President and CEO of Grantmakers In Health (GIH), Cara V. James, delivered opening remarks at the 2025 GIH Annual Conference on Health Philanthropy in New Orleans.
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Crisis Communications Resources
Crisis Response Toolkit—Being Prepared: Emerging Threats to Health Philanthropy
Recently, a regional health foundation was highlighted on social media by an account that described itself as being “inspired by DOGE.” The specific areas this account raised for critique were taken from publicly available information, including the organization’s 990 Form and its website.
Crisis Readiness Resources
We encourage GIH Funding Partners to prepare or review their crisis communications strategies and legal response plans for potential actions by the administration against philanthropy or nonprofits.
Grantmakers In Health (GIH), the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, the National Rural Health Association, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office of Rural Health will co-host the 2025 Rural Health Philanthropy Partnership Meeting, welcoming foundations, federal entities, and other partners to discuss how our combined efforts might produce better health outcomes for rural communities
These yearly meetings are intended for foundations, corporate giving programs, and individual donors who have activities or programs dedicated to rural health care. Participants had the opportunity to connect with one another, share ideas, and discuss how combined efforts can produce better outcomes for rural communities. As with previous gatherings, participants heard from speakers from government agencies and other rural health leaders, networked with peers, and learned about ongoing engagements occurring throughout rural America.
2025 Call for GIH Board Nominations
GIH is committed to better health for all through better philanthropy and is seeking candidates who align with this vision and are committed to advancing health equity. Ideal candidates represent the diversity of health philanthropy across a variety of personal and professional dimensions, including demographics, life experience, professional skills, geographic location, organization size and assets, and type of health funder.
Begin the process by completing a nomination form no later than Friday, September 12, 2025.
Reporting from the 2025 Annual Conference
Read the highlights from this year’s GIH Annual Conference on Health Philanthropy. Log in to view video recordings of plenary presentations.
GIH Health Policy Update Newsletter
The Latest
An Exclusive Resource for Funding Partners
The Health Policy Update is a newsletter produced in collaboration with Leavitt Partnersi and Trust for America’s Health. Drawing on GIH’s policy priorities outlined in our policy agenda and our strategic objective of increasing our policy and advocacy presence, the Health Policy Update provides GIH Funding Partners with a range of federal health policy news.
Recent Reports and Surveys
In 2024, Grantmakers In Health (GIH) surveyed its Funding Partners to understand how their health equity work has evolved. The survey consisted of 40 questions including demographic information, program focus areas, partner engagement, organizational strategy, priority population, successes, and challenges. This report summarizes findings from the Health Equity Survey titled, “Understanding the Changing Landscape.”
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2024 Survey Summary: Firearm Violence Prevention Strategies
GIH conducted a survey in September 2024 about funder engagement in firearm violence prevention. This fact sheet summarizes the survey results with a total sample of 81 health funders. This public health crisis and social justice issue is preventable, and health funders have an important role to play in advancing firearm violence prevention efforts.
2024 Year in Review
The 2024 Grantmakers In Health (GIH) Year in Review report explores a year of programming designed to help funders navigate a time of change, details the expansion of GIH’s expansion of its policy work, provides an update on the ongoing implementation of GIH’s strategic plan, and previews GIH’s priorities for 2025.
Overview of Potential Medicaid Changes in 2025 Budget Reconciliation Bill
Budget reconciliation is a legislative tool that can be used by the majority party in Congress to advance their agenda with only a simple majority in the Senate. With slim Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, reconciliation provides an opportunity to pass key components of President Trump’s agenda, such as defense and border security funding, tax cuts, and spending cuts, without Democrat votes.
Perspectives From Health Philanthropy
Humana Foundation Advances Equity Through Community-Engaged Research Practices
Grantmakers In Health’s Maya Schane spoke with Heather Hyden and Soojin Conover of the Humana Foundation about the Foundation’s recently published report, Strengthening Science and Community Impact Through Equitable Research Practices. The report examines innovative research methods adopted by the Foundation’s partners to promote health equity in public health research through community-engaged research practices.
