Aid Effectiveness > Project Resource Optimization (PRO)
Project Resource Optimization (PRO)
Analysis of High-Impact, Cost-Effective Programs Affected by USAID Cuts
About the Project
Given the scale of recent cuts to USAID, it can be difficult for private donors to know how to fill the most urgent gaps. PRO is an initiative that uses rigorous analysis, deep expertise, and robust networks to identify highly cost-effective funding opportunities across USAID's cancelled grants.

With the termination of USAID-funded work in early 2025, thousands of life-saving aid programs have lost tens of billions of dollars in funding. PRO is an independent initiative that was formerly hosted by CGD and is now housed within the DIV Fund, which identifies and shares a living database of high-impact, cost-effective, mid-implementation aid projects whose impact could be sustained by targeted philanthropic support.

Led by economists and cost-effectiveness experts with experience at leading humanitarian and development organizations, PRO identifies and transparently assesses critical funding opportunities to help donors act quickly and confidently. Drawing on publicly available information, the PRO database and approach are public goods that donors can use to inform their funding decisions. Our team is also available to directly support donors to maximize the impact of their giving.

For more information on the PRO approach, see the methods note.

Methodology image for the PRO project's selection process
Visit the PRO Impact site

 


Image credit for social media/web: David Uttley / World Relief

Blogs

View All
  • The High Cost of Pausing Life-Saving Aid
    Rob Rogers et al.
    When the US froze foreign assistance in early 2025, it halted scores of USAID-supported programs that were saving lives. Project R...
  • Racing to Preserve Life-saving USAID Programs with the PRO Team
    Erin Collinson
    After a large share of USAID's work was terminated, a small cadre of development experts created Project Resource Optimization, or...
  • Building the Future of Aid—Starting Now: Strategic Lessons from a Crisis
    Robert Rosenbaum et al.
    Despite what administration officials have claimed about preserving life-saving work, many of the programs delivering intervention...

Recent work

  • With $48M in philanthropic backing, a division of USAID relaunches as a nonprofit
    Check out the PRO initiative, as featured in an Associated Press exclusive article about the initiative's origins and successes. ...
  • A new model for foreign aid?
    Check out the PRO initiative, as featured in a Lancet Infectious Diseases article about the initiative mobilizing over $125 millio...
  • Private donors raise more than $125M to fund aid programs after U.S. cuts
    Check out the PRO initiative, as featured in a PBS News article about the initiative mobilizing over $125 million in eight months....
  • Donors Gave $125 Million for Foreign Aid After U.S. Cuts
    Check out the PRO initiative, as featured in Chronicle of Philanthropy in an article about the initiative mobilizing over $125 mil...
  • Private donors gave more than $125M to keep foreign aid programs going after US cuts
    Check out The PRO initiative, as featured in the Washington Post in an article about the initiative mobilizing over $125 million i...
  • Private donors gave more than $125M to keep foreign aid programs going after US cuts
    Check out the PRO initiative, as featured in an ABC News article about the initiative mobilizing over $125 million in eight months...
  • With $125 million, private funders fill critical USAID program gaps
    Check out the PRO initiative, as featured in a Philanthropy News Digest article about the initiative mobilizing over $125 million ...
  • Check out The PRO initiative, as featured in an Associated Press article about the initiative mobilizing over $125 million in eigh...
  • Devex Newswire: Trump’s team bars health NGO from UNGA side event
    Check out the PRO (Project Resource Optimization) initiative, as featured in Devex in a piece about former USAID staffers raising ...
  • ‘We called ourselves the lifeboat crew’: how fired USAID workers launched a rescue project ‘to save as many babies as we can’
    Check out The PRO (Project Resource Optimization) initiative's success in securing funding for almost 80 programs slashed by USAID...
  • PRO Initiative Reaches Funding Milestone for about 80 Projects and $110M raised, Calls on Donors to Expand Life-Saving Impact
    The most critical projects identified by the Project Resource Optimization (PRO) Initiative have reached their initial funding goa...
  • How Donors Can Maximize Impact Following USAID Cuts: The PRO Initiative
    Robert Rosenbaum of the PRO team wrote an op-ed for Inside Philanthropy on how donors are reacting to the new aid landscape.
  • All Things Considered: The PRO Initiative
    NPR's All Things Considered profiled the PRO initiative's work to find funders for life-saving projects.
  • Project Resource Optimization: Search & Assessment Methodology
    This note documents the process and explains how the PRO “First Cut” and “Urgent and Vetted List” were developed.
  • NPR: A Matchmaking Service With a Twist: Connecting Big Givers to Programs Cut by USAID
    NPR's Goats and Soda explored the work of the PRO initiative.

Contact

Caitlin Tulloch, [email protected]

Contact

Caitlin Tulloch, [email protected]

Acknowledgments

Sasha Gallant

Sasha Gallant is a non-resident fellow at CGD. She is the CEO of the DIV Fund and co-founder of PRO and recently served as the managing director of Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) at USAID.

Caitlin Tulloch

Caitlin Tulloch is a recognized expert in cost-effectiveness analysis and evidence-based policy, with a proven track record in leading research and shaping program strategies in the humanitarian and development sectors. She is a co-founder of PRO and currently serves as the senior director for research, learning, and product at GiveDirectly. She recently served as deputy office director and team lead for evidence use at USAID's Office of the Chief Economist.

Robert Rosenbaum

Robert Rosenbaum is a non-resident fellow at CGD. He has spent his career at the intersection of social innovation and rigorous evidence generation, primarily in global health and international development. A co-founder of PRO, he leads the initiative from its new home at the DIV Fund, where he also leads the Fund's strategic partnerships work. He recently served on USAID’s DIV team.

Grace Morgan

Grace Morgan is an expert in cost-effectiveness analysis whose career has focused on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of scalable programs. She is a senior analyst at PRO, where she leads the team's program appraisals and cost-effectiveness analyses. She recently served as an evidence advisor at USAID's Office of the Chief Economist.

Erin Collinson

Erin Collinson is director of the US Development Policy Program and a senior fellow at CGD.

  • Sasha Gallant

    Sasha Gallant is a non-resident fellow at CGD. She is the CEO of the DIV Fund and co-founder of PRO and recently served as the managing director of Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) at USAID.

  • Caitlin Tulloch

    Caitlin Tulloch is a recognized expert in cost-effectiveness analysis and evidence-based policy, with a proven track record in leading research and shaping program strategies in the humanitarian and development sectors. She is a co-founder of PRO and currently serves as the senior director for research, learning, and product at GiveDirectly. She recently served as deputy office director and team lead for evidence use at USAID's Office of the Chief Economist.

  • Robert Rosenbaum

    Robert Rosenbaum is a non-resident fellow at CGD. He has spent his career at the intersection of social innovation and rigorous evidence generation, primarily in global health and international development. A co-founder of PRO, he leads the initiative from its new home at the DIV Fund, where he also leads the Fund's strategic partnerships work. He recently served on USAID’s DIV team.

  • Grace Morgan

    Grace Morgan is an expert in cost-effectiveness analysis whose career has focused on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of scalable programs. She is a senior analyst at PRO, where she leads the team's program appraisals and cost-effectiveness analyses. She recently served as an evidence advisor at USAID's Office of the Chief Economist.

    Erin Collinson

    Erin Collinson is director of the US Development Policy Program and a senior fellow at CGD.