Funder Resources

Whether you’re an active, recent, or prospective funder or investor in Early Childhood Development (ECD), we help make your job easier. Promise brings forward and connects you to the most promising organizations and talent in ECD, as well as to peer funder organizations.

ECD Venture Index

Our ECD Venture Index is the most comprehensive and open database of social entrepreneurs and ventures in ECD. You can easily search and sort by your primary areas of interest.

Why Invest in ECD?

There are so many compelling reasons! “Why Invest in ECD?” is a four part series that addresses the importance of investing in Early Childhood Development.

ECD Field Primers

Want to learn more about a particular topic within ECD? Whether you’re interested in science, curriculum, systems and more, we can help you get started. Our primers give an overview on key areas of innovation and impact within ECD, including promising strategies for changing outcomes at scale.

Additional Resources

• For more on the ECD funder community: Silicon Valley Community Foundation & Promise Report on Growing the ECD Funder Community

• For more on the science of ECD: Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University

• For more on investing in ECD: University of Pennsylvania’s Toolkit for Donors in Early Childhood

• For more on who’s funding ECD: Early Childhood Funders Collaborative’s map of philanthropic giving

• For more on the economic ROI of ECD investments: visit the Heckman Equation 13% ROI Research Toolkit

• For more on impact evaluation in ECD: explore these helpful perspectives and tools from EdSurge, Jack Shonkoff, Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center, What Works Clearinghouse

How can we support you? (Survey)

We're in the midst of building out more targeted programs for early childhood philanthropists and investors — both existing leaders and newcomers. Our goal is to make connections between funders and promising ventures easier, faster, and more targeted.

To help shape these support and education resources,, we kindly ask you to complete our ten question, 5-minute Need-finding Survey for Early Childhood Philanthropists & Investors. 

If you'd like to share additional feedback, or play a role in future local and national programs, please reach out.