Summary of Peter Brach’s Far-Reaching Grants
This page is not intended to prove causality. Its primary purpose is to illustrate the powerful impact that simple, next-step catalytic tools and resources can have when provided to our most promising nonprofits. By strengthening their capacity to build their organizations—particularly those which can leverage a far-reaching impact—we can markedly accelerate the social sector over time.
Most Recent Grant
Peter Brach’s Funders 2025 Fund (DAF) and a second funder collectively provided $175,000 to GivingTuesday (GT). These grants enabled GT to recently launch a 12-part online fundraising curriculum and will soon release a highly sophisticated online bot. Because of its vast network, GT and its partners will introduce these resources to 1.5 million nonprofits and CSOs worldwide — potentially serving up to 50,000 organizations in the near future.
Previous Grants
- TechSoup – Completed an $11.5 million capital campaign and continues its five-year development phase. It is in its third year, supporting hundreds of thousands of organizations in 236 countries. ($65,000 grant)
- Anonymous organization – Helped create a major new revenue stream exceeding $1.4 million, improving its ability to help those with wealth deploy resources more ethically, equitably, and efficiently. ($100,000 grant)
- Millennium Campus Network (MCN) – Increased its graduation rate by 140% in one year. according to CEO Sam Vaghar. MCN graduates thousands of students annually through SDG-focused programs, many of whom pursue social sector careers. ($17,000 grant)
- Humentum – Gained commitments of $800,000 to address inefficiencies in financial systems that hinder grant distribution and application evaluation. A $50,000 grant helped convene partners to organize a successful funding request.
- WINGS – Updated its CRM and fundraising strategy to better fulfill its role as the largest global network representing the philanthropy sector. ($35,000 of the full $70,000 provided)
- Synergos – Organized its vast network of contacts into a CRM system and integrated it with its full team. Synergos works with many influential individuals in government partnerships and social initiatives. ($100,000 grant)
- Creative Visions – Hired two staff members who helped grow and diversify its board, secure a $1+ million grant, raise millions for impact media films, generate over $1 million as a fiscal sponsor, and form a new partnership with Discovery Education. ($100,000 grant)
- SDG Philanthropy Platform – Hired a temporary grantmaker who raised $240,000 to empower women in 72 Indian villages to reclaim land, support entrepreneurship, empower girls, and implement water harvesting. ($17,000 grant)
- Epic-Africa Foundation – Gained foundational AI knowledge to eventually provide AI and digital training to more than 4,000 CSOs and infrastructure organizations within its network. ($5,000 grant)
- Catalyst Now – Helped hire a coordinator to strengthen collaboration, communication, and coordination among thousands of members and organizations across 156 countries. ($75,000 grant, matched by another $75,000 grant)
Many of these stories can be found here.
Putting a Human Face to the Numbers
Numbers only matter if they translate to improved lives and healthier environments. Providing catalytic, next-step funding to organizations with exceptionally broad reach amplifies impact — creating ripple effects that cascade outward. As a result, we are able to help children who might otherwise never have a chance, support people in transforming trauma into leadership, fight climate change, and educate and train individuals who might not have had a future.
Conclusion
The stories presented here do not prove causality. However, some will agree that providing simple, next-step catalytic resources to promising nonprofits can produce an exceptional impact. While awarding these grants is not without risk, the levels vary extensively from high to low. Some risks can also be mitigated by conducting due diligence, partnering with others, or seeking opportunities where small grants hold promise of driving significant results.