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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsBill Gates’ philanthropy has helped fund major efforts in polio eradication, vaccine access, infectious-disease control, agriculture, and U.S. education. These are five notable examples associated with the Gates Foundation—not a definitive ranking. Each depends on governments, researchers, nonprofit organizations, donors, and communities, so the results cannot be credited to one donor alone.
How to compare these projects
The examples below address different problems and have different kinds of evidence: some figures describe annual foundation grants, while others report reach or outcomes attributed to a wider partnership. Those measures are not interchangeable, and a large grant total is evidence of investment—not, by itself, proof that a project worked or that the foundation caused a particular result.
1. Global polio eradication
The Gates Foundation became a core partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) through an early major grant and matching challenge. GPEI is a coalition effort, not a foundation-run program. The foundation’s 2025 anniversary fact sheet describes polio as near eradication, while its 2024 annual report records $889 million in direct grantee support for polio during that year. That is a one-year funding figure, not cumulative spending or a measure of the initiative’s results. Gates Foundation, 25th Anniversary Fact Sheet (2025); Gates Foundation, Annual Report 2024
2. Vaccine access through Gavi
The foundation’s history says it co-founded Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, with an initial US$750 million pledge. The historical account passage describing the pledge does not give its date, so it is best understood as an early commitment rather than assigned a more precise year. Gavi works with governments and other partners to expand access to vaccines.
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#1 Best Overall
For scale, the foundation reported that by 2020 Gavi and its partners had immunized more than 760 million children and helped prevent more than 13 million deaths. Those are milestones through 2020, not current totals. In 2025, the foundation said Gavi and partners had reached billions of children with vaccines, but the cited fact sheet does not provide a comparable updated figure in the material reported here. Gates Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Origin Story & Key Milestones; Gates Foundation, 25th Anniversary Fact Sheet (2025)
3. Global Fund programs against malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis
The foundation’s history records its support for creating the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. In its 2025 anniversary fact sheet, the foundation attributes 65 million lives saved to the Global Fund’s broader work against malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis. That figure describes the Global Fund’s work; it is not an estimate of lives saved by the Gates Foundation’s contribution alone. Gates Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Origin Story & Key Milestones; Gates Foundation, 25th Anniversary Fact Sheet (2025)
4. Agricultural development
Agricultural development is an active area of foundation grantmaking, with aims that include improving farmers’ productivity and resilience. The 2024 annual report records $537 million in direct grantee support for Agricultural Development that year. Separately, the foundation’s timeline records a 2017 pledge of $300 million over three years for climate-adaptation research for farmers in Africa and Asia, covering 2018–2020. These are distinct funding figures, and the available sources do not establish a single outcome total that can be directly attributed to either investment. Gates Foundation, Annual Report 2024; Gates Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Origin Story & Key Milestones; Gates Foundation, Our Work
5. U.S. K-12 education
The Gates Foundation’s U.S. Program includes K-12 education. Its 2024 annual report lists $275 million in direct grantee support for K-12 Education during that year. A separate 2017 strategy revision committed $1.7 billion over five years to locally driven work involving student achievement, curriculum, teacher professional development, and research focused on underserved students.
Rank #3
These figures show sustained grantmaking, not proof that a single intervention independently increased achievement or graduation rates. The foundation’s program overview describes its current areas of work, while the historical commitment and annual grant total refer to different periods and scopes. Gates Foundation, Annual Report 2024; Gates Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Origin Story & Key Milestones; Gates Foundation, Our Work
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What these examples show—and what they do not
Together, the projects span disease eradication, immunization, treatment and disease control, agricultural livelihoods, and domestic education. They also illustrate why philanthropic impact is difficult to compare: funding records measure money granted; reach figures count people served; and outcome estimates may describe a whole partnership’s work over time. The foundation’s published figures are useful for understanding its commitments and reported milestones, but they do not create an apples-to-apples ranking of effectiveness.
Rank #4
The foundation’s 2025 annual report says its current strategy is to direct resources toward preventing maternal and child deaths, controlling or eradicating deadly infectious diseases, and helping people rise from poverty by 2045. Gates Foundation, Annual Report 2025
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