Founders Pledge 2025 Impact Report

Why It Matters

The report demonstrates how coordinated, donor‑driven rapid financing can plug policy vacuums, accelerating climate, health, and security solutions that would otherwise stall, reshaping the role of philanthropy in global risk mitigation.

Key Takeaways

• Rapid Response Fund deployed $13 million after US aid shutdown.
• $40 million granted to climate risk reduction initiatives in 2025.
• Founders Pledge members pledged over $1.5 billion in charitable giving.
• Catalytic Impact Fund to sustain high‑impact global health interventions.
• Track‑2 diplomacy capacity built for biocurity, nuclear, AI threats.

Summary

Founders Pledge released its 2025 Impact Report, showcasing a year of heightened urgency and unprecedented donor mobilization. The nonprofit highlighted how its members, private donors, and public supporters collectively delivered the organization’s most impactful outcomes to date.

The report details several large‑scale interventions: a Rapid Response Fund that raised and deployed over $13 million after the U.S. halted its overseas aid program; nearly $40 million in grants to climate‑risk reduction projects; and the launch of a Catalytic Impact Fund to back high‑impact global‑health initiatives. In total, members pledged more than $1.5 billion, while cumulative grants to the organization’s recommendations have surpassed $400 million.

Leadership emphasized the “speed and generosity of our donors” as the engine behind swift action, noting the creation of a Track‑2 diplomacy capacity to address biocurity, nuclear, and advanced‑AI threats among major powers. These behind‑the‑scenes efforts aim to defuse geopolitical tensions and reduce existential risks.

The implications are clear: donor‑led philanthropy can respond with agility comparable to government action, filling critical gaps in climate, health, and security. By scaling rapid‑response financing and strategic diplomacy, Founders Pledge positions itself as a pivotal catalyst for solving complex global challenges.

Original Description

A message from David Goldberg, Founder & President, and Charlotte Monico, CEO of Founders Pledge, sharing the highlights from 2025.

Read the full report: https://impact.founderspledge.com/2025/foreword

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Photo Credits:

Alliance for Reducing Microbial Disease

Arms Control Negotiation Academy

Brookings

Catholic Relief Services

Center for a New American Security

Center for Global Development

Center for Nonproliferation Studies

Clean Economy Project

Clean Tomorrow

Cleantech for Europe

Clinton Health Access Initiative

Energy Futures Initiative

Goal 3

INHR

Institute for Progress

Institute for Security and Technology

International Rescue Committee

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JSI

Peripheral Vision International

Quantified Carbon

Save the Children

Tarbell Center

The Hoover Institution

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