Foundation FAQ

Committed to the belief that every person deserves the opportunity to lead a healthy and productive life, we make grants to nonprofit organizations, research institutions, and global alliances that are fueling progress toward eliminating infectious diseases, saving the lives of mothers and babies, and lifting people out of poverty in the United States and in low-income communities around the world. In addition to grants, we also make strategic investments that allow private companies to develop and produce low-cost products for health and development that they wouldn’t otherwise have a business incentive to pursue—such as vaccines to prevent neglected tropical diseases and diagnostic devices for use in places without reliable electricity. 

While our financial resources are considerable, they are modest relative to the need. Therefore, we concentrate on driving long-term impact across a limited set of issues. In lower-income countries, we focus on efforts to improve health, alleviate extreme poverty, and advance gender equality. In the United States, we mainly support programs related to education as a critical enabler of economic mobility. Learn more on the Our funding page and the Our work page.

In most cases, we directly contact organizations identified by our staff and invite them to submit funding proposals for work that addresses a specific foundation priority, such as nutrition, tuberculosis prevention, or safer childbirth. We also award some grants through posted requests for proposals, including through our Grand Challenges initiatives. We do not contribute to fundraising campaigns for organizations. 

We are unable to make grants or donations to individuals. Learn more about our funding.  

Yes. We believe the private sector has a critical role to play, applying their expertise and resources to the problems of development. Our strategic investments make it financially feasible for companies to develop and deliver innovations for which no profitable market exists—such as vaccines and diagnostic devices designed for use in remote and low-income communities. In most cases, our Strategic Investment Fund team directly contacts companies identified by our staff to discuss a partnership. Companies can also apply for funding through our Grand Challenges requests for proposals. All of our charitable funding to organizations—including private-sector organizations—comes with global access requirements to ensure that the knowledge gained from the funded work is shared publicly and that products funded by us are made available and accessible at an affordable price. You can learn more on our Charitable work with the private sector page. 

In May 2025, Bill Gates, our foundation chair, announced that the foundation would close its doors permanently on December 31, 2045, and that in the interim he would give virtually all of his remaining wealth to the foundation to fuel efforts to save and improve lives. This pledge and timeline will allow us to roughly double the foundation’s rate of grantmaking over those 20 years, enabling us to more quickly achieve our ambitious goals: ending infectious diseases, saving the lives of moms and babies, and lifting people out of poverty. 

Bill and Melinda started the foundation in 2000 with the belief that everyone, no matter where they are born, should have the opportunity to live a healthy and productive life. The foundation’s grantmaking began in the U.S. and quickly expanded to address urgent issues around the world—including diseases responsible for killing millions of children each year in the lowest-income places. Learn more about the foundation’s beginnings on the Our story page. 

The foundation’s endowment has been funded by our co-founders, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, and Warren Buffett, the former CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Bill, who co-founded Microsoft Corporation, will give virtually all of his remaining wealth to the foundation by the end of 2045, when the foundation will close its doors. Melinda left the foundation in 2024 and continues her philanthropy and impact investing through Pivotal, her organization to accelerate social progress and advance gender equality. As of the end of 2024, Bill and Melinda’s combined giving to the foundation totaled US$60.2 billion. Warren served on our board of trustees for 15 years and contributed US$47.9 billion to the foundation’s endowment as of the end of 2025. 

During the first 25 years of the foundation—from 2000 to 2025—we gave away more than US$100 billion. From 2025 to 2045, when the foundation will close its doors, we will give away about twice that amount. That includes the balance of the endowment and Bill’s pledged future contributions. 

No. Bill serves as chair of the foundation and does not profit from its charitable activities or receive a salary. All U.S. private foundations are legally prohibited from personally benefiting their founders. Any investment income earned by the foundation’s endowment (which is managed by the Gates Foundation Trust) and the Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund (which funds private-sector innovation to advance our charitable goals) goes toward the foundation’s work. 

