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| Founded | 1993[1] |
|---|---|
| Founder |
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| Type | Private foundation |
| Location |
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Key people |
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| Website | mulagofoundation |
TheMulago Foundation is an Americanprivate foundation and philanthropic organization that funds nonprofits through grants, debt or equity investment. The foundation was originally envisioned by Rainer Arnhold, aSan Francisco paediatrician and philanthropist, who taught atMulago Hospital, Uganda. The foundation was officially created by his brotherHenry Arnhold after Rainer Arnhold's death in 1993.[1]
The Foundation's stated goal is to identify and invest in the highest impact giving opportunities. On their "How we fund" page, they write that they are looking for three things: apriority problem, ascalable solution, andan organization that can deliver. Once they identify an organization they wish to fund through their fellowships, they provide unrestricted and continued funding. The Mulago Foundation does not currently accept or solicit proposals. The foundation itself tries to locate organizations to give to through their own network and referrals.[2] The main way they start funding organizations is through their two Fellowship programs - the Rainer Arnhold Fellowship focused on poverty solutions and the Henry Arnhold Fellowship focused on climate solutions.[3]
As of May 2024, the Mulago Foundation website listed about 80 organizations includeBabban Gona,Blue Ventures,Bridges to Prosperity, Dost,Development Media International,Digital Green,Educate Girls, Food for Education,Foundation for Ecological Security,Friendship Bench,Global Forest Watch,Kheyti, Medha, Noora Health,One Acre Fund, Planet Indonesia,SaveLIFE Foundation,Ubongo Learning,Urgewald andYouth Impact.[4]
Mulago's CEO Kevin Starr is a regular contributor to theStanford Social Innovation Review.[5]
Charity evaluatorGiveWell described the Mulago Foundation as an "impact-focused" grantmaker (alongside theGates Foundation,Skoll Foundation,Children's Investment Fund Foundation, Jasmine Social Investments, and Peery Foundation). GiveWell stated in 2011 that it would consider the list of Mulago Foundation grantees (along with those of the other impact-focused grantmakers listed above, as well as the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation) as part of its list of charities to review to see if they qualified for GiveWell's highest ratings.[6][7]
The Mulago Foundation was also mentioned on the Tactical Philanthropy blog, and Kevin Starr of Mulago wrote a guest post for the blog.[8][9]
Kevin Starr of Mulago wrote an article for theStanford Social Innovation Review describing Mulago's definition of impact and some of the subtleties associated with the concept.[10] His piece was referenced on theAcumen Fund blog.[11]
On March 11, 2014, Kevin Starr and Laura Hattendorf of the Mulago Foundation wrote a lengthy article in theStanford Social Innovation Review skeptical ofcash transfer charityGiveDirectly's accomplishment so far, saying that the evidence so far was underwhelming, though there might still be bigger gains a few years down the line. They contrasted GiveDirectly with other charities that they felt delivered more bang for the buck: One Acre Fund, VisionSpring,KickStart International, andProximity Designs.[12] Holden Karnofsky ofGiveWell wrote a lengthy response countering that GiveDirectly's impact had been more rigorously established, and that Starr and Hattendorf were using flawed metrics to judge impact.[13] The GiveDirectly board independently published a response on the GiveDirectly blog.[14]