OECD – Private Philanthropy for Development, Third Edition

The OECD estimates that private philanthropy contributed $68.2 billion to development between 2020 and 2023, yet most cross-border philanthropic funding still moved through international rather than local institutions. The obvious conclusion is that philanthropy remains small relative to ODA but important enough to influence how development is financed. The more revealing finding is that 89 per cent of cross-border philanthropic flows were channelled through international entities, while only 11 per cent moved through local entities. This exposes a tension between a sector increasingly committed to local leadership and a funding architecture that still concentrates institutional power elsewhere. The OECD therefore points toward longer-term unrestricted funding, simpler access for frontline organisations and stronger partnerships with local philanthropic intermediaries. For shared resilience, this suggests that philanthropy’s value may lie not only in the money it supplies but in whether it changes who has the capability and authority to act after the grant ends. The question is whether philanthropy can claim to support systems change while continuing to route most resources through the same international institutions that localisation is meant to rebalance.

Read the OECD report