Effective grantmaking is now the real bottleneck in philanthropy, says Joey Savoie, founder of Elevate Philanthropy and co-founder of Ambitious Impact, the charity incubator behind more than 65 new organizations. After years of scarcity, a wave of new tech wealth has flipped the question for many NGOs from surviving budget cuts to what they would do with double. In this one-on-one conversation with Dimagi CEO Jonathan Jackson, Joey explains why the hardest part isn't the money, but finding people who know how to give it away well. He shares why the most honest charities often get penalized for their honesty, why your fundraising ability is your comms skill multiplied by how good your organization actually is, and why, when a whole field of NGOs starts behaving strangely, you should look at the funders. Joey also makes the case for more philanthropic funds alongside foundations, a clearer path for training the next generation of grant makers, and smarter grant application processes that cut redundant work. Whether you're writing grant applications or deciding where a suddenly bigger budget should go, this episode offers practical advice from both sides of the table.
Related Resources:
Elevate Philanthropy: Joey's organization, which trains funders and grantmakers to deploy capital more effectively.
Ambitious Impact (AIM): the charity incubator Joey co-founded, formerly Charity Entrepreneurship, which has launched 65+ high-impact charities.
Top New Philanthropic Funds – Measured Life: Joey's list of 10 philanthropic funds he thinks should exis.
Increasing Our 2026 Allocation to GiveWell's Recommendations to $1 Billion – Coefficient Giving: the $1B announcement discussed in the episode.
Scaling Our Impact, with Support from a $1 Billion Commitment – GiveWell: GiveWell's side of the announcement.
GiveWell Opens RFI for Malaria Pilots and Research: the malaria request for information Jonathan describes, which let applicants opt in to having their application shared with other funders.
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Hosts: Jonathan Jackson and Amie Vaccaro
