August 2026
This Grantmakers In Health (GIH) survey report examines how health funders collaborate with communities, other funders, and sectors to respond to today’s health crises and strengthen effective partnership strategies.
In a moment defined by drastic cuts to health and social services, disappearing public health data, increasing costs of health care, and resurgent infectious diseases, funders must act with unprecedented urgency and scale to protect the most vulnerable and preserve hard-won health gains. Meeting this crisis demands deep, authentic engagement with communities, strong collaboration among funders, and bold partnerships that extend beyond philanthropy. Health funders have mobilized during past emergencies, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Medicaid unwinding, and climate-driven disasters, but the breadth and stakes of today’s challenges eclipse anything in recent memory. Given the importance of partnerships to effective response, it is striking how little we know about funder collaboration and what strategies are most impactful.
As a result, GIH conducted research to better understand health funder collaborations and related successes and challenges. In the first phase, GIH commissioned Davis Research to conduct a survey exploring health funders’ partnerships with community-based organizations, other funders, and other sectors. The survey was conducted in March and April 2025 via an online questionnaire with telephone follow up. In the second phase, GIH conducted six in-depth interviews in September 2025 with funders who cited successes with their partnership approaches.
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