Thanks for your interest in GiveWell’s response to foreign aid cuts!
In early 2025, the US government made significant changes to foreign aid, creating substantial uncertainty about global health funding. Foreign aid grantees and contractors received stop-work orders, payments were frozen, projects were terminated, and staff were laid off. Other countries have since announced plans to cut aid. While the long-term effects remain uncertain and exact numbers remain difficult to ascertain, Givewell researchers recently forecast a potential 50% cut in US global health funding and a 35% reduction in overall global health funding. In response, we are amplifying our efforts to find and fund the best opportunities we can to help.
Trusted insights, evidence-based action
The recent funding cuts could substantially reshape global health and development. To share what we’re learning, we’re recording a series of podcast conversations with our research team, providing timely snapshots of this rapidly evolving situation.
- Malaria funding at a crossroads. Anticipated reductions in malaria prevention funding from key global funders threaten to create substantial new gaps in life-saving malaria programs. We discuss the uncertainty of the funding landscape, the programs most at risk, and how GiveWell is responding.
- Forecasting the future of global health funding. In the face of potential major cuts to foreign aid, how can we anticipate the impact on global health and effectively direct resources to the areas of greatest need? In this episode, we discuss the forecasting work GiveWell has done to answer this question.
- Exploring HIV/AIDS funding cuts and emerging needs. This episode describes how current funding cuts might lead to potential cost-effective opportunities within HIV/AIDS programming, an area that has not historically been a focus for GiveWell because of substantial US government support.
- Supporting governments navigating US funding cuts. We discuss recent grants to create technical support units in six African countries that will support ministries of health as they navigate funding transitions to maintain essential health services; the work is being led by the respective governments, and the support will be tailored to their individual priorities.
- Making cost-effective grants amid uncertainty. Building on our previous conversations about program disruptions and emergency responses, we dive into the nuanced reality of the current funding landscape and GiveWell’s evidence-based approach to grantmaking during uncertainty.
- Addressing urgent needs in seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC). We’ve made grants to support urgent funding gaps for SMC, a highly cost-effective program that provides antimalarial medication to children under the age of five during the malaria season.
- GiveWell’s response to USAID funding cuts. This episode provides a snapshot of how US funding changes are affecting global health programs and GiveWell’s initial strategy for responding.
How you can help
We have heard from many donors who feel urgency to help, and we believe giving now has a greater potential impact than before the cuts to global aid funding. If you want to help respond to this situation, donating to our funds enables us to direct it toward the best opportunities we find. The funds enable us to respond in different ways, but both use 100% of your gift, after any fees by the payment processor, to support the best giving opportunities we find.- Giving to our All Grants Fund provides us with more flexibility to respond strategically to the greatest emerging needs we identify. While we have less certainty about some of the individual programs supported by this fund, we think they collectively have the highest impact per dollar spent.
- Giving to our Top Charities Fund ensures your money is deployed quickly and exclusively to the highly cost-effective programs we have the most confidence in.
About GiveWell
GiveWell is an independent, nonprofit research organization that advances evidence-based, high-impact giving. We are dedicated to helping donors find and fund outstanding opportunities in global health and well-being. Over the past 18 years, we’ve helped guide more than 135,000 donors and $2.5 billion to highly cost-effective programs.
Our researchers spend more than 60,000 hours each year assessing programs based on strength of evidence, cost-effectiveness, and room for more funding, then recommend grants to support the most promising programs. We publicly share all the data and reasonin behind our work on this site, so you can have confidence in our recommendations—and let us know where we can improve.
Our giving funds enable donors to contribute to the most impactful and cost-effective opportunities our researchers identify. And because we’re supported by donors who specifically cover our operational expenses, we don’t take any fees: 100% of your gift goes to the fund or organization of your choice.
The gold standard for giving.
More than 135,000 donorsiBased on our records of donors who’ve contributed either to GiveWell or to the programs we recommend.
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These donations will save over 270,000 livesiBased on our cost-effectiveness analysis and our records of money we’ve directed to our Top Charities since 2011.
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