of an individual donor, and many DAF accounts are much smaller than private foundation endowments.
Two national charitable gift funds, Fidelity Charitable and the National Philanthropic Trust, accounted for close to half (47%) of overall global giving by the national charitable gift funds.
Compared with Foundation 1000 funders during this period — excluding the Gates Foundation — gift funds allocated notably larger shares of their giving to human services (17% versus 10%) and religion (7% versus 3%). By comparison, they allocated a notably smaller share of their grant dollars for the environment (13% versus 21%).

The full report will be available soon at cof.org/globalgiving.