Funding the Future: A Snapshot of Youth-Focused Philanthropy
What does youth-focused philanthropy look like today, and how well does it reflect what young people need to thrive?
With support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Grantmakers for Thriving Youth partnered with the Center for Effective Philanthropy to survey youth-focused grantmakers and compare the findings to student data from YouthTruth. The findings offer a snapshot of current practice and a starting point for deeper conversation. They highlight areas of momentum, gaps between intention and practice, and questions about how philanthropy can better respond to young people’s experiences and support the full range of conditions they need to thrive.
Key Learnings
Youth voice influences philanthropic commitment to youth well-being. 66% of funders that involve youth voice in strategy or grantmaking decisions identified youth well-being as a core strategic priority.
Funders are focused on youth who are targeted in this political environment. 70% of funders noted their funding focuses on youth who identify as Black, Indigenous or youth of color, 54% on immigrant youth, and 51% on LGBTQ youth.
Funders are investing in learning and belonging. When asked to note their top three investment priorities, 60% of funders chose education and learning; 60% chose community and belonging. Funders that prioritize education and learning chose career pathways, academic support and student engagement as focus areas. Funders that prioritize community and belonging chose culturally affirming programs and civic learning.
Call to Action: Funders must center youth voice and increase their financial commitment to youth well-being in order to meet the needs of young people.
Only 40% of funders plan to increase their investment in youth well-being over the next three years; 40% will keep the same commitment, 8% will decrease. 1 in 4 funders that don’t involve youth voice in decision-making plan on decreased investment in youth well-being over the next three years.
About the Survey
In spring 2026, with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, GTY partnered with the Center for Effective Philanthropy to survey youth-focused grantmakers. CEP received 103 complete responses from 93 organizations, drawn from a set of 348 youth-focused grantmaking organizations as well as an open survey shared through GTY’s networks.
The survey explored funding priorities across eight dimensions of youth well-being: physical health, mental and behavioral health, education and learning, economic stability, physical and psychological safety, social networks and relationships, community and belonging, and sense of purpose. The CEP survey identified eight categories of youth-related grantmaking that are grounded in research conducted by the Urban Institute and codified in their Domains of Well-Being for Young People.
To bring young people’s experiences into the conversation, the analysis also draws on YouthTruth survey data collected from October 2025 through March 2026 from approximately 105,000 students across more than 200 high schools in 14 states. The two datasets were not designed for direct comparison, but looking at them together provides useful context for understanding where philanthropic priorities align with, or may need to respond more fully to, what young people are experiencing.
The full study will be published in November 2026.
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