New Report Offers Five Lessons to Help Philanthropists Move Further, Faster

Advisory nonprofit catalyzing over $6 billion in climate gifts in six years shares key lessons to help accelerate philanthropic giving. 

LONDON, ENGLAND – June 23, 2026 – A new report shatters the assumption that climate giving is complex, arguing that speed is the real challenge, and offers a concrete roadmap to solve it.

Five Lessons to Accelerate Giving in Climate and Beyond, released today by Climate Lead, draws on six years of advising over 115 philanthropic families and catalyzing more than $6 billion in climate giving. Its central finding: the climate crisis is not a solution problem. It is a speed and coordination problem—and philanthropy is uniquely positioned to close the gap.

Climate philanthropy has suffered from the belief that the issue is too complex to enter, that the work is already being handled by others, or that philanthropy has limited ability to make a difference. The result: capital sits on the sidelines while the crisis compounds. 

Climate Lead was launched to address that: a unique organization, fully funded to be a free and impartial philanthropic advisory organization that helps new philanthropists step into climate action with the speed and generosity the world needs. 

“Philanthropy is a solutions multiplier—in climate and across so many other causes. It’s been a privilege to help those new to this area of giving enter and have impact from day one. We are glad to share what we’ve learned,” explains Jennifer Kitt, President of Climate Lead. “The challenges we face are interconnected, and so are the solutions.” 

Climate Lead has identified more than 400 high-impact climate solutions and they are conducting rigorous analysis of hundreds more. Today, $5 billion would fund 80 of the most urgent and high-impact solutions. These are existing organizations delivering proven climate results now. 

The report distills five lessons that consistently move philanthropists from hesitation to high-impact action:

• There Are Many Paths to Impact.
• Action Is the Best Teacher: Learn While Giving.
• The Fastest Path to Impact Is Already Forged. 
• Impartial Guidance Builds Trust. 
• Philanthropy is a Solutions Multiplier. 

“We are sharing these lessons from working alongside philanthropists, their staff, wealth managers, NGOs, scientists, and academics in the hope that they are useful to others in climate and beyond,” said Kitt. “And, we hope others will also share their knowledge, so we can work faster together to move quickly toward scaling solutions.”

What also sets Climate Lead apart is working with donors to help them find their path to impact quickly, and help them move to giving on their own. It’s working.  

Over half of the families Climate Lead has worked with started their first gift within nine months, and two-thirds of families within just over a year—the first gift averaging around $4 million.  And, donors who have moved to giving on their own have gone on to direct an additional $2 billion to climate solutions. 

“Every tenth of a degree of warming avoided matters, and the faster we move, the better the outcome. Every increment we prevent protects lives, strengthens communities, and gives nature a chance to recover,” Kitt said.

Media contacts:

Laura Evans Manatos, [email protected]

Jennifer Davis, [email protected]

About Climate Lead

Climate Lead empowers philanthropic leaders everywhere to take immediate and far-reaching climate action. Founded in 2019 by experienced philanthropists, Climate Lead is an advisory service for those new to climate philanthropy. Its innovative, fee-free approach allows it to act as an impartial advisor focused on impact, providing tailored and impartial guidance, connections to a diverse network of experts and peers, and an array of ready-to-fund solutions so donors can move fast. This has resulted in more than $6 billion in climate giving globally in just six years, with an additional $2 billion of climate giving by philanthropists after their Climate Lead engagement. Learn more at climatelead.org.