The Audacious Project (Between
Offers The Audacious Project invitation-only multi-issue funding for social-impact ideas with broad partner backing.
Eligibility · United States, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Kenya, India +4 more
The Audacious Project is a collaborative philanthropic funding initiative housed at TED, operating as an annual cohort model in which approximately ten organisations per year receive large multi-year funding commitments from a consortium of more than 60 donors. Consortium members include the Gates Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Skoll Foundation, MacKenzie Scott, and other major philanthropists. There are no fixed award amounts disclosed publicly; grant sizes vary widely based on project needs, with outside reporting indicating historical awards ranging from approximately $5 million to over $50 million per organisation. TED does not provide the capital itself — it serves as the organiser and curator, with funding flowing from the donor consortium.
Entry to the programme is through a rolling online survey submission accepted year-round with no fixed deadline; the 2025 cohort has already been selected and the next intake cycle is open. Organisations whose submissions are shortlisted receive an invitation to develop a full proposal — the programme is effectively invitation-only at the funding-decision stage. Eligibility is restricted to nonprofits, NGOs, institutions, and multi-entity collaborations with an annual operating budget of at least $2 million that can receive and deploy philanthropic funds at scale. For-profit entities are not eligible. There are no geographic restrictions. The programme targets bold ideas in climate, health, education, social justice, and breakthrough science or technology that have demonstrated evidence of impact potential and a clear implementation strategy.
Ideas must be both 'deeply inspiring' and 'convincingly credible' in terms of execution, per the programme's published criteria. The Audacious Project is supported operationally by The Bridgespan Group. Given the high volume of submissions and the lack of guaranteed individual responses, organisations should ensure their submission communicates a proven concept with quantifiable outcomes, an established team, and a realistic resource plan. The 2026 intake is rolling; announcement of the next annual cohort is expected following the standard selection cycle.
Climate, health, education, social justice, breakthrough science, technology for change.
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