The U.S. foreign aid freeze has put millions of lives at risk. You can help.

Update: The Foreign Aid Bridge Fund closed on April 30, 2025

Update: The Foreign Aid Bridge Fund closed on April 30, 2025

The Foreign Aid Bridge Fund was launched as a short-term emergency response to the U.S. foreign assistance freeze. It officially closed on April 30, 2025. In total, we raised more than $2 million and disbursed grants to more than 40 organizations. Please read our full announcement about the intention behind shutting down the fund. 

A few important things to note for current and prospective fund donors: 

✅ All donations made or in progress by April 30, 2025 will be reviewed and allocated by our independent Grants Investment Committee.
✅ 100% of funds will be deployed to vetted frontline organizations.

✅ All donors will receive a final report summarizing how funds were used and key lessons learned no later than June 15, 2025. 

✅ For donors still looking for ways to support please see these alternative fund options: 

  • NEAR’s Bridge Fund, supporting frontline humanitarian organizations that are part of the NEAR network;

  • The Rapid Response Fund, hosted by Founders Pledge and The Life You Can Save, which is supporting a number of high-impact, pre-vetted charities;

  • The team at PRO have also identified some of the highest-impact, most cost-effective programs affected by the U.S. foreign aid freeze that still need support.


A few important things to note for current and prospective fund grantees:


✅ We have closed the application process due to overwhelming demand and that we now have more qualified applicants then we will be able to fund. 

✅ Our investment committee is still actively reviewing applications that were submitted before March 30, 2025. If you have yet to receive a declination email from the Foreign Aid Bridge Fund your application is still under review. 

✅ All applicants will receive an official communication on the status of their application no later than June 15, 2025. 


Thank you for being part of this critical response and please do not hesitate to reach out to admin@foreignaidbridgefund.org with any questions. 

As a result of the U.S. foreign aid freeze, many of the world's highest-impact, frontline organizations have had to temporarily pause operations or reduce services to millions of people around the world. Unlock Aid, in collaboration with a number of partners, is raising an emergency fund to enable high-impact organizations with sustainable business models to get back to work to prevent unnecessary harm and disruption to millions of people.

Contributions of any amount will make an enormous difference as well as help us to catalyze even greater resources for affected organizations.

For example:

➡️ One organization in Southern Africa is counting on $150,000 in U.S. foreign aid to enable them to continue to pay hundreds of community health workers to provide 30,000 children with essential medicines.

➡️ In West Africa, another organization has had to abruptly stop a randomized control trial to test uptake for a new malaria vaccine given a sudden shortfall of $225,000 due to the U.S. foreign aid freeze.

➡️ In East Africa, one entity cannot make a $100,000 purchase of life-saving HIV/AIDS medications and another cannot purchase $50,000 worth of nutrient-dense foods for children, both because of the freeze on U.S. foreign aid.

➡️ In Latin America, one organization is counting on $250,000 in U.S. foreign aid to provide cash-based loans to keep open hundreds of small businesses in the region.

➡️ In Southeast Asia, one organization is counting on $100,000 in U.S. foreign aid to continue to provide life-saving assistance to refugees displaced by war.

The Foreign Aid Bridge Fund was launched as a short-term emergency response to the U.S. foreign assistance freeze. It officially closed on April 30, 2025. In total, we raised more than $2 million and disbursed grants to more than 40 organizations. Please read our full announcement about the intention behind shutting down the fund. 

A few important things to note for current and prospective fund donors: 

✅ All donations made or in progress by April 30, 2025 will be reviewed and allocated by our independent Grants Investment Committee.
✅ 100% of funds will be deployed to vetted frontline organizations.

✅ All donors will receive a final report summarizing how funds were used and key lessons learned no later than June 15, 2025. 

✅ For donors still looking for ways to support please see these alternative fund options: 

  • NEAR’s Bridge Fund, supporting frontline humanitarian organizations that are part of the NEAR network;

  • The Rapid Response Fund, hosted by Founders Pledge and The Life You Can Save, which is supporting a number of high-impact, pre-vetted charities;

  • The team at PRO have also identified some of the highest-impact, most cost-effective programs affected by the U.S. foreign aid freeze that still need support.


A few important things to note for current and prospective fund grantees:


✅ We have closed the application process due to overwhelming demand and that we now have more qualified applicants then we will be able to fund. 

✅ Our investment committee is still actively reviewing applications that were submitted before March 30, 2025. If you have yet to receive a declination email from the Foreign Aid Bridge Fund your application is still under review. 

✅ All applicants will receive an official communication on the status of their application no later than June 15, 2025. 


Thank you for being part of this critical response and please do not hesitate to reach out to admin@foreignaidbridgefund.org with any questions. 

The Foreign Aid Bridge Fund

The Foreign Aid Bridge Fund

As a result of the U.S. foreign aid freeze, many of the world's highest-impact, frontline organizations have had to temporarily pause operations or reduce services to millions of people around the world. Unlock Aid, in collaboration with a number of partners, is raising an emergency fund to enable high-impact organizations with sustainable business models to get back to work to prevent unnecessary harm and disruption to millions of people.

