How do you build the next generation of generosity?

This question has been the throughline of my first year as GlobalGiving’s CEO. Never has the need for a strong culture of generosity been more apparent than now.

When it is under threat.

The world is fractured in ways which we have not seen since the so-called Greatest Generation—the time of my parents’ parents. Amid the formidable challenges of war, extreme poverty, and entrenched inequality, everyday giving is declining. Yet, through GlobalGiving, I know the spirit of generosity is alive and well and shows up in so many communities in so many different ways.

To celebrate what we’ve accomplished together, I invite you to read our 2023 Year In Review.

Throughout 2023, I saw firsthand how the power of the GlobalGiving community shined as an example of what is possible when generosity and humanity come first.

Thank you for proving that it cannot be extinguished.

Thank you to the trio of musicians who jammed their hearts out at a Virginia farmers market to raise money for refugees.

Thank you to the dozens of local change leaders who metaphorically opened their kitchens to the world, sharing beloved recipes that fuel them and their communities through times of pain, joy, and renewal.

Thank you to innovative funders and partners behind the USAID-backed Assets, Agency & Trust Program who are dismantling harmful philanthropic barriers and embracing new ways of co-creation in the Philippines—from accepting grant applications in any dialect—including Tagalog or Visayan—to grounding actions in the deeply-rooted bayanihan tradition. Bayanihan has yielded boundless solutions to climate-change fueled challenges in the island communities—shared boats, shared farm-to-market roads, shared senses of livelihood are just a few examples.

These are three of thousands of inspirational stories that were written by you in 2023.

Read GlobalGiving’s full 2023 Year In Review to get inspired.

READ NOW

Together, the GlobalGiving community raised more than $112M for 8,459 charitable projects in 168 countries in 2023. The world’s largest music venue—the Great Strahov Stadium in Prague—would be needed to hold the 219,236 generous people who gave through GlobalGiving!

Ensuring more stories of generosity can be written, for many more years to come, is my most pressing priority as GlobalGiving’s CEO. I am proud to report that we now have a robust, five-year strategy to build the next generation of generosity.

GlobalGiving overcame incredible odds in its early history to become the first and largest digital fundraising community run by a nonprofit in service of fellow nonprofits. Founded in 2002, GlobalGiving was around before “crowdfunding” was a word in the dictionary, before social media existed.

More than 21 years later, it is imperative to continue to break ground. Because aid and philanthropy is far from fair, and the people with the best solutions to the world’s toughest problems are chronically left out.

Community-led organizations are agile, connected, and flexible, yet just a sliver of aid dollars reach them—an appalling 2% or less, historically.

Compounding matters, the same large organizations and a small handful of countries consistently get the biggest piece of the pie.

Meanwhile, developing countries give $3 trillion more to the rest of the world than they get back, and in the United States, Black-led organizations have 76% less assets than their white-led peers.

Frankly, we have a lot of work to do to continue to inspire people everywhere to give generously and diversely—whether from the phone in the palm of their hand or from their seat in the boardroom.

Our five-year strategy starts with several, important initiatives. The first is an investment in our digital technology. Technology has always put GlobalGiving at the forefront of powering grassroots change. With rapid advents in AI, blockchain, quantum computing, and more, we simply cannot take our foot off the pedal. The second is an investment in the tools that power your generosity.

We want to continue to make it easy and fun for you to find a trusted nonprofit working in whatever area and whatever part of the world interests you within seconds.

We want to ensure your donations keep reaching the most affected communities in the aftermath of the worst disasters within days, no matter where or when calamity strikes.

We want to scale our already unparalleled vetting services, moving from expertly verifying the local and international compliance of 30,000 organizations in 175 countries to 3 million organizations in 195 countries—and beyond.

We want to continue to help you push the boundaries of borderless grantmaking, building programs that defy the status quo in aid and philanthropy and rise to meet the collective challenges confronting each and every citizen of the world.

And we can’t do it without you.

I hope you will continue to help us write our future story in 2024 and beyond.

With gratitude,

Victoria Vrana
GlobalGiving CEO

Read GlobalGiving’s full 2023 Year In Review to get inspired.

READ NOW