SciRise News & Insights
Perspectives on capital flows, foundation strategy, and the mission-driven economy.
A $356 Million Field Meets a Generation of Fortunes
The AI nonprofit field is forming just ahead of one of the largest private-wealth creation events philanthropy has ever seen. What happens when a $356 million field meets an OpenAI Foundation equity stake above $180 billion and an 80 percent pledge from seven Anthropic cofounders?
Eight Dedicated AI Nonprofits in 2018. Thirty in 2024.
The dedicated AI nonprofit field is small, but it is not static. Spending went from $61 million across eight filers in 2018 to $173 million across thirty in 2024, and foundation AI grantmaking rose from single-digit millions to well over $100 million a year.
The Federal Research Funding Pipeline Is Breaking While the Cash Still Flows
Total federal obligations to universities are down only 7 to 8 percent. New-award commitments, the leading indicator, are down roughly 20 percent a year. Slides from the NCRAA conference at UNC-Chapel Hill, with federal data through June 2026.
Mentioning AI Is Not Doing AI
Nonprofit programs that mention AI carried $12.2 billion in expenses in 2023. The organizations actually dedicated to AI work spend about $400 million a year. That 30x gap is where mission-statement screening misleads funders.
How Many Foundations Make Impact Investments?
Between 265 and 282 foundations reported a program-related investment each year for the past five years, out of roughly 13,000 filing foundations. Dollars are rising, but the base of foundations using PRIs is not expanding.
Fundable Is Not Enough. Findable Shows Up in the Network.
How does Yield Giving find its grantees? Its recipients carry a median of 15 foundation funders versus 6 for all mapped nonprofits. What distinguishes them is not stability. It is position in the funding network.