Want to start a Philanthropic Organization? Announcing AIM’s New Charity Entrepreneurship Round

By Ambitious Impact @ 2025-09-10T11:48 (+41)

A special edition of our flagship CE program, focused on increasing the effectiveness of the philanthropic sector.

TL;DR: Each year, AIM incubates new nonprofits in global health and farmed animal welfare. In 2026, we’ll also run a special edition round dedicated to launching ~3–5 new philanthropic organizations. Applications for all three 2026 cohorts are open until October 5th.

What

We’re thrilled to announce that in 2026, AIM’s Charity Entrepreneurship Program will expand to three rounds per year. Two of these rounds will continue our proven focus on farmed animals and global health. The third will expand on opportunities we’ve identified to shape the philanthropic sector by launching a set of new, impactful organizations.

The organizations may focus on activities such as:

• Providing specialist advisory services to large donors
• Training grantmakers
• Running high-quality, outcome-focused events for philanthropists
• Launching targeted, theme-driven funds
• Producing edu-tainment around grantmaking 

In the past, we’ve launched a number of “EA meta” charities, including fundraising and steering organizations such as Ark, FarmKind, and country-level effective giving organizations. This round will take a broader view, aiming to launch organizations that can improve the effectiveness of the philanthropic ecosystem itself.

Joey Savoie, our CEO, is leading exploration in this space. Over the coming months, we plan to conduct proof-of-concept tests to recommend a final set of ideas closer to the program.

Why 

For better and for worse, philanthropy shapes the NGO landscape. The trends and incentives that are set by funders influence the effectiveness of nonprofits at the ecosystem and organizational level. Over the past years, we’ve seen positive indicators that new organizations can successfully influence funders to operate more effectively, resulting in millions of dollars being used more impactfully. 

There are a number of barriers to grantmakers operating more effectively, and therefore multiple pathways for new organizations to make change. We’ve seen success with funder education, high net worth advising, and mass outreach, and have positive signals that the innovative models we’re exploring could be equally, or more, impactful. 

Who 

We’re looking to build a cohort of ~10 incubatees to launch these new organizations. Similar to our typical CE model, we think strong, value-aligned generalists could be successful founders. We expect strong communication skills to be especially important, and familiarity with the grantmaking ecosystem to be an advantage.

Since this is a less-explored area, we also welcome experienced individuals to apply with their own ideas. 

Structure of the program 

We expect the training, co-founder matching, and overall incubation structure to follow the same model as our regular Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program rounds. Over two months, participants receive a research-backed charity idea (unless they apply with their own), a carefully matched co-founder, intensive training in leadership, fundraising, and operations, access to a network of mentors and experts, and up to $200,000 in seed funding.

One application for three cohorts

Applications will go through our standard application form and process (more information here), which means applicants can be considered for this round alongside the other two incubation rounds in 2026. In the form, you can indicate which round interests you most. If you’ve already applied to the other two rounds and move forward to the first test task, we’ll check whether you’d also like to be considered for the philanthropy round.

For the philanthropy round specifically, there are two main pathways:

• Apply with your own idea. We welcome participants to apply with their own idea, though our bar for acceptance will be high. If you’d like to propose an idea, you can use this expression of interest form alongside the main application.
• Apply without an idea. Apply as usual to found the recommended ideas that we’ll publish closer to the start date. You’ll engage in standard co-founder matching and project selection, just like our regular Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program rounds.

Excited? 

With the launch of this new program, we’re extending applications for all three of our 2026 Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program cohorts until October 5th. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis, so the earlier you apply, the sooner you’ll hear back and know if you’re still in the running. Applying early also gives you the most time to complete each stage of the selection process. Learn more about this round here.
 

Questions? 

We’re happy to answer them. You can:

• Join tomorrow’s webinar with our Director of Recruitment, Ben Williamson
• Join our CEO and co-founder, Joey Savoie, for an AMA on the EA Forum starting September 15.