The foundation is governed by a board of trustees made up of independent experts in health, development, business, education, economics, and public policy. They provide strategic and financial oversight to ensure stability and impact. The board also includes the board chair, Bill Gates, and the foundation’s CEO, Mark Suzman. Trustees are listed on the Leadership page, and the 2022 Annual Letter outlines the board’s role.  

No. We work to respond to the goals and needs of communities, countries, and regions. Most of our work is guided by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a global vision with specific targets for 2030 that all UN member states adopted in 2015. From these shared priorities, we identify a subset of issues—from improving vaccination rates to advancing women’s economic opportunity—in which our funding and our ability to build alliances can contribute to transformative progress. You can learn more about how we work with others in our 2023 Annual Letter. 

No. We share our views and perspectives with many governments on shared priorities. But as a private foundation, we are barred under U.S. law from direct or grassroots lobbying. When we engage with governments on policy and legislative issues, our efforts are limited under U.S. regulations to providing requested advice or assistance, offering nonpartisan research and analysis, and engaging in broad issue advocacy unrelated to specific legislation. 

Our committed grants, including the amounts, are listed in a publicly searchable database, and we are transparent about our priorities and strategies. We report regularly to third-party transparency initiatives and we post our audited financial statements and tax returns on our website. Our annual reports include expenditure information by funding area. The vast majority of the research and data collection we fund is also publicly accessible. You can learn more on our Information sharing approach page and our Gates Foundation open access policy page. 

Embedding diversity, equity, and inclusion into the foundation’s practices is the only way we can achieve our mission. We seek to achieve bold, innovative outcomes through increased diversity of talent, equitable practices, and an inclusive culture. As we pursue those outcomes, we must also understand our immense privilege and responsibility and look critically at our own culture and practices to ensure that we are listening and learning.

You can learn more by visiting our DEI webpage.

The assets that fund the Gates Foundation are held by a separate entity, the Gates Foundation Trust, and the endowment is managed by Cascade Asset Management Company, whose independent investment managers are not directly affiliated with the foundation. Bill Gates is the trustee of the Gates Foundation Trust. Foundation staff have no influence over trust investment decisions and no visibility into the trust’s investment strategies or holdings other than what is publicly available via required public disclosures (such as the foundation’s annual tax return, Form 990-PF). 

No. We encourage people who support our goals to give directly to our grantees, who are listed in our searchable database of committed grants. Those who prefer to have their gifts distributed to projects vetted by Gates Foundation experts can donate to Gates Philanthropy Partners, a 501(c)(3) public charity that aligns its grantmaking with the foundation’s strategic goals.

Yes. To view job openings at the foundation and learn how to apply, visit the Careers section of our website.

No, this is a scam. These types of messages circulate by email, social media, postal mail, and phone in multiple languages and often include our foundation logo, photos, links, or other content from our website. We encourage you to report such fraudulent communications.

No. We provide funding to nonprofits and global health organizations and alliances. Where appropriate, we partner with pharmaceutical and biotech companies to support the research, development, and delivery of vaccines for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV, malaria, and other infectious diseases. Our partnerships are structured to ensure benefit to the public and global access. 

For too long, women’s health needs have been underfunded and their aspirations and economic contributions have been devalued. This not only impedes the ability of women to lead healthy and productive lives, but the barriers they face contribute to keeping their families and communities in poverty. Investing in women’s health—from nutrition and affordable contraceptives to prenatal care and safer childbirth—leads to healthier, more prosperous families and stronger economies. Ensuring that women have more decision-making power and more economic opportunity leads to higher family incomes and healthier, better-educated children. We believe that enabling women and girls to reach their full potential unleashes economic and social progress for all. 

An estimated 218 million women in low- and middle-income countries do not have access to family planning services and products that meet their needs. When girls and women can choose whether and when to have children, more of them can get an education and earn incomes that help lift their families out of poverty. Family planning also contributes to healthier pregnancies and safer births, which means that more newborns can thrive and grow into healthy adults. We support the development of family planning products and services that align with women’s stated needs and preferences and are affordable, convenient, and culturally appropriate.