Institutional philanthropies across the globe face unprecedented demand for humanitarian and climate action triggered by deep cuts in development aid. It is clear that philanthropy does not have deep enough pockets to replace tens of billions in cancelled development aid and cutbacks in social services, but some donors see a way forward.

“Strategic, targeted giving – in amounts within reach of private donors – can save lives and preserve the systems that protect them,” wrote Robert Rosenbaum, a leader of Project Resource Optimization, which has created a list of cost-effective, high-impact programmes ready for funders to support. “By distilling effective programs down to their core, evidence-based essentials, and channeling philanthropic dollars directly to them, we are piloting a model for a leaner and smarter aid architecture,” he contended.1

If history is prologue, there is reason to be optimistic about philanthropy’s response to current challenges. Through 2023, the most recent year for which we have data, leading global and Asian institutional philanthropies continued a trend of increasing yearly funding. To make this year’s list of the 20 largest funders, the minimum average annual giving from 2019 to 2023 ticked up 8 percent and 14 percent for funders globally and in Asia, respectively.

By institutional philanthropies, we mean private foundations, corporate-linked foundations2, faith-based foundations3, and state-linked entities focused on philanthropic work4. (See “Methodology.”) Globally, 19 of the 20 largest funders are based in North America or Europe, while 11 of the 20 largest in Asia are based in two East Asian countries, China – including Hong Kong SAR – and Japan.

Ninety percent of global funders are giving more in 2023 than they have in the past, reflecting how giving is becoming increasingly concentrated, with a smaller number of donors (especially in the United States) accounting for a larger share of total giving. In Asia, only 70 percent gave more in 2023 than their five-year average which may reflect a pullback from higher giving levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.

These findings emerged from the second year of The Bridgespan Group’s ongoing research to identify the largest institutional philanthropies globally and in Asia. This article and its research was supported by our Funders Council – the Institute of Philanthropy, the Gates Foundation, and The Rockefeller Foundation.

Read the full article about institutional philanthropies' giving by Gwendolyn Lim, Xueling Lee, Denise Chew, John Carandang, Amrutha Datla, Tan Zhong Chen, and Roger Thompson at The Bridgespan Group.