The top 10 foundations funding development in 2026

As the global aid architecture undergoes its most radical transformation in decades, the era of predictable bilateral funding has ended. The sudden dissolution of the U.S. Agency for International Development and sweeping budget cuts from traditional European and G7 donors have left a multibillion-dollar void in the development sector. In this high-stakes environment, the survival of health, climate, and social programs now hinges on a new power center: private philanthropy.

In this exclusive Devex report, we analyze the shifting strategies of the world’s most powerful charitable institutions as they move to fill the widening gap left by government retreats. Leveraging granular data from 2024–2025 financial reports and OECD grant databases, this intelligence brief reveals which foundations are stepping up and how their surging influence is rewriting the rules of global development.

What you will learn:

• Which foundations are stepping up to soften the blow of major bilateral donor withdrawals
• Where philanthropic funding is concentrating as traditional donors deprioritize global aid
• The specific strategies these 10 foundations are using to mobilize resources in an era of disruption
• How to navigate the challenges of this unstable landscape by aligning with shifting private priorities
• What the latest 2024-2025 grant data reveals about who will win funding in the coming year

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