Our Model

Founded in 2019 as a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Lever for Change advises donors—no matter their philanthropic experience, staffing levels, or interests:

Photo of Lever for Change Staff in Action: our Philanthropy team discusses their work in our offices.

- We develop and manage open call challenges that award a minimum of $10 million in funding (payable over five years) to help donors accelerate social change. Our challenges can be designed to help donors find and fund bold solutions to the world's biggest problems or to support a cohort of organizations within a particular field.

- We invite all Lever for Change challenge awardees, finalists, and top-ranked organizations to become members of our Bold Solutions Network, a growing global network that helps members secure additional funding and amplify their impact.

- For funders seeking to make immediate and/or smaller-scale investments, our team curates and actively shares relevant solutions within our public and private collaborations with funders.

Since our launch, we have developed and managed customized challenges on behalf of a variety of funders and their advisors—from high-profile donors including Pivotal Ventures (Melinda French Gates’ investment and incubation company) to institutional funders like the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, corporate funders such as the LEGO Foundation, and philanthropic advisors like ICONIQ Impact, as well as new and anonymous donors.

Our challenges have focused on issues including racial inequity, gender inequality, lack of access to economic opportunity, and climate change, influencing over $2.2 billion in grants and providing support to more than 500 organizations. Our goal is to unlock $2.5 billion in funding for bold solutions by the end of 2025, thereby accelerating social change.

Help Fund Bold Solutions

Join us and help fund bold, effective solutions that accelerate social change.

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