“We advise on, facilitate, and maximize the impact of our members’ giving.”In its own words: founderspledge.com
Nonprofit with registered entities in the US, UK and Germany that researches the most effective causes and helps entrepreneurs direct their charitable giving.
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Its Global Catastrophic Risks Fund makes direct grants and advises member donations on risks such as great-power war, pandemics, nuclear war and advanced AI, finding opportunities through networks of domain experts and partners. Founders Pledge says it typically finds interventions through its own research.
Says it has given about $1.9B in total
Typical grant $127k ($50k–$403k)
On applying “Founders Pledge operates on a research-first model of grantmaking. We typically identify promising interventions through our own research and support organizations that can deliver them at scale.” founderspledge.com
Itemised here $11M in 36 grants
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Money flows
Where its money came from and where it went. Pick years and what to show; hover a box or ribbon for details, click one to focus it, click the background to see everything.
How to apply
- Applications
- By invitation
- Who can apply
- Organisations, New organisations
No application route for AI or catastrophic-risk grants: the Global Catastrophic Risks Fund finds grants through its own research and networks of experts and partners. Its requests-for-funding page invites expressions of interest only for education and job-training programmes in low- and middle-income countries.
Biggest recipients
All grants
36 grants totalling $11M, newest first. Recipients link to their own pages; people who received grants without a public profile are shown by number.
2026 16 grants · $3M
| Date | Recipient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2026 | Council on Strategic Risks | $400k | Emerging Leader Dialogue Exchange (ELDEX): training US-China Track 1.5/2 dialogue leaders on nuclear, AI, space, cyber and bio risks source |
| Sep 2026 | International Association for Safe and Ethical Artificial Intelligence (IASEAI) | $200k | AI Crisis Response programme source |
| Sep 2026 | PIBBSS (Principles of Intelligence) | $90k | Discernment Development Project: reading groups and senior fellowship for AI safety research leadership source |
| Aug 2026 | AI Safety Asia | $100k | ASEAN-Europe roundtable and AI crisis tabletop exercise at the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance, with Chatham House source |
| Jul 2026 | Future Matters | $296k | Strategic coordination across ~130 organisations in its AI Governance Infrastructure Hub (not paid in USD; Founders Pledge's converted reference value); the frontier-AI research page gives $301,600 source |
| Jul 2026 | AI Objectives Institute | $200k | Gradual Disempowerment Observatory: metrics, dashboard and landscape map source |
| Jun 2026 | FAR.AI Integrity Team | $400k | Manipulation evaluations for the EU AI Office consortium. GCR Fund share; Founders Pledge members gave a further $100k (separate row) (research page shows $500k total) source |
| Jun 2026 | Apart Research | $100k | Manipulation-evaluation sprint team for the EU AI Office. GCR Fund share; Founders Pledge members gave a further $100k (separate row) (research page shows $200k total) source |
| Jun 2026 | Centre for Long-Term Resilience | $100k | 24-month pilot for UK AI safety and biosecurity strategic comms: polling, newsroom, coordination source |
| Jun 2026 | FAR.AI Integrity Team | $100k | Founders Pledge members' gift (given alongside the GCR Fund grant on Founders Pledge's recommendation; the Fund's own share is a separate row): manipulation evaluations for the EU AI Office consortium source |
| Jun 2026 | Apart Research | $100k | Founders Pledge members' gift (given alongside the GCR Fund grant on Founders Pledge's recommendation; the Fund's own share is a separate row): manipulation-evaluation sprint team for the EU AI Office source |
| Jun 2026 | EvalEval Coalition | $50k | Public dashboard for the Every Eval Ever project (Eval Cards). Fund page gives $50k; the frontier-AI research page gives $63k with no breakdown source |
| May 2026 | INHR | $300k | Socialising gene synthesis screening and biotech safety standards in China source |
| Apr 2026 | Institute for Security and Technology | $49k | Workshop on AI x nuclear risks at the Pacific Forum US-China dialogues source |
| Mar 2026 | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | $500k | Global Guardrails Project: international crisis management and GCR reduction source |
| Jan 2026 | INHR | $16k | Presenting AI-bio risk recommendations at the AI Impact Summit in India source |
2025 8 grants · $1.4M
| Date | Recipient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2025 | Tarbell Center for AI Journalism | $100k | About 14 stories and one fellow's salary for 12 months source |
| Nov 2025 | Center for a New American Security (CNAS) | $250k | Track II dialogue among US, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan on AI policy source |
| Sep 2025 | Institute for Progress (IFP) | $150k | 15-month US government placement on AI and biosecurity source |
| Jun 2025 | Institute for Security and Technology (IST) | $140k | Planning new US-China strategic dialogues on AGI and superintelligence source |
| May 2025 | Center for Nonproliferation Studies | $400k | One-year project on war termination incl. AI agents and command and control source |
| May 2025 | Arms Control Negotiation Academy (ACONA) | $114k | Adding advanced AI and AGI risks to its arms control negotiation curriculum (not paid in USD; Founders Pledge's converted reference value) source |
| Mar 2025 | Brookings Institution (Brookings-Hoover) | $50k | Roundtables and briefings from the US-China Dialogue on AI and National Security source |
| Feb 2025 | INHR | $200k | US-China-international dialogues on AI-bio and advanced AI catastrophic risks source |
2024 6 grants · $3.3M
| Date | Recipient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2024 | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | $100k | Managing Risks from U.S.-China AI Competition (co-funding of a $300k project with two other funders) source |
| Nov 2024 | Center for Responsible Innovation | $50k | AI policy education for new government officials source |
| Oct 2024 | Center for a New American Security (CNAS) | $157k | Incubating policy research on AI crisis preparedness source |
| Aug 2024 | US National Academy of Sciences, Committee on International Security and Arms Control | $429k | Conclave on Great Powers and Extreme Risks source |
| Aug 2024 | INHR | $40k | REAIM 2024 policy work and AI catastrophic-risk dialogues with China source |
| Jan 2024 | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | $2.5M | Advised grant (deployed by outside philanthropists on GCR Fund managers' advice): launching Project "Averting Armageddon" (nuclear) source |
2023 3 grants · $327k
| Date | Recipient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2023 | INHR | $127k | US-China diplomatic dialogues on AI incl. the AI-bio nexus (not paid in USD; Founders Pledge's converted reference value) source |
| Jan 2023 | Center for a New American Security (CNAS) | $100k | International Autonomous Incidents Agreement project; GCR Fund share of a $200k co-funded grant (the $100k advised share is a separate row) source |
| Jan 2023 | Center for a New American Security (CNAS) | $100k | Advised grant (deployed by outside philanthropists on GCR Fund managers' advice): advised share of the $200k International Autonomous Incidents Agreement grant source |
2022 3 grants · $2.7M
| Date | Recipient | Amount | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 2022 | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists | $5k | Reporting on the Ninth Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (not paid in USD; Founders Pledge's converted reference value) source |
| Jul 2022 | Berkeley Risk and Security Lab | $1.9M | Advised grant (deployed by outside philanthropists on GCR Fund managers' advice): seed funding to launch the organisation source |
| 2022 | Forecasting Research Institute (Tetlock team) | $868k | Founders Pledge members' grants for forecasting research, funding the 2022 Existential Risk Persuasion Tournament (AI, bio, nuclear, climate risks); total across forecasting grants (FP 2023 impact report) source |