TED's Audacious Project Raises $1 Billion in 2 Days for Nonprofit Initiatives

The collaborative of major donor families committed funds to over a dozen nonprofits with ambitious, multi-year projects.

Feb. 24, 2026 at 4:09pm

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Last October, 35 major donor families calling themselves The Audacious Project gathered in California and committed $1.03 billion to more than a dozen nonprofits with proposed projects spanning multiple years and tackling major challenges. The collaborative, housed at TED, announced the winning nonprofits after spending over a year selecting the groups and helping them refine their funding pitches for larger initiatives than philanthropic funders typically support.

Why it matters

The Audacious Project's ability to raise $1 billion in just two days highlights the power of collaborative philanthropy to fund ambitious, large-scale nonprofit initiatives that can drive significant social impact. By bringing together major donors and providing guidance to nonprofits, the project is able to identify and support innovative solutions to complex problems that individual donors or organizations may struggle to fund on their own.

The details

The Audacious Project funded initiatives from over a dozen nonprofits, including Destination: Home's expansion of homeless prevention services to multiple U.S. cities, the Arc Institute's development of a virtual cell model to help identify Alzheimer's treatments, and Tiko's expansion of services for teenage girls in South Africa. The project has 55 major donor families participating, with each committing at least $10 million per funding round. The application process involves finalists recording 'TED Talk'-style pitches to introduce their projects.

  • The Audacious Project gathered its donor families in California in October 2025.
  • The Audacious Project announced the winning nonprofits on February 24, 2026.

The players

The Audacious Project

A collaborative of major donor families housed at TED that provides funding for ambitious, multi-year nonprofit initiatives.

Destination: Home

A San Jose-based nonprofit that received funding from The Audacious Project to expand its homeless prevention services to multiple U.S. cities.

Arc Institute

A relatively new research group in California that received funding from The Audacious Project to support its development of a virtual model of a cell to help identify treatments for complex diseases like Alzheimer's.

Tiko

A South Africa-based group that received funding from The Audacious Project to expand its services for teenage girls, including contraception, HIV treatment, and responses to sexual violence.

Connie Ballmer

The cofounder of Ballmer Group, along with her husband Steve Ballmer, who has been a donor to The Audacious Project since 2021.

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What they’re saying

“It's not for the faint of heart to work on this issue in America. And so you kind of brace yourself. You never know if people are going to see what you see and it was beautiful. It was really beautiful.”

— Jennifer Loving, CEO of Destination: Home (WBAL)

“Nowhere that I know of can you raise a billion dollars in two days. For an organization to raise an amount — whether it's $40, $60, $80 million, I mean, do you know how long that takes them to do that kind of fundraising?”

— Connie Ballmer, Cofounder of Ballmer Group (WBAL)

“Going through this process was probably one of the most rigorous things we've ever done. I can say with total confidence that it made us smarter.”

— Jennifer Loving, CEO of Destination: Home (WBAL)

What’s next

The Audacious Project plans to continue its collaborative funding model, inviting new major donor families to participate in future rounds and supporting additional ambitious nonprofit initiatives.

The takeaway

The Audacious Project's ability to rapidly mobilize over $1 billion in philanthropic funding demonstrates the power of collective action and strategic guidance to help nonprofits scale their most innovative solutions to complex social challenges. This model could inspire more collaborative approaches to high-impact, systems-level philanthropy.