Evolving Our Approach to Philanthropy
Philanthropy is evolving. There’s a lot of discussion right now about new approaches to giving at scale and operating philanthropies within a fixed time horizon. We’ve been thinking about these ideas as well.
Over the past decade, we’ve had the privilege of supporting organizations working on issues we care deeply about. At Ballmer Group, we’ve funded work aimed at school readiness, job training, safer communities, and the conditions kids need to thrive. We have also invested in accelerating solutions to confront the global climate crisis through Rainier Climate, an independent philanthropic initiative that supports efforts to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner. These many partnerships and investments have taught us a lot. They’ve introduced us to extraordinary leaders, challenged our assumptions, and helped us better understand both the opportunities and limits of philanthropy. Most importantly, they’ve helped clarify how we want to put more of our resources to work in the years ahead.
Our true north at Ballmer Group remains the same. We are deeply committed to advancing economic mobility for kids and families in the United States. What is evolving is how we pursue this mission.
As we look to the future, we’ve become increasingly motivated by a simple question: How can we deploy more of our resources during our lifetimes to help more children and families? We could pursue that goal by expanding our team and increasing the number of grants we make. We’ve chosen not to. Instead, we’re keeping our team relatively small and focusing our resources on fewer, larger initiatives, organizations, and networks that already have the ability to reach people at substantial scale. This inevitably means stepping back from annual grants to some organizations we’ve supported over the years, despite our respect and admiration for their work. This evolution reflects the scale and speed we are reaching for now, not the value of the work we’ve funded.
Earlier this summer, we took an important first step by establishing three independent philanthropies: MoveUp Southeast Michigan, MoveUp LA, and in our home state, MoveUp Washington. As we clarified the direction of Ballmer Group’s future grantmaking, it became clear that our regional work is best served through a more traditional model. Regional philanthropy requires local decision-making, deep community relationships, and the flexibility to support organizations over time through multi-year grantmaking. We want that work to continue and endure. We are grateful that these organizations will continue to be led by the trusted leaders and teams who have helped shape our work in each region over the past 10 years.
At Ballmer Group, we’re increasingly drawn to opportunities that leverage existing mechanisms for scale, like government programs, established provider networks, businesses, and other platforms that can put significant resources to work quickly.
For instance, we committed up to $1.7 billion to fund up to 10,000 preschool slots annually over ten years in Washington state. This investment builds on the state’s existing Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP), expanding access to high-quality early learning while supporting the state’s long-term goal of making high-quality prekindergarten available to every eligible child.
We’ve also launched DiscoverWorks, a summer learning initiative designed to address a need that often falls outside of traditional public funding streams. Through partnerships with school districts, charter schools, and community-based organizations, DiscoverWorks provides summer programs that blend academics with enrichment activities, helping children stay engaged and continue learning throughout the summer. In its first three years, we have invested more than $280 million in DiscoverWorks and have served nearly 110,000 students. We believe there is opportunity for continued growth and are committed to expanding the initiative’s reach as demand increases.
We’re also supporting the creation of more affordable housing for families through a novel financing model. By providing zero-interest, forgivable loans of up to $150,000 per unit, we created the Washington Family Housing Fund to fund housing that remains affordable for at least 60 years without relying on limited public resources such as Low-Income Housing Tax Credits. Our goal is to invest up to $1.5 billion to incentivize for-profit and not-for-profit developers to build 10,000 new homes across the state.
These examples are different, but what attracts us to them is the same: they allow significant resources to be put to work through systems, institutions, and partnerships that can reach large numbers of children and families quickly. They are early examples of the kind of philanthropy we want to pursue in the years ahead. We’ve been very fortunate, and we want to know that we did everything we could, in our lifetimes, to make a difference for kids and families. We know we’ll keep learning in this next chapter of our philanthropy, and we’re grateful to the Ballmer Group team and our many partners who are on this journey with us.