Collaborating for Impact: Providing Trust-Based Grantmaking and Technical Assistance to Support Local Resilience to Extreme Weather Events
In the last few years, there has been an increased number of extreme weather events, including wildfires, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and heatwaves in the United States. In 2023, the United States experienced 28 disasters that cost at least $1 billion, the largest number of billion-dollar disasters in a single year on record (Smith 2024). While some areas of the country are more susceptible to these threats, there are no regions immune to disasters. According to a recent Gallup poll, 37 percent of adults in the United States report they have been personally impacted by at least one extreme weather event in the last two years, which is higher than the 2022/2023 survey result at 33 percent.
Working Through Challenges to Sharing Power With Community: Highlights from a Session at Grantmakers in Health’s Annual Conference
The people closest to the issue best know the solutions. For health funders, sharing power with community could mean giving residents a voice in shaping your grantmaking priorities or where grant dollars are spent. Many funders understand that solutions are more likely to be successful when the people who are most affected have a voice in shaping them. But when it comes to including that voice, the work often stalls before it starts.
Recently Featured
Policy Resource: 2025 Congressional Calendar
Developed in collaboration with Leavitt Partners, this calendar tracks when each house of congress will be in session in 2025.
Policy Resource: Overview of Congressional Staff and Member Outreach
Developed in collaboration with Leavitt Partners, this resource provides a detailed overview of how congressional offices, committees, and leadership are staffed. In addition, it provides recommended best practices for meeting with Members of Congress and their staff.
The Georgetown Health Foundation
“Philanthropy has been the medium through which we have learned the health and human service landscape of our community, but most recently, our learning has compelled us to move toward direct services in partnership with agencies working to improve health. The family resource center—Carver Center for Families–and the development of the Center for Nonprofit Success—are initiatives that represent our desire to be a relevant part of the ecosystem, a colleague to our grant partners, and result from our work to strengthen resources across the health and human services continuum.”
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2025 Call for Grantmakers In Health Board Nominations
Grantmakers In Health, an educational organization serving staff, executives, and trustees of foundations and corporate giving programs working in the health field, is seeking nominations for its board of directors for terms beginning in March 2026.
Courageous Action for the Health of Our Communities
The final day of the 2025 Annual Conference on Health Philanthropy focused on milestone moments in health like the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and elevated the philanthropic partnerships already inspiring a better tomorrow. While much of the conference was spent reflecting, today was marked by action and what comes next: standing firm in values, being courageous, and co-creating a vision for the future.
Upcoming Events
GIA Member Meetup: Public Funding Cuts & Philanthropy
Cohosted with Grantmakers In Aging
We’ll discuss how philanthropy is responding to public funding cuts. Share what your organization is doing to support your grantees that are being impacted by reductions in public funding. Brainstorm strategies with other funders and tell us how GIA can help.
Health Care Policy in 2025: What Comes Next?
President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” into law on July 4, 2025, enacting historic cuts to Medicaid, the ACA marketplace, SNAP, and more – via work requirements, copays, and stricter eligibility verifications. According to analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, the new law will increase the number of people without health insurance in the United States by 11.8 million by 2034. Health policy experts warn that these changes will exacerbate health access issues, worsen health disparities, and threaten the financial viability of rural hospitals.
In this webinar, experts from Leavitt Partners will provide an overview of the recent legislation, the impact on health and health care, and what foundations can do to support communities and nonprofits in the next six months. Speakers include Laura Pence, Sara Singleton from Leavitt Partners, and Kristina Ramos Callan from Health Management Associates.
CEO Working Group Webinar
Grantmakers In Health is pleased to convene the CEO Working Group to discuss challenges in our work and opportunities for collaboration as we move forward to achieve our health missions under the new administration. Experts will provide an overview of recent legislation, the impact on health and health care, and what foundation leaders can do to support communities and nonprofits in the next six months. Speakers include Joan Alker of Georgetown Children and Families and Sara Singleton of Leavitt Partners.
Connect and collaborate with peers, learn about opportunities to develop your staff, browse professional growth opportunities, and more.
Staff and trustees of foundations and corporate giving programs may receive strategic guidance from program staff, experts, and peers.
Learning Communities
GIH provides ongoing opportunities for sharing, networking, and collaborating around specific topics or functions in health philanthropy. Each Learning Community uses an online platform plus a mix of webinars, in-person meetings, resource sharing, and surveys to provide an in-depth look at its subject.
Trustee Tools and Resources
Browse trustee-tailored content related to governance, strategy, and effectiveness.