In 2015, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded approximately $3.8 billion in grants, increasing contributions by $46 million from the previous year. This is the third consecutive year in which the world’s largest private foundation boosted its grant spending.
The Gates Foundation has five main program areas: global development, global health, global policy and advocacy, communications, and U.S. programs.
Global development has consistently garnered the bulk of the foundation’s grant funding, but in 2015 the foundation reported a drop of over $200 million in global development grants. Global health grants also dropped by $130 million, declining from $1.1 billion in 2014 to $980 million in 2015; while grants for U.S. programs increased by $529 million.
About the author
Ezekiel Carlo Orlina
Ezekiel is a Senior Development Analyst and Team Leader at Devex. His primary role is monitoring and reporting on project opportunities and trends of leading multilateral and bilateral donor agencies. A graduate of Ateneo de Manila University with a degree in Political Science, Ezekiel has extensive global development research experience having also worked at the World Youth Alliance, Asia and the Pacific (WYAAP).