Contributions of any amount will make an enormous difference as well as help us to catalyze even greater resources for affected organizations.

For example:

➡️ One organization in Southern Africa is counting on $150,000 in U.S. foreign aid to enable them to continue to pay hundreds of community health workers to provide 30,000 children with essential medicines.

➡️ In West Africa, another organization has had to abruptly stop a randomized control trial to test uptake for a new malaria vaccine given a sudden shortfall of $225,000 due to the U.S. foreign aid freeze.

➡️ In East Africa, one entity cannot transport a $100,000 purchase of life-saving HIV/AIDS medications and another cannot purchase $50,000 worth of nutrient-dense foods for children, both because of the freeze on U.S. foreign aid.

➡️ In Latin America, one organization is counting on $250,000 in U.S. foreign aid to provide cash-based loans to keep open hundreds of small businesses in the region.

➡️ In Southeast Asia, one organization is counting on $100,000 in U.S. foreign aid to continue to provide life-saving assistance to refugees displaced by war.

An Emergency Fund for Frontline Organizations

An Emergency Fund for Frontline Organizations

An Emergency Fund for Frontline Organizations

This is a fast, simple way to keep essential organizations running. Your donation goes directly to organizations that:

✅ Deliver extraordinary impact at scale and cost-effectively
✅ Have had their operations curtailed by the U.S. foreign aid freeze
✅ Work directly with communities, rather than acting as intermediaries
✅ Operate sustainable business models that are not overly-dependent on a single source of revenue
✅ Work in fields including health, water, agriculture and food security, sanitation, climate adaptation, livelihoods and economic prosperity, education, and humanitarian response

🚀 This fund is not a long-term fundraising source. It provides critical, short-term grant-based financing to ensure immediate impact and program continuity.

While many organizations are in need right now, this fund is designed specifically to support frontline organizations that meet the above criteria.

As of March 21, the Foreign Aid Bridge Fund has already made 14 emergency grants. Here are just a few example grantees:

✅ Align Africa, which provides healthcare and nutrition services, as well as humanitarian aid and clean water to communities in Ethiopia.

✅ Zvandiri, which provides support to young people and children in Zimbabwe living with HIV.
✅ OLPS, a community-based organization in Kenya that provides support to persons living with HIV and AIDS, especially women and children.
✅ Build Up Nepal, which provides cost-effective and climate-resilient housing to people living in disaster-prone areas of Nepal.
✅ Maisha Meds, which is using technology to transform healthcare across multiple countries in Africa, providing affordable, high-quality healthcare directly to patients who need it.

"We're watching trusted, community-based organizations face impossible choices as their U.S. funding dries up. Initiatives like The Foreign Aid Bridge Fund offers the potential for rapid, flexible financing needed to keep essential services running during this crisis."

– Susan Reichle, former senior-most career official at USAID

"We're watching trusted, community-based organizations face impossible choices as their U.S. funding dries up. Initiatives like The Foreign Aid Bridge Fund offers the potential for rapid, flexible financing needed to keep essential services running during this crisis."

– Susan Reichle, former senior-most career official at USAID

Trusted, Vetted Organizations

Trusted, Vetted Organizations

Trusted, Vetted Organizations

In addition to meeting all of the above criteria, organizations supported by this fund must also:

✅ Have been previously vetted and undergone extensive due diligence by top philanthropies, funds, investors, the U.S. government, and/or other bilateral or multilateral funders
✅ Be willing to report results and impact to funders
✅ Be recommended to receive funding by our Grants Investment Committee

Grants Investment Committee

The Foreign Aid Bridge Fund Grants Investment Committee consists of experts in the fields of evidence-based philanthropy, impact investing, global health and development, innovation, and sustainability. The Investment Committee will recommend all funding decisions.

Dr. Alix Peterson Zwane

Executive in Residence at the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment and Sustainability at Duke University & former CEO, Global Innovation Fund

Almaz Negash

CEO, Africa Diaspora Network

Ineza Mutimura

Co-Founder and CEO, Funders of African Descent (FoAD)

Dr. Krishna Jafa

CEO, Precision Global Health, LLC & former Deputy Director for Integrated Delivery, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Laliteswar Kumar

CEO, Scale-Wise & former co-CEO, Spark Microgrants & former Managing Director for Africa, Global Innovation Fund

Phyllis Costanza

Chief Social Investment Officer, APM Social Investment Solutions & Former CEO, UBS Optimus Foundation

Rohit Gawande

Senior Investment Principal, Mulago Foundation

FAQ

Which organizations will this fund support?

How will organizations be selected?

How can my organization apply for funding?

I am an organization that has applied for funding. How quickly can I expect to hear back?

Who is involved with this?

What is your conflicts of interest policy?

Where does my money go? Is my contribution tax deductible?

What do you mean by "sustainable business model"?

How will these resources be used?

How can I contribute with a donor-advised fund (DAF)?

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