Global Health

/

Saving lives in places where resources are most scarce is extraordinarily motivating for donors looking to maximize their impact. But global health can be a fairly technical area of philanthropy, involving complex medical and organizational issues. That’s one reason why it is a field dominated by large, private foundations with expert staff (think Gates and Rockefeller). Nonetheless, smaller funders, cumulatively, are important players in supporting many of the major organizations making an impact. 

Most funding for global health initiatives comes from governments, but the philanthropic sector is taking a leadership role in several key areas. While infectious diseases like malaria and HIV/AIDS are top-of-mind when most people think about “global health,” giving in this area encompasses the full range of health concerns, including noncommunicable conditions, reproductive health and rights, improving healthcare systems and more. 

Strategies for Impact

Because there has been considerable progress in the fight against infectious diseases over the past two decades, global health funding has been able to shift some focus to other big issues, including preventing noncommunicable diseases, strengthening health infrastructure and addressing contributing factors to health such as food insecurity and access to clean water. Still, the COVID pandemic reminded the world that resources to prepare for and fight infectious diseases remain essential. 

Below, we discuss several areas where donors might direct their funding and spotlight organizations in each that represent the kind of nonprofits that donors might consider supporting.   

  • Give to cost-effective, evidence-based interventions that save and improve lives. One of the great appeals of global health giving for donors is that their money can have an immense and measurable impact on human wellbeing. Donors can support nonprofits using proven strategies to prevent malaria, help children get routine vaccinations, treat obstetric fistula, prevent blindness, and more. A first stop for donors interested in such approaches should be GiveWell, the highly respected charity evaluator and funding intermediary. GiveWell offers a list of top charities it recommends to donors — such as the Against Malaria Foundation — based on exhaustive research on their impact and cost effectiveness. Donors can also donate directly to GiveWell, with these funds regranted to its recommended nonprofits. Keep in mind that many high-impact, cost-effective organizations aren’t on GiveWell’s top charities list, including the Fistula Foundation. For a larger menu of respected global charities, check out The Life You Can Save.                                                                                                     

  • Focus on key populations for health equity. There are minority populations and caste issues in every nation, and equal access to healthcare is a core concern of most global health funders and nonprofits. PATH is working to advance health equity and improve public health in more than 70 countries through increasing access to medical technologies, vaccine development and delivery, primary healthcare, policy advocacy, and more. Because gender inequity has specific impacts on health, some funders focus on women’s and reproductive health. Organizations to know about include the International Women’s Health Coalition and the Global Fund for Women, which resources grassroots gender justice movements that address health and other issues. Also approaching health through a social justice lens is Partners in Health, cofounded by doctor and humanitarian Paul Farmer, which focuses on providing healthcare to the world’s most impoverished people through clinics, check-ups and community health workers, as well as working with governments to increase healthcare access and equity. 

  • Give for direct services and immediate needs. In a world marked by intersecting inequities and constantly erupting crises from climate disasters to war, there is always a need for direct healthcare services and emergency medical response. Donors can address these constant and yet unpredictable needs in a sustained and proactive way by giving regularly to organizations like Direct Relief or Doctors without Borders, which have the infrastructure and experience to respond immediately to health needs wherever and whenever they arise.

  • Fund health system development. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored profound weaknesses in public health systems throughout low- and middle-income countries. Shortages of doctors, hospitals and primary care clinics result in many people dying from treatable conditions or living with chronic pain and disability that could be easily cured with proper care. A number of nonprofits work to strengthen healthcare systems, including Vital Strategies and Last Mile Health, which works to “deliver primary healthcare to the world’s most remote communities.”

Insights and Advice 

In considering which impact strategies to support, donors should consider their personal interests and outlook to find the best fit. Keep an eye out for emerging opportunities to give with maximum impact. Here, we offer a few insights and suggestions:

  • Find your focus. Few global health funders try to address the entire, vast issue of global health. Instead, most focus on a particular disease, issue or region. Think about an aspect of global health you are passionate about, or where you have knowledge or a personal connection. There are nonprofits working on every aspect of health almost everywhere in the world. The Desmond Tutu Health Foundation works on research, treatment, and prevention of HIV and related infections in South Africa. WINGS provides reproductive health education and services to underserved, primarily rural youth, women and men in Guatemala. VisionSpring focuses on access to affordable vision care. Unlimit Health is working to end parasitic disease. Finding your focus will help you find the right nonprofits for your contributions. 

  • Don’t go it alone. U.S.-based affiliates and intermediaries can make it much easier for U.S. donors to give globally. Your donations go to a U.S.-based nonprofit, and then they handle the administrative, financial and legal aspects of regranting the funds internationally. GiveWell funds cost-effective global interventions, as mentioned earlier. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria raises and invests billions of dollars annually to fight these deadly infectious diseases. The Washington, D.C.-based UN Foundation resources work to achieve the U.N.’s sustainable development goals, including goals around global health and wellbeing. You can also learn more about philanthropy for global health by getting involved with a funder group such as Funders Concerned about AIDS or Funders for Reproductive Equity. 

  • Take a holistic approach. Health is interrelated with issues including climate change, conflict and war, housing, food access, and more. As funders increasingly understand  the causes and effects of social, economic and political determinants on health, their giving can more effectively address related concerns. You might seek out nonprofits that are working at these intersections or consider giving to address some of the social and economic issues that impact health, such as gender equity, climate change and economic development. 

For Donors Getting Started

Donors who are new to this space should take the time to learn about the landscape. A good place to start is by reading IP’s State of American Philanthropy Brief on Giving for Global Health. 

In addition, peruse recent articles that IP has written about what’s happening in this area of philanthropy. Some of the funding intermediaries mentioned above also offer reports and articles to help donors understand the giving landscape. 

There isn’t a funder affinity group exclusively focused on global health, but groups like the Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health & Rights, Funders Concerned About AIDS and Africa Grantmakers' Affinity Group have resources that are helpful in this area. 

But the best way to get started giving for global health is to make some initial gifts, learn from the groups you’re supporting, and connect early with a funding intermediary that can help you learn more about this giving area and increase your giving in a thoughtful way. 

Have suggestions for improving this brief? Please email us at editor@insidephilanthropy.com.