Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, scientists, policymakers, health-care workers, and average citizens worldwide mobilized in ways never seen before to mitigate the challenge at hand. From rapid vaccine development to securing PPE and advocating for precautions to contain the disease, multiple sectors aligned strategies and tactics to lessen the disease’s impact and financial fallout. Philanthropic efforts have played several crucial roles. 

However, some of this giving, while well-intentioned, has not been as coordinated or effective as hoped. The lessons learned since March 2020 can be the foundation for coordinated, intentional philanthropy that invests in infrastructure and health systems—and strengthens them to better withstand crisis situations in the future.  

This report from the Center for Strategic Philanthropy identifies four main areas ripe for greater—and more efficient—philanthropic investment: (1) Accelerating Product Development; (2) Clinical Trial Design and Execution; (3) Research Collaboration; and (4) Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health-Care and Medicine.