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Gates Foundation

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OVERVIEW: The Gates Foundation funds nonprofit and for-profit organizations in dozens of issue areas. Grantmaking is global in scope, with partnerships in over 130 countries.

IP TAKE: The Gates Foundation remains one of the most powerful philanthropies in the world. As IP’s Philip Rojc has written, its scale and long-standing influence in global health and development make it “a kind of lynchpin for the current global philanthropic order.” Most grantmaking is proactive: Foundation staff develop projects, identify organizations with the right capabilities and invite them to submit proposals. Public RFPs and Grand Challenges provide real openings for newcomers, but they represent a relatively small share of the foundation’s overall grantmaking.

This funder tends to favor organizations that bring deep subject-matter expertise, evidence, technical capacity and the ability to implement or scale work across systems. Major universities, research institutes, international NGOs, multilateral institutions, public agencies, technical intermediaries and companies appear frequently in its grantmaking. Smaller nonprofits can receive funding, but they will generally need an unusually strong strategic fit, a specific role in an existing ecosystem or a targeted open opportunity.

There are a few important exceptions to Gates’ mostly proactive model. Grand Challenges regularly runs open competitions. In addition, Gates’ former U.S. Economic Mobility and Opportunity strategy has been wound down and much of that work is moving through NextLadder Ventures, an independent $1 billion fund co-founded by Gates and other philanthropies. NextLadder and the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation currently have a rolling application opportunity for early-stage nonprofits and companies developing technology for low-income Americans. The strongest prospects are evidence-rich organizations with technical expertise, scale, data capacity and clear alignment with Gates priorities. The best route is visibility through Gates-funded ecosystems, existing grantees, technical coalitions, research consortia and priority-country networks—not a cold proposal.

The foundation is also entering a new phase. Since late 2024, Gates has been reassessing its role amid cuts to public and global health funding, a shift Inside Philanthropy founder David Callahan covers. In May 2025, Bill Gates announced that he will be sunsetting the Gates Foundation by 2045, give away $200 billion and double its grantmaking to improve “lives around the world.” How that acceleration will play out across programs is still unfolding.

To learn more about Bill Gates’s investments in climate, see Breakthrough Energy Foundation. Separately, Bill Gates also started a company called TerraPower to “bring safe, clean, next-generation nuclear technology to life.” See also Gates Philanthropy Partners.

For information about Melinda French Gates’s philanthropy since leaving the Gates Foundation, see IP’s profile of Pivotal.

PROFILE: The Gates Foundation was cofounded by Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. French Gates stepped down as co-chair of the foundation in May 2024. Headquartered in Seattle, the foundation was initially formed as a merger between two pre-existing Gates philanthropies, the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning Foundation.

The foundation’s early focus areas included education in the U.S. and global disease eradication. Over the years, its global programs have expanded significantly. Today, The Gates Foundation is the largest charitable organization in the United States by far, with an endowment of around $89 billion. The foundation defines itself as a “nonprofit fighting poverty, disease and inequity around the world,” and its mission is to “create a world where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life.”

The foundation is now operating on a defined timeline. In May 2025, Bill Gates announced plans to give virtually all of his remaining wealth through the foundation, which will spend roughly $200 billion over its final 20 years and permanently close at the end of 2045. Gates has identified three overarching goals for this final period: preventing deaths among mothers and children, reducing or eliminating deadly infectious diseases and helping people move out of poverty. In 2026, the foundation moved to a $9 billion annual payout.

Gates is now presenting its final two decades around three goals—preventable maternal/child deaths, deadly infectious diseases, and poverty/prosperity—and five core priorities: maternal and child health, nutrition, infectious disease, agriculture and U.S. education.

Global Program

The foundation’s global funding encompasses four main giving areas, which include Global Development, Global Growth and Opportunity, Global Health, and Policy and Advocacy. Funding here often intersects with sustainable farming and food, journalism, finance, science and medical research. In 2026, the foundation established a new Africa and India Offices Division. Learn more about each area of international development below:

Grants for Global Development and Health

  • The Global Development program “focuses on improving the delivery of high-impact health products and services to the world’s poorest communities and helps countries expand access to health coverage.”

    • Strategies include Emergency Response; Global Health Agencies and Funds; Immunization; and polio. Polio remains one of the foundation’s largest single funding priorities. Gates reported $749 million in direct support for polio in 2025 and another $474 million for immunization. It also provided $304 million in core support associated with the Global Fund and $97 million through its Global Health Agencies and Funds strategy.

    • In 2025, Gates confirmed his dedication to Gavi, the foundation’s largest grantee, announcing that the Gates Foundation would be providing $1.6 billion over the next five years.

    • Not open generally. Gates says the majority of grants go to organizations identified by staff; it directly invites proposals in most cases and occasionally uses RFPs.

  • Gates’ Global Growth and Opportunity giving area “focuses on creating and scaling market-based innovations to stimulate inclusive and sustainable economic growth.”

    • Interests include Agricultural Development, focused on sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia; Nutrition; Inclusive Financial Systems; Water, Sanitation and Hygiene; Global Education; and Digital Public Infrastructure.

    • Primarily invited; occasional RFPs. Gates’s own FAQ says it does not fund outside priorities and generally invites proposals directly.

    • Per the 2026 Annual Letter, agriculture and nutrition are now among the explicit core priorities for the final 20 years. Agriculture dominates this portfolio. In 2025, the foundation reported $531 million in direct support for Agricultural Development, followed by $147 million for Inclusive Financial Systems, $76 million for water, sanitation and hygiene, $66 million for nutrition, $56 million for Global Education and $44 million for Digital Public Infrastructure.

  • The Global Health “aims to reduce inequities in health by developing new tools and strategies to reduce the burden of infectious disease and the leading causes of child mortality in developing countries.” The foundation’s global health work has received criticism in its approaches.

  • The Global Policy and Advocacy seeks to build strategic relationships and promote policies that advance its work.

Global Grants for Women, Reproductive and Maternal Health

The Gates Foundation’s global Gender Equality division seeks to improve health, economic opportunity and decision-making power for women and girls, with much of its international work concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Grantmaking for women and girls overlaps with some of the foundation’s other global grantmaking goals and priorities, particularly in areas related to health and economic development. This is a major portfolio within the foundation, with a commitment of $2.1 billion to gender equality through 2026. Giving in these areas will likely increase substantially in the coming years in response to vast reductions of funding to U.S.A.I.D. for programs relating to maternal and infant health.

Africa and India Grantmaking

In January 2026, Gates announced the creation of a new Africa and India Offices (AIO) Division, bringing together the foundation’s country offices across Africa and India in a single division. Gates says the change is intended to strengthen regional and country voices in strategy, priority setting and execution. The foundation maintains Africa offices in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, while its India office is in Delhi.

U.S. Program

The U.S. Program works with local leaders, national partners, institutional leaders and other stakeholders on educational and economic systems. On July 28, 2026, Gates announced a new four-part structure: K–12 Teaching and Learning; Postsecondary Learning and Navigation; AI and Data Infrastructure; and Advocacy and System Improvement.

Gates’ website currently still shows K–12 Education, Postsecondary Success, Pathways, EMO, Data, Early Learning, and Washington State as active; however, the announcement explicitly says Pathways will cease to operate as a standalone strategy, Early Learning is winding down, and Washington State will cease being standalone by 2030.

The U.S. Program says it regularly posts RFIs and RFPs and wants to learn from organizations that have demonstrated strong outcomes. That is more open than many Gates global portfolios, but it is still not a general unsolicited-application funder.

Grants for Education

The foundation’s United States Program remains centered on education and economic opportunity. Current education work includes K-12 Education, Postsecondary Success, Pathways, Data and Early Learning. Washington State work continues as well, although, as noted below, the foundation is restructuring that portfolio.

  • Gates’ K-12 Education work has narrowed substantially around math education. While the current K-12 strategy places emphasizes math education, strategy will be shifting to focus on K-12 Teaching and Learning and how it relates to helping K-12 students strengthen math foundations for Algebra I by 9th grade.
  • The Pathways strategy supports students as they move from high school into postsecondary education and careers. However, this area is winding down as of July 28, 2026.
  • Postsecondary Success supports colleges and universities working to improve student outcomes and reduce disparities associated with race, ethnicity and income. This area will be evolving into Postsecondary Learning and Navigation.
  • The foundation’s Data strategy supports stronger education and workforce data systems spanning early learning, K-12 education, postsecondary education and employment. Gates is particularly interested in data that can illuminate disparities in student outcomes while protecting privacy and helping educators, institutions and policymakers make better decisions. This area appears to be shifting.
  • Early Learning focuses on improving the quality of public pre-K. Current priorities include developing and expanding research-backed instructional materials, improving assessments and measures of children’s growth, and building and sharing evidence about effective early-learning practices. This area will be winding down.
  • AI and Data Infrastructure, a new area for the Education program, was announced in July 2026, but further details are forthcoming. Work tentatively will include partnerships with technology leaders and Frontier Lab AI companies in order to help advance the effectiveness and accessibility of tools that support learners, educators, and institutions.
  • Advocacy and System Improvement, a new team and area, will unite “three areas of work: policy and field engagement (policy and advocacy, field-building, and external communications); implementation and delivery (implementation support for postsecondary transformation and place-based pathways work, as well as work to expand access to quality K-12 charter public schools); and measurement and public goods (quality assessment, measurement, and public goods work).
  • Gates also makes U.S.-based education scholarships via the Gates Scholarship, available on a separate site. This program was established in 2017 to help students from low-income backgrounds achieve their potential. Recipients have access to support and resources beyond the scholarship itself.

Grantseekers should also monitor the U.S. Program’s Funding Opportunities page, which lists open and recently closed RFPs. Although most Gates grantmaking is proactive, these targeted opportunities can provide a direct application route for organizations working within the foundation’s education priorities.

Grants for Economic Mobility and AI

While the Gate Foundation’s site navigation still references Economic Mobility and Opportunity (EMO) as a current strategy on some web pages, the EMO strategy has been wound down.

Much of this work is shifting to NextLadder Ventures, an independent initiative co-founded by the Gates Foundation, Ballmer Group, Stand Together, Valhalla Foundation and John Overdeck. The fund has more than $1 billion in committed capital and a 15-year horizon. It invests in nonprofit and for-profit organizations developing technology intended to improve economic mobility, including tools addressing financial health, career navigation, public benefits and social-service access. Gates has committed nearly $500 million to the initiative.

  • According to Gates, the NextLadder will harness advances in artificial intelligence (AI) to create and scale solutions that expand economic opportunity for millions of Americans experiencing poverty and support the frontline workers serving them.
  • A particularly useful opening for grantseekers is the DRK + NextLadder Navigation Technology Initiative. This rolling program seeks U.S.-based nonprofits and companies using software, AI and data to help people with low incomes navigate housing, public benefits, healthcare, workforce systems and financial challenges. Nonprofit awardees receive a $300,000 grant, while selected organizations may also receive up to $500,000 in in-kind support. Most competitive applicants will have a working product, evidence of demand and roughly $600,000 to $3 million in annualized revenue or committed funding. The application period is open-ended and selections are made on a rolling basis.

Additionally, the Gates Foundation announced in September 2026 that it plans to spend at least $1 billion over the next two years to make artificial intelligence more accessible and useful to people who might otherwise be left behind by the technology. The money will support AI applications in healthcare, agriculture and education, as well as efforts to build datasets in more languages so AI systems better serve populations that are poorly represented in today’s predominantly English-language training data.

Grants for Washington State

The foundation maintains significant local interests in Washington, where the Gates family has longstanding ties. Recent work includes postsecondary access and dual-credit programs, education data and research, and community engagement grantmaking in the Greater Seattle area.

This portfolio is changing. In 2026, Gates said it was transitioning its Washington State Initiative from a standalone strategy to a more integrated approach across its broader U.S. Program. The foundation expects to conclude the Washington State Initiative as a standalone strategy by 2030 while continuing to invest in Washington through its national education priorities and other local work. Grantseekers should therefore expect the structure of this portfolio to continue evolving.

Networking with statewide education coalitions and existing Gates partners may be particularly valuable here. The foundation has participated in the Washington Education Funders Table and has co-funded or collaborated on education initiatives with the Schultz Family Foundation, Ballmer Group, Microsoft and Raikes Foundation.

Other opportunities:

Gates’s “How We Work” page says program teams work with the Strategic Investment Fund when they want private-sector science and technology expertise, and that SIF has a separate budget for funding companies’ work on charitable projects.

  • It supports private-sector and market-based tools aligned with charitable goals, including agriculture/nutrition, inclusive financial systems, healthcare delivery, life sciences, U.S. education/opportunity and women’s innovation.
  • Not a standard grant application pathway. It is program-team-driven and aligned with charitable projects.

Important Grant Details:

Gates has posted its 2025 Annual Report and 2025 audited financial statements. The annual report puts 2025 charitable support at $8.47 billion, including $7.304 billion in direct grantee support, and says direct grant payments reached a record level.

Program spending included $2.175 billion for Global Development, $1.897 billion for Global Health, $952 million for Gender Equality, $925 million for Global Growth & Opportunity and $847 million for the U.S. Program. Within the U.S. portfolio, Gates reports $285 million for K-12 Education, $167 million for Postsecondary Success and $157 million for the now-wound-down Economic Mobility & Opportunity strategy.

  • Population/community focus: Low- and middle-income countries globally, with strong emphasis on Africa and South Asia; U.S. education work focuses on students facing inequities by race, ethnicity and income.
  • Geography: Gates says it works primarily in low- and middle-income countries and has offices across Africa, India, China, Singapore, Europe/Middle East and North America.
  • Types of work funded: Research, product development, data systems, implementation science, policy and advocacy, institutional capacity, technical assistance, market-shaping tools, volume guarantees, strategic investments, public-interest media tied to global health/development, education systems change, and scaling proven interventions. Gates says it funds grantees and private companies, supports coalitions, requires global access for funded knowledge/products, and uses catalytic philanthropy to unlock public and private action.
  • Less likely fit: Organizations working outside Gates’ named priorities, small generalist direct-service organizations without a clear strategic or network connection, capital projects, high-income-country health programs and organizations hoping to submit an unsolicited general operating request face poor odds.
  • How to get on the radar: Follow the grant database and program staff, map existing grantees in the exact strategy, participate in Gates-funded coalitions and technical networks, build relationships with major grantees and implementation partners, and monitor RFPs and Grand Challenges. For smaller organizations, becoming a subgrantee, local implementation partner or consortium member may be substantially more realistic than seeking a direct Gates grant.
  • This funder does not generally accept proposals for funding, but it does occasionally post RFPs for specific projects, often concerning data collection, analysis and program evaluations.
  • Additional information about Gates’s grantmaking is available at its How We Work page and its searchable Committed Grants database.
  • Submit general inquiries to the Gates Foundation via its contact page, which also provides links to the foundation’s social media accounts. The foundation’s phone number is listed as (206) 709-3100.

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