Recent estimates of European foundation giving for global development have suggested that European foundations direct about one sixth of their funding to development, while American foundations distribute about one fifth of their resources internationally, only a portion of which reaches developing countries. While Gates Foundation giving has been an obvious focal point for interest in philanthropic engagement in development due to a scale putting it in financial terms in the league of smaller OECD donors such as Belgium or Switzerland and due to its upward trajectory, the philanthropic landscape encompasses a diversity of actors including family foundations with a long track record of engagement on development issues and philanthropies linked to private firms. Nor is global development-oriented philanthropy a purely American enterprise: the philanthropic visibility of private actors from Europe and from developing countries is also increasing.

Geographical priorities of foundation giving are attributable in part to the relative ease of identifying partner organisations in different operational settings. Although some foundations have field offices to oversee programme implementation in developing countries, the model of foundation giving in global development is often highly centralised, implying a detached relationship between financing and implementation through partner organisations on the ground.