↓↑ Givingtide International — About Us
We live in an age of extraordinary capability—and still tolerate preventable deprivation at the bottom of the human family. ↓↑Givingtide exists to make a simple, measurable idea socially inevitable: 1% to uplift the world's poorest 10%.
The Reality We Refuse to Normalize
The World Bank's updated international poverty line—$3.00 per day in 2021 purchasing power parities—still describes the daily reality for hundreds of millions of people. This is not a rounding error at the margins of progress. It is the defining moral asymmetry of a civilization that has demonstrated it possesses the means, the knowledge, and the institutions to end extreme deprivation entirely.
We do not lack resources. We lack organization. Unprecedented private wealth, the largest philanthropic sector in history, and institutional capital of unparalleled scale exist alongside persistent extreme poverty. That coexistence is not inevitable. It is a choice—one that a voluntary, global standard of disciplined generosity can begin to undo.
"The top 1% of wealth holders account for roughly half of all global wealth—making even a marginal, organized shift at the top historically consequential at the bottom."
UBS Global Wealth ReportWhat ↓↑Givingtide Is
↓↑Givingtide is not a fund, a gatekeeper, or a new institution competing for philanthropic attention. It is a framework—precise, portable, and scalable—that turns giving into a measurable, comparable, annual commitment.
For institutions and individuals who want their philanthropy to be proportionate, accountable, and historically consequential, ↓↑Givingtide provides the standard, the language, and the coalition. Not episodic charity. Institutional stewardship—the kind that stabilizes societies, markets, and the future.
The GIVA / 1-1-1 Commitment
One penny on every dollar—organized as a disciplined standard of modern leadership. The 1-1-1 commitment scales globally without requiring any institution to reinvent itself. It is designed to be adopted, reported, and compared: a standard that becomes consequential precisely because it is universal.
Nations
1%
of GNI annually, dedicated to uplifting the world's poorest 10%.
Corporations
1%
of pre-tax profit annually, dedicated to uplifting the world's poorest 10%.
Foundations
1%
of total annual grants annually, dedicated to uplifting the world's poorest 10%.
Why This Standard Matters
Extreme inequality corrodes institutional trust, destabilizes societies, intensifies conflict pressures, and accelerates forced migration at a scale that no border policy can adequately address. It weakens the collective resilience on which global markets and governance ultimately depend.
A marginal shift at the top—organized as a standard—can create outsized human outcomes at the bottom. ↓↑Givingtide is the bridge between "we could" and "we did." It asks no institution to change what it does. It asks every institution to ensure that a disciplined, measurable share of what it already does is directed where it matters most.
The 1-1-1 Framework
Three channels that make generosity more effective, more global, and more legible. Together, they constitute a civilizational upgrade from parochial impulse to organized solidarity.
Channel I — Core Equity Giving (CEG)
↓↑Givingtide offers a gold-standard direction of travel—closer to recipients, lower overhead, higher agency—while leaving method, focus, and implementing partners entirely to donor discretion. High-agency, low-friction methods, including direct giving where appropriate, are encouraged. The commitment is proportionate. The implementation is sovereign.
Channel II — Cross-Continental Giving (CCG)
This is a civilizational upgrade: moving from parochial compassion to mutuality. It reduces moral distance, strengthens global cooperation, and dignifies giving in every direction. Cross-Continental Giving is not an additional tax—it is a directing principle that can be fulfilled within existing budgets.
Channel III — The Universal Project (U.P.)
Any amount. Selected transparently by an independent panel. The Universal Project is the movement's annual proof-point: what becomes possible when giving is coordinated. It is not a fund to be managed—it is a demonstration to be remembered.
Universal Project 2026
A global training and systems-change project to strengthen preventive health capacity—aligned with universal health coverage and long-term human resilience. The Institute of Preemptology is designed not to treat what is already broken, but to build the systems, skills, and institutions that prevent breakdown. Prevention at scale. Accountability by design.
Governance, Independence & Trust
↓↑Givingtide International is the coalition that stewards the 1-1-1 Framework—setting criteria, convening leaders, publishing guidance, and reporting collective progress—so that 1% becomes a global norm. It is not a fund manager. It does not control how donations are deployed. Signatories retain full control of their funds, partners, and implementation.
The ↓↑Givingtide 1% is a voluntary moral commitment, not a contract. ↓↑Givingtide exists to provide coordination, transparency tools, and high-credibility convening—increasing trust, comparability, and collective momentum across the global philanthropic community.
An independent global council for governance and long-term stewardship of the standard.
An independent selection panel for the annual Universal Project—transparent criteria, public process.
Published criteria and external evaluation, ensuring the standard remains rigorous and credible.
Independent trustees and fiduciary structures for any Universal Project funds received.
Optional reporting templates—recommended, never mandatory—to enable comparability without coercion.
Full donor sovereignty: method, focus, and implementing partners remain the signatory's exclusive prerogative.
The standard is firm. Participation is voluntary. Integrity is non-negotiable.
The ↓↑Givingtide Doctrine
A world in which the rising tide of shared prosperity lifts all above the indignity of extreme poverty.
To organize global philanthropy—concerted, combined, and catalytic—for human solidarity.
Mobilize institutions first, individuals second, to make ending extreme poverty an explicit, measurable part of their mission—demonstrated through the commitment of 1% to uplift the world's poorest 10%.
"A Tide of Giving, A Future Without Poverty."
Let this be the era when generosity became as routine as profit—and as consequential as policy.