Snapshot of Funder Progress on Locally Led Development (Sept. 2025)

In September 2023, a group of 15 foundations joined 20 bilateral donors in signing a Donor Statement committing to advancing locally led development. After recent global shifts in foreign assistance and the dismantling of USAID, the Council on Foundations wanted to understand how philanthropy has made progress on locally led development and see whether these larger sector shifts have impacted foundations’ global work. To begin assessing this progress, we surveyed Donor Statement signatories and other leading U.S.-based global grantmakers to measure progress on this commitment.

From the responsive organizations, we found:

• Respondents Remain Committed to Advancing Locally Led Development into the Future
• Funders Are Either Increasing or Maintaining Funding to Local Organizations
• Funders Report Taking Actions to Improve both Internal Capacity and External Efforts to Advance Locally Led Development
• Both Successes and Challenges Inform Future Work 

For a more detailed look, download the full resource.