Welcome to the second edition of Cause & Capital.
My goal: Inform your giving strategies.
Every month in Cause & Capital, I break down a brand’s corporate giving campaign or one of the world’s leading philanthropists — uncovering what worked, why it worked, and how you can apply those insights to your own cause investments, whether you're giving as a brand or an individual.
Let’s get into it.
Most people think of philanthropy as charity.
Lukas Walton doesn’t.
His stated aim is to earn a return on his money. He is deploying capital with the same rigor as an investor and believes this approach will encourage the ultra-wealthy to move more of their wealth into impact.
Lukas Walton has already committed $15 billion of his own fortune to various causes.
Today, we're breaking down exactly how he’s doing it and what you can steal from his approach.
Who He Is (And Why It Matters)
Lukas Walton is the grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton and the founder of Builders Vision, a “venture philanthropy” platform investing across:
Ocean conservation
Sustainable food & agriculture
Clean energy and climate solutions
Each is treated as an investment with expected returns that improves the long-term health of the planet.
The Big Promise
Walton insists he isn’t making donations. He’s making investments.
Through Builders Vision, he deploys grants, equity, and guarantee instruments to accelerate solutions that markets typically underfund.
His implicit promise: if we treat systemic change with investor discipline, philanthropy can scale impact and generosity.
Full Breakdown of the Strategy
Cause Selection
Planetary health: tackling the upstream drivers of health like climate, food, and air.
Partnership Approach
Walton operates through coalitions and alliances, such as the $250 million Ocean Resilience and Climate Alliance (ORCA), and co-funded marine-conservation deals like the Bahamas “blue bond” that unlocked $124 million for ocean protection.
Methods Used:
Debt and guarantee instruments to unlock capital in places philanthropy can’t.
Strategic media transparency to encourage peers.
Builders Initiative grants in under-resourced regions and communities.
Deep research: Builders Vision includes an investment arm, philanthropy arm, and asset management arm.
Early, strategic investments to attract others.
Scale, Spend, and Reach:
$15 billion committed.
$3 billion already deployed via grants and investments.
Over 180 portfolio companies funded through S2G (previously under Builders Vision).
In the Bahamas deal: $70M co-guarantee unlocking $124M for nature/climate spending over 15 years.
$250M+ ORCA coalition in ocean-climate.
What Actually Worked (And Why)
1. Blended capital unlocks leverage
Combining grants, guarantees, and investments draws in private capital and governments beyond what philanthropy alone could achieve.
2. Signalling power
Publicly committing $15 billion sets a new benchmark for family offices and normalizes “venture philanthropy.”
3. Mission-aligned endowment
Builders Initiative shifted 90% of its $1 billion endowment into mission-related investments, aligning internal capital with its values.
4. Early bets attract others
His allocations and investments into climate funds, especially in Europe at a time when many are pulling back, give confidence and momