So, the landscape of funding global health activities is changing and will probably require non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to revise the way they source opportunities. This is because on March 9, 2026, the U.S. Department of State released the “Advancing Global Health,” a funding opportunity that offers as much as $4.5 billion in funding for global health activities, subject to availability of funds. The goal of this platform is to strengthen those activities that either expand, supplement, or remedy gaps in the implementation of recent bilateral health agreements between the United States and partner countries.

This is interesting for NGOs because the platform isn’t limiting eligibility to big international organizations, as it now includes international NGO, local NGOs, religious organizations, academia, for-profit organizations, and government entities. Now, the only question remaining is the scale of the funding being offered, and while substantial, it’s more important how the funding is being framed by the U.S. For global health.

That is, instead of finding unique grant notices and having the government notify organizations about those grant notices, NGO’s will be required to understand the health objectives that the U.S.

Government and foreign governments have set and define how activities NGOs are pursuing or may pursue fit into achieving these objectives.

A New Direction for U.S. Global Health Funding

This new platform falls within the U.S. Government’s overall America First Global Health Strategy. This strategy focuses on bilateral health collaboration and increased country ownership of health programs.

This strategy entails the U.S. entering into 5-year health cooperation agreements with partner countries to run from 2026–2030. The agreements are intended to lead to the strengthening of national health systems; increase domestic investment in health; and promote sustainability of the health sectors within these countries.

The new funding platform operates in partnership with these agreements.
Therefore, if your NGO is considering this opportunity, consider it not a standalone traditional grant program.

The real question is:

How does our work integrate with that country’s health priorities?

Moving forward, that may play an even bigger role when looking at U.S.-supported health projects.

How Much Funding Is Available?

Yes, the figures are starting to get people’s heads turning. The Advancing Global Health program expects to support up to 100 projects with grants from around $500,000 up to $250 million. Some projects could last up to five years, and the estimated total is up to $4.5 billion dollars, depending on funding available and Congressional appropriations.

The State Department indicated it intends to award funding through cooperative agreements and grants.

The range here is quite interesting for NGOs because it hints that organizations might engage with this platform for very different types of projects. NGOs of all sizes might participate either through individual project work or a partnership. Organizations could work on bigger programs in multiple locations across Africa. NGOs, though, should beware of taking the “$4.5 billion in the news is immediately available for anyone to apply for” at face value.

It is not.

Rather, it is the potential overall value of the platform. Actual opportunities will depend on specific funding priorities, availability, and eligibility, etc., as well as published funding notices.

Who Can Apply?

One of the most important aspects of the announcement is the range of eligible organizations.

The platform can include:

International NGOs
Local NGOs
Faith-based organizations
Universities
Companies
Government entities

This creates an interesting opportunity for local and community-based organizations.

For years, smaller NGOs have often struggled to compete with large international organizations for major international funding. A platform that explicitly allows local organizations to participate could create opportunities—but only if those organizations have the systems and partnerships needed to meet the requirements of large health programs.

Eligibility alone does not guarantee competitiveness.

Strong financial controls, project experience, monitoring systems, safeguarding practices, and evidence of results will still matter.

What Types of Health Projects Could Benefit?

Organizations implementing bilateral health agreements may use this platform to implement projects that would complement, expand, or fill current gaps within bilateral health agreement implementation. First priorities recognized upon the platform’s initial launch included outbreak response and child protection. Broader sectors where country-based priorities are to be focused by the NGOs include public health, communicable and non-communicable diseases, maternal and child health, health systems, emergency preparedness and response, and community health.

NGOs whose sector may not be explicitly identified may still qualify if a linkage to their work can be demonstrated; not every health NGO might qualify.

It would rather involve the NGO identifying a link between their ongoing project and what the bilateral has identified as a priority. An NGO already working at the community health level could argue it fills a gap if the support complements national health-system priorities, would serve marginalized individuals, or has a gap in service delivery already highlighted.

Why This Could Matter for Local NGOs

For local NGOs, one of the biggest questions is whether the new funding structure will actually create more opportunities for organizations based in the countries where programs are implemented.

The new strategy places greater emphasis on country ownership and self-reliance, making relationships with national health authorities increasingly important.

This means local knowledge could become an important advantage.

A local NGO may already understand:

Community health needs
Local languages
Cultural barriers
Existing healthcare systems
Government structures
Hard-to-reach populations
Challenges affecting program delivery

That knowledge can be difficult for an outside organization to replicate.

But local expertise needs to be supported by strong organizational systems.

A great understanding of the community is valuable, but large grants also require financial management, compliance, reporting, monitoring and evaluation, safeguarding, and organizational capacity.

Partnerships Could Become More Important

Not every NGO will be ready to manage a multimillion-dollar health project.

That doesn’t mean smaller organizations should ignore the opportunity.

In fact, partnerships could become one of the most important strategies for smaller NGOs.

A local NGO could bring community relationships and field experience, while a larger organization could contribute financial management, technical expertise, reporting capacity, or experience managing large donor-funded programs.

Universities and research organizations could contribute evidence and evaluation expertise.

Health institutions could provide technical capacity.

Together, these organizations can potentially create stronger proposals than they could develop individually.

For NGOs, the lesson is simple:

Don’t always ask, “Can we win this grant alone?”

Sometimes the better question is:

“Who should we partner with to deliver this successfully?”

What Does This Mean for NGO Grant Writing?

The new funding landscape also has implications for how NGOs prepare proposals.

A generic proposal about improving healthcare is unlikely to be enough.

Organizations need to clearly connect their project to:

The country’s health priorities → the identified problem → the NGO’s solution → measurable outcomes.

This makes strong project design more important than ever.

A proposal should clearly explain:

What problem the project addresses.
Who will benefit.
Why the problem matters.
How the proposed activities respond to it.
What measurable results are expected.
How progress will be monitored.
Why the organization is capable of delivering the project.
How the work supports broader health priorities.

Donors want to see more than activities.

They want to understand what will change because of the investment.

Strong Monitoring and Evaluation Will Matter

For this to be meaningful for organizations, especially those wanting large health grants, that needs to happen early. That is, organizations should start building their monitoring and evaluation systems now, not when they’re applying for that grant. In that application, rather than being able to say “We have trained 500 health workers” an organization should be able to say “Following the training we have seen X uptake of skills by health workers, this led to Y increase in the quality of services offered, this resulted in Z increase in people receiving services, and a change in the health outcomes of [community/group]”.

Solid M&E systems allow organizations to provide those answers with data.

They will also create more compelling grant applications in the future as those organizations will have the data to prove their track record of success.

Documentation Could Become a Competitive Advantage

Good documentation is often treated as administrative work.

But for large funding opportunities, it can become one of an NGO’s strongest assets.

Organizations should maintain clear records of:

Previous projects
Beneficiary numbers
Project outcomes
Financial performance
Donor reports
Monitoring results
Audits
Partnerships
Staff expertise
Organizational policies

When a large funding opportunity appears, organizations with this information already organized can move much faster.

Instead of spending weeks trying to reconstruct their previous work, they can focus on developing a strong proposal.

The Importance of Compliance

Large international grants come with significant responsibilities.

NGOs should make sure they have basic governance and compliance systems in place before pursuing major funding.

This includes areas such as financial controls, procurement procedures, safeguarding, data protection, conflict-of-interest policies, and reporting systems.

For smaller NGOs, this may seem overwhelming.

But strengthening these systems can have benefits far beyond one grant application.

Good governance helps organizations become more professional, trustworthy, and ready to work with larger donors and partners.

Don’t Ignore the Changing Funding Environment

The $4.5 billion platform comes at a time when global health financing is facing significant pressure.

The World Health Organization’s 2026 emergency appeal, for example, is seeking nearly $1 billion to respond to 36 health emergencies, while humanitarian financing has come under increasing pressure.

At the same time, the structure of U.S. global health assistance is changing.

That means NGOs cannot rely only on the funding strategies that worked five or ten years ago.

Organizations need to become more proactive.

Instead of waiting for a perfect grant announcement, they should continuously monitor funding trends, understand donor priorities, build partnerships, and keep their organizational information ready.

What NGOs Should Do Now

The best time to prepare for a major funding opportunity is before it opens.

NGOs interested in this area can start by taking a few practical steps.

1. Understand Your Country’s Health Priorities

Look at the bilateral health agreement and national health priorities relevant to your country.

Identify where your organization’s work fits.

2. Strengthen Your Organizational Profile

Make sure you have an updated organizational profile, project history, team information, financial information, and evidence of impact.

3. Build Partnerships

Identify NGOs, universities, health institutions, and technical organizations that could complement your capabilities.

4. Improve Your Monitoring Systems

Start documenting outcomes, not just activities.

5. Review Your Policies

Make sure financial management, safeguarding, data protection, procurement, and other key policies are current.

6. Prepare Before the Funding Notice

Keep a basic concept note, organizational information, project evidence, and budget assumptions ready.

When an opportunity appears, you will be able to adapt rather than start from zero.

What Small NGOs Should Take Away

The headline figure may make this funding opportunity seem designed only for large organizations.

It doesn’t have to be.

Small NGOs can position themselves as valuable partners by focusing on what they do best: local knowledge, community trust, specialized expertise, and access to populations that larger organizations may struggle to reach.

Rather than trying to compete with a major international organization on every capability, a small NGO can build a strong niche.

For example, an organization might specialize in maternal health in rural communities, community-based disease prevention, child protection, health education, or reaching underserved populations.

Specialization can become a strength.

A New Era for NGO Health Funding?

The $4.5 billion Advancing Global Health platform represents more than a large funding figure.

It reflects a broader change in how U.S. global health assistance is being organized—around bilateral agreements, country priorities, and a greater emphasis on country ownership.

For NGOs, this creates both opportunities and challenges.

Organizations that understand the new funding environment, demonstrate measurable results, maintain strong governance, and build the right partnerships may be better positioned to participate.

But organizations that simply see the announcement as another grant opportunity may miss the bigger picture.

The funding landscape itself is changing.

Final Thoughts

Health and humanitarian NGOs, pay attention. A new global health funding platform in the U.S. has just been announced.

It’s a big potential play at $4.5 billion globally, but winning it will be more than filling out an application.

Success won’t come if it can’t be built on a strong understanding of country priorities, demonstrated impact, solid financial and governance systems, beneficiary protection, and evidence of complementarity to broader health plans. This will be especially crucial for small NGOs that might lean heavily on partnerships, so while local orgs should never undervalue their local understanding, make sure you have a system in place to manage a more significant scale of funding. In the end, the biggest takeaway is simple: don’t wait for the grant to become fund-ready. Gather your evidence, improve your systems, identify your country priorities, build partnerships, and quantify your impact.

This will increase the likelihood that your team will be among those turning a grant announcement into meaningful community impact.