Development Co‑operation Profiles: David and Lucile Packard Foundation
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The David and Lucile Packard Foundation is a US-based family foundation established in 1964 and guided by the business philosophy and personal values of Lucile and David Packard, who helped found one of the world’s leading technology companies.
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation works with people and communities with the aim of creating solutions for just societies and a healthy, resilient natural world. It funds work domestically and around the world towards building just societies, investing in families and communities, and protecting and restoring the natural world.
This profile presents verified data on development assistance allocation. See the Development Co-operation Profiles.
Through grantmaking activities, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation provided USD 211.7 million for development in 2023. Compared to 2022, this amount represents an increase of 90.8% in real terms. Grants represented 100% of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation’s gross disbursements.
In 2023, David and Lucile Packard Foundation channelled its bilateral development finance mainly through non-governmental organisations (NGOs) (USD 199.7 million) and universities, research institutes or think tanks (USD 7.9 million).
See the section on Geographic and thematic focus of ODA for the breakdown of bilateral allocations, including ODA earmarked through the multilateral development system.
In 2023, civil society organisations (CSOs) received USD 199.7 million of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation’s gross bilateral finance, of which 11.3% was directed to developing country-based CSOs. Overall, over three-quarters of the contributions (82.9%) were allocated to CSOs as core support, while 11.4% was earmarked to specific projects or programmes. From 2022 to 2023, the combined core and earmarked contributions for CSOs increased as a share of bilateral ODA, from 85.6% to 94.3%.
Learn more about the DAC Recommendation on Enabling Civil Society in Development Co-operation and Humanitarian Aid.
In 2023, David and Lucile Packard Foundation’s development finance was primarily focused on Asia (excluding the Middle East) and Africa. USD 37.4 million was allocated to Asia (excluding the Middle East) and USD 17.8 million to Africa, accounting for 17.7% and 8.4% of gross bilateral development finance respectively. A sum of USD 147 million (69.4%) was unspecified by region in 2023, mainly including multi-regional programmes, core support and research grants.
In 2023, 26.2% of gross development finance went to the top 10 recipients, particularly Indonesia.
Least developed countries (LDCs) and other low-income countries (LICs) received, respectively, USD 16.3 million (7.7%) and USD 0.2 million (0.1%) of David and Lucile Packard Foundation’s gross disbursements in 2023. David and Lucile Packard Foundation allocated the highest share (17.9%) of its bilateral development finance to upper middle-income countries in 2023, followed by least developed countries (7.7%), noting that USD 151.1 million (71.4%) was unallocated by income group.
Furthermore, David and Lucile Packard Foundation allocated USD 11.5 million of its development finance to land-locked developing countries in 2023, and USD 0.3 million to small island developing states (SIDS) in 2023. The main SIDS recipient is Maldives.
Support to contexts with high and extreme fragility reached USD 17.5 million in 2023, representing 8.2% of David and Lucile Packard Foundation’s bilateral development finance. Of this, contexts with extreme fragility received a sum of USD 4.8 million.
Learn more about the OECD States of Fragility platform.
In 2023, David and Lucile Packard Foundation’s largest allocations went to multi-sector, with a strong focus on general environmental protection. Investments in this area accounted for 72.7% of bilateral commitments (USD 154 million). Bilateral contributions allocated to social infrastructure and services totalled USD 31.1 million, while those allocated to production sectors amounted to USD 13.1 million. Humanitarian assistance amounted to USD 1.7 million.
Access the full list of providers at this link: Development Co-operation Profiles.
Official website: https://www.packard.org
The methodological notes provide further details on the definitions and statistical methodologies applied, including the grant-equivalent methodology, core and earmarked contributions to multilateral organisations, country programmable aid, channels of delivery, bilateral ODA unspecified/unallocated, bilateral allocable ODA, the gender equality policy marker, and the environment markers.
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