TED's Audacious Project raises $1B from donors in 2 days

The collaborative funded more than a dozen nonprofits tackling major challenges

Published on Feb. 24, 2026

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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 whose proposed projects span multiple years and take on major challenges. The collaborative, housed at TED, announced the winning nonprofits after spending over a year selecting the groups and helping them sharpen their pitches for larger projects 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 collective action and the potential impact of large-scale philanthropic funding on addressing complex social and global issues. By supporting innovative nonprofit initiatives, the project aims to drive meaningful change in areas like homelessness, healthcare, and education.

The details

The winning nonprofits include Destination: Home, which will expand its homeless prevention services to multiple U.S. cities, and the Arc Institute, a new research group in California that will develop a virtual model of a cell to help identify treatments for complex diseases like Alzheimer's. Other grantees include the South Africa-based group Tiko, which will expand its services for teenage girls. The Audacious Project's application process involves finalists recording a TED Talk-style introduction to themselves and their project, and the collaborative works with the Bridgespan Group to help sharpen the nonprofits' plans.

  • In October 2025, 35 major donor families gathered in California and committed $1.03 billion to the Audacious Project.
  • The Audacious Project announced the winning nonprofits on February 24, 2026.

The players

The Audacious Project

A collaborative of 55 major donor families housed at TED that funds large-scale nonprofit initiatives tackling major challenges.

Jennifer Loving

CEO of the San Jose-based nonprofit Destination: Home, which received funding from the Audacious Project to expand its homeless prevention services.

Connie Ballmer

Cofounder of Ballmer Group and a donor to the Audacious Project since 2021.

Tegan Acton

Cofounder of Wildcard Giving, a donor to the Audacious Project.

Anna Verghese

Executive director of The Audacious Project.

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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 (ksgf.com)

“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 (ksgf.com)

“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 (ksgf.com)

What’s next

The Audacious Project plans to continue expanding its network of major donor families and funding innovative nonprofit initiatives in the years to come.

The takeaway

The Audacious Project's ability to rapidly raise $1 billion in philanthropic funding demonstrates the power of collective action and the potential for large-scale investments to drive transformative change on complex social and global challenges.