In times of humanitarian disaster, corporate philanthropies often step up to provide critical support. For many companies, deciding when and how to respond, especially in distant communities, can be a complex challenge. 

Guided by a charter focused on the transformative benefits of play, the LEGO Foundation recognized the need for a more agile response mechanism for children in crisis situations. In 2024, the LEGO Foundation launched an acute humanitarian response mechanism. This new grantmaking model empowers partners to act much more swiftly than previously, allowing for funding deployment within four weeks of a partner’s request, and in turn, bringing enhanced safety, education, and resilience to children in global humanitarian crises. 

This case study details the LEGO Foundation’s ideation, design, and implementation processes for its novel grantmaking mechanism. Key components of the model include the following:

• Strategic Intervention Matrix: Utilizing a carefully structured framework to inform the selection and prioritization of interventions.

• Frontloading Partner Selection and Model Operations: Making decisions on funding partners and mechanism process to reduce the time it takes to deploy funds and provide a humanitarian response.

• Trust-Based Design: Partnering with on-the-ground organizations to co-create solutions that are sustainable, context specific, effective, and tightly aligned to the foundation’s charter.

As corporate philanthropies and private foundations seek to respond more effectively and rapidly to global crises, the LEGO Foundation’s model, as detailed in this case study, offers a number of lessons for pursuing these goals.