What's New in September
Welcome to your September Cadence Advisory newsletter. This month, we have organizations accepting and rejecting bucket loads of cash, foundations making big bets on infectious diseases, and Rural Health Transformation Project allocations that don’t align with rural health. Take a journey with me through the things that I cared about this month.
What We're Interested In
1) Despite complaining about American NGOs and multilaterals in 2025, the State Department will…mostly fund NGOs and multilaterals in 2026.
I asked in August if State would figure out how to move money to local organizations. And then, at the beginning of August, the administration announced nearly $2 billion in global health funding for three faith-based American NGOs: World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, and Compassion International. Reporting has suggested that this funding came through repeated engagement with the White House Faith Office, rather than through traditional procurement. Setting aside my concerns about sole-sourcing, I was at least pleased to see that some global health money was expected to flow the State Department. And then….Samaritan's Purse turned down their $300 million portion of the funding on August 28. Franklin Graham told Devex the organization has "always relied on God, not government, for funding."
So where does that leave the broader sector?
Clearly funding is being directed, rather than awarded (the Advancing Global Health APS notwithstanding). But why the funding rules weren’t negotiated between State and Samaritans Purse before the announcement is beyond me. It’s a strange state of affairs, but there’s lots about the current environment that’s strange. In any case, expect to see more global health organizations focusing their business development work at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, and not in Foggy Bottom.
2) GiveWell in my newsletter, again!
Just last month, I talked a bit about all the new money available for effective altruism-aligned organizations. Now we know what at least one of them will do with it…
GiveWell announced its largest grant ever on August 24, $276 million to the Against Malaria Foundation. The money will buy and distribute 92 million insecticide-treated nets through the Against Malaria Foundation across all 26 provinces of the DRC between 2027 and 2029, and GiveWell believes 46 million of those nets wouldn't otherwise be distributed. They estimate that roughly 67,000 deaths will be averted.
I started up, and then managed, a malaria data project in DRC for two years. It is both a very expensive and difficult place to work. Here’s what I like: They put a lot of effort into figuring out the best mechanisms for delivery: commissioned household interviews and a national survey analysis to decide to fund shortened campaign cycles. It makes my project on optimizing scarce resources look silly, by asking the question we all wish we could answer, “what if resources for important things were not actually scarce?”
Here’s something I’d like to know: Why $276 million on just bed nets? There are so many effective malaria interventions: seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis, malaria in pregnancy interventions, surveillance, spraying, and on and on and on. As my former colleague Benjamin Binagwa asked in the comments, “While LLNs are good, we need to establish habitat infrastructure and behavioral issues related to net use. Otherwise, that amount of money invested in other areas would bring long lasting impact.” I agree and I hope that the headline is papering over some critical details.
3) Rural health. But not for rural states.
The Rural Health Transformation Program is roaring, with states issuing RFAs in workforce, digital health, behavioral health, and innovative financing. The turnaround time on the opportunities from states average 31 days, based on my analysis of the 288 awards that have been announced. Preparation is vital. Check the NRHA’s tracker for updates on what opportunities are anticipated and what are in review.
Maybe I’ll do a deeper dive into these awards in October. There’s so much information in the NRHA’s dataset on technical areas of focus and which states are moving money, that it’s probably worth a broader sweep.
One excellent analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation showed that while first-year awards to states averaged $200 million, running from $147 million in New Jersey to $281 million in Texas, on a per capita basis, the LEAST rural states are doing better under the RHTP. Texas has the largest rural population in the country and gets $66 per rural resident. Rhode Island gets $6,305 and New Jersey gets $1,069, while 10 states (including my home state of Tennessee), receive under $100. The formula gives each state a baseline of $100 million each, followed by 25% aligned with need, and then just 5% ties to rural population. Rural organizations in big states, therefore, compete for limited per-capita dollars, while states with almost no rural population (looking at you Rhode Island…) figure out what to do with a windfall.
Funding Opportunities
Global Health
CDC Global Health Security NOFOs. Deadline October 2, 2026, posted on Grants.gov as CDC-RFA-JG-26-0052 and CDC-RFA-JG-26-0053. These fund partnerships with Ministries of Health on surveillance and reporting, laboratory systems, workforce development, emergency management, and service delivery. CDC finally published these RFAs that had been forecasted for over a year. Given that these procurements are operating via competitive procurements, with published criteria, while State is doing sole-sourced awards, these can be worth the effort even for the small amounts of money and the compliance burden.
New Venture Fund for Global Health Agencies and Funds. Rolling, up to $250,000, global. Small and nimble project grants for health systems strengthening, coordination across global health agencies, and equitable access to products. Does your organization already work alongside a multilateral organization like WHO, UNICEF, the Global Fund, the Pandemic Fund, the Global Financing Facility, or Unitaid? Consider applying, as they accept unsolicited requests through nvfghaf@newventurefund.org.
Domestic Social Services
Virginia Health Care Foundation Health Safety Net Grants. Rolling, $26,843 to $388,706. Funds community health centers, free and charitable clinics, and other safety net providers on primary medical, behavioral, and dental care plus Medicaid and FAMIS outreach. A useful model of what state health foundations are funding as Medicaid pressure lands on safety net budgets.
Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Deadline November 1, 2026, $10,000 to $125,000, for organizations serving DC, Prince George's and Montgomery Counties, Arlington and Fairfax Counties, Alexandria, and Falls Church. The Foundation states a preference for general operating support whenever possible. DC-area organizations that need unrestricted funding and have a good story should consider this opportunity.
Campbell Foundation Unsolicited Grant Program. Deadline January 29, 2027, $5,000 to $25,000, two cycles a year. Small funding, but general operating support is scarce. Organizations working on agriculture, clean and safe drinking water, community engagement, and watershed advocacy, with priority counties in California, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. These are small checks, but they are unrestricted and they accept unsolicited requests.
Foundation of the Month
Nick Simons Foundation (New York, New York). Here’s a new one to me (thanks Kindora!). This foundation holds $223.7 million in assets and has made 66 grants into Nepal totaling $14.8 million.
Grantmaking fell 56.8% between 2023 and 2025, from $14.3 million to $6.2 million, while assets held roughly flat at $223.7 million. Given that assets remained the same, this seems like part of a plan, rather than a reduction in capability.
Gradian Health Systems received $8.5 million in 2025 for medical equipment in low-resource hospitals, on top of multiple prior awards. Nick Simons Foundation International received $5.26 million in 2025 as program and general operating support for the Nick Simons Institute in Nepal, its own affiliated organization. Patan Hospital, Nyaya Health Nepal, and Autism Care Nepal make up most of the rest, with grants from $500,000 to $1.1 million. The foundation has made 40 expenditure responsibility grants worth $26.4 million; they are truly giving money outside the United States to organizations that do not have fiscal sponsors.
Nick Simons gives significant funding to Nepali hospitals and Nepali organizations. It's also pretty much a closed shop. Two anchor grantees and an affiliated institute absorb most of the giving and there's no open call. Do you work in Nepal on hospital services, nursing education, or rural health delivery, like One Heart Worldwide (one of my former partners on a bid)? Worth trying to make a connection.
If you don’t, go elsewhere…but recognize how common this model is.
