Webinar: Inside grantmaking at the Gates Foundation

SAN FRANCISCO — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is the largest private foundation in the world, gives billions of dollars a year, and details on where all of those funds are going are often hidden in databases that can be challenging to navigate. Devex recently hosted a webinar looking at the foundation’s grantmaking and what it says about the goals and direction of the organization that accounts for almost 50% of international grants, including 80% of global health giving by U.S. foundations. The foundation has played a key role in financing major global health gains in some of its priority areas, including malaria, vaccines, and polio. “All this aside, we should continue to question how they and others determine their funding priorities and what the impact of the funding is,” said Lauren Bradford, senior director of global projects and partnerships at Candid, a new organization formed by a merger between Guidestar and Foundation Center. Foundation Center produced a report on international grantmaking by U.S. foundations together with the Council on Foundations last year. Bradford discussed the findings of the report in the webinar, where Lisa Cornish, a data journalist at Devex shared her recent analysis of publicly available grant information. They discussed the insights that emerge from a close look at more than $58 billion in grants that have been given in the lead up to, and since the launch of, the Gates Foundation in 2000. The webinar included a look at changes in the focus and approach of the foundation over time, as well as what the future may hold. The Gates Foundation has expanded its work from the United States to 62 countries and transitioned its focus from education to global health and international development, Cornish said. In 2018, the Gates Foundation awarded 1,662 grants worth more than $3.14 billion. Funding priorities in 2018 included global health, with grants going primarily to family planning and malaria, as well as agricultural development, Cornish said. While the Gates Foundation is known for its emphasis on data-driven decision making, and is often criticized for favoring technological solutions, it has launched a number of programs suggesting a potential shift in its approach. In 2018, the foundation launched a gender strategy, global education strategy, and a strategy focused on mobility from poverty in the U.S. The Gates Foundation — like many foundations based in the U.S. — tends to give through intermediaries. Despite its growing geographic footprint, the Gates Foundation still sends 67% of grants to organizations in the U.S., with Switzerland and the United Kingdom following as the second and third leading grantee countries, Cornish said. The reasons for this trend include a lack of knowledge of local markets and legal reasons, Bradford said, adding that there has been a slight increase in giving to local organizations, since the time period examined in the U.S. grantmaking report. While Gates Foundation funding presents great opportunities, its size and influence also wields great power and could present some challenges. “What would happen if they were to change their strategy and exit a country or an issue?” she said. “The impact would be profound.” Watch the full webinar: Update, August 21, 2019: This story has been updated to clarify the authors of the report on international grantmaking by U.S. foundations and to clarify that Candid was formed by a merger between Guidestar and Foundation Center.