Philanthropic initiative launches long-term fund to replace USAID stopgap

In the wake of USAID’s funding cuts, several emergency funds emerged to address immediate needs. But now one of them is winding down to pave the way for philanthropic giving that goes beyond maintaining existing programs. Founders Pledge, a global initiative in which entrepreneurs pledge to commit a portion of their personal wealth to charity, announced the launch of its new Catalytic Impact Fund. It will support programs that help create broader systemic changes, remove barriers to making progress, and serve as an early-stage funding to crowd-in capital from other sources where it can. Some of the grants in the fund’s pipeline include: • Developing a network of organizations that “can inform and shape the future of U.S. foreign assistance. • Removing barriers to access to new drugs in low- and middle-income countries and combating infections and antimicrobial resistance. • Improving tax policies for financial and health benefits in low and middle-income countries. The new fund replaces the Rapid Response Fund that the team established in early 2025 with the nonprofit The Life You Can Save, and for which donations closed on Aug. 31. The Rapid Response Fund raised over $12 million over the last six months, and based on its initial estimates, supported programs that are projected to save more than 4,000 children’s lives. “The initial surge in donations to address the USAID cuts have waned, which makes sense considering there was a narrow window before programs shut down. But broad donor interest in supporting the most impactful global health and development opportunities is as strong as ever, which aligns with the goals of the Catalytic Impact Fund,” Katrina Sill, the global health and development lead at Founders Pledge who will be managing the new catalytic fund, told Devex. Founders Pledge has long provided catalytic grants, but is sharpening its focus with the new fund, Sill said. The team anticipates maintaining this strategy for the fund for at least 2 to 3 years, and then reevaluating the focus thereafter. “We hope that philanthropists, as well as any remaining aid programs, will sharpen their focus on where each dollar will go the furthest in terms of reducing suffering and improving well-being in light of the cuts to USAID and not just go back to their pre-2025 baseline,” Sill said. “The Catalytic Impact Fund offers an opportunity for donors to target the highest-need contexts and most effective opportunities to make their remaining dollars go further,” she added. The first grant from the new catalytic fund, worth $200,000, will go to the Clinton Health Access Initiative to support the international NGO’s work with ministries of health in optimizing their limited resources, such as identifying where ministries can save costs and reallocate funding for high-impact programs, as their health budgets shrink with the cuts in donor funding. The organization is also channeling at least $800,000 from the Rapid Response Fund for this work. “Although the NGO is international, CHAI has a strong in-country presence and prioritizes deep understanding of the current priorities and challenges of Ministry of Health officials, ensuring that any support they offer is relevant and welcomed,” Sill said, emphasizing CHAI is codeveloping priorities with health officials and is trusted in the countries they plan to operate, as “confirmed through our personal interviews with high level officials in each country’s Ministry of Health.” Sill said they are also “planning to make more grants to launch and scale new organizations that will disrupt the aid ecosystem in a positive way.” Founders Pledge is one of the early supporters of the Lead Exposure Elimination Project, which aims to eliminate lead from paint. The organization has since grown and received funding from others, including Open Philanthropy. Updated Sept. 4, 2025: This article has been updated to clarify that the Rapid Response Fund, which Founders Pledge established with The Life You Can Save, supported programs that are projected to save the lives of more than 4,000 children.