Good Ventures Foundation
At a glance
This funder does not accept unsolicited applications. The foundation chooses the organisations it funds itself.
Key takeaways
- Good Ventures funds across Global Health & Development, Abundance & Growth, Biosecurity & Pandemic Preparedness, Scientific Research & Global Health R&D, Navigating Transformative AI, Farm Animal Welfare, and the wider global challenge ecosystem, with geographic priority on the United States and South Asia, so check your work matches one of these themes and places before considering an approach.
- It does not accept unsolicited requests and operates by invitation only, so cold applications should not be sent.
- A realistic request is modest against its scale: typical grants run from $50,000 to $2,650,000, with about 8 in 10 of its 565 grants to organisations falling in that range and a median grant of about $425,000, although its largest grant was around $31,500,000, to Gates Philanthropy Partners, an organisation that regrants to others.
- Giving looks relationship-led rather than open competition, since 57% of grant dollars went to organisations it had also funded the previous year, leaving a smaller share for new recipients.
- Given its invitation-only approach and its stated practice of working in partnership with trusted organisations, the practical route is to build visibility in its funding themes rather than apply directly.
Overview
Good Ventures Foundation is a US private foundation based in Palo Alto, CA.
What they fund
Profile derived from the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2023, TY2022) and its website, with every statement checked against those sources. Sources read on 7 October 2026.
Priority Areas
Good Ventures supports ideas and institutions that make the world safer, healthier and more prosperous for all. It chooses causes where it believes additional funding can do the most good, applying importance, neglectedness and tractability. Its portfolio includes interventions to improve lives in low- and middle-income countries, economic growth, biosecurity and pandemic preparedness, scientific research and global health research and development, preparation for a safe transition to advanced AI, and animal welfare. It also supports the wider ecosystem tackling global challenges. Its approach ranges from proven programmes to ambitious bets on potentially transformative innovations and is guided by evidence, rigour, curiosity and compassion; it works in partnership with trusted organisations.
Themes
- Global Health & Development
- Abundance & Growth
- Biosecurity & Pandemic Preparedness
- Scientific Research & Global Health R&D
- Navigating Transformative AI
- Farm Animal Welfare
- Global challenge ecosystem
Geographic Focus
Priority: United States; South Asia.
How to apply
The foundation states that it does not accept unsolicited requests.
Application success factors
- Repeat giving: In its TY2023 filing, 57% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 filing.
- Grant size: Across its TY2022 and TY2023 filings, half of its 565 grants to organisations were about $425,000 or less.
What the foundation says:
- Good Ventures chooses causes where it believes more funding will have the biggest impact, using importance, neglectedness and tractability as criteria.
- Good Ventures is committed to using the best evidence it can find and approaching its work with rigour, curiosity and compassion.
Where grants go
From grants to organisations in the foundation’s filings for tax years 2022–2023.
Grant dollars by state
6 other states: 7%
Outside the US or with no state on the filing: 30%
- The largest single recipient received 7% of grant dollars to organisations.
- In tax year 2023, 57% of grant dollars went to organisations Good Ventures Foundation had funded in earlier filings.
- 20% of grant dollars went directly to organisations outside the US (United Kingdom, Singapore, Germany, India).
- 20% of grant dollars went to intermediaries that regrant to other organisations.
Grants
How much do they typically give?
Share of 303 grants in tax year 2023 by size
Median $400k (tax year 2023)
The largest grants to organisations in the foundation’s latest filing:
- Gates Philanthropy Partners · Work on tb vaccines, oral cholera vaccines and global education$31,250,0002023 tax year
- Against Malaria Foundation · Delivery of insecticide-treated bed nets in the democratic republic of the congo$22,000,0002023 tax year
- Georgetown University · Center for security and emerging technology$19,260,0002023 tax year
- International Rescue Committee · Malnutrition treatment project implementation and monitoring in africa$12,845,3082023 tax year
- Open Philanthropy Advisors · General support$10,000,0002023 tax year
- Us Agency For International Development · Development innovation ventures program$9,000,0002023 tax year
- IRD Global · Work on operations of the zindagi mehfooz platform$7,733,6372023 tax year
- Effective Ventures Foundation · Community-building project$7,333,3342023 tax year
Grants to organisations listed in the foundation’s Form 990-PF filings. Grants to individuals are not shown.
Officers and directors
- Tom Van Loben Sels — Assistant Secretary
- Divesh Makan — Director
- Dustin Moskovitz — Secretary, Treasurer, Director
- Cari Tuna — President, Director
From the latest Form 990-PF filing
2 years of tax filings
| Year | Total expenses | Grants paid | Assets | Filing document |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 tax year | $423,383,550 | $320,936,992 | $5,863,998,880 | Filing for 2022 tax year |
| 2023 tax year | $377,244,665 | $357,542,418 | $7,935,504,121 | Filing for 2023 tax year |
Figures from the foundation’s IRS Form 990-PF filings. Assets are at fair market value at year end. The document icon links to each year’s filing on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
Sources
Registers and filings
Other sources
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At a glance
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Applying to Good Ventures Foundation?
Hinchilla drafts your answers around this funder's priorities, using your organisation's own documents.
No credit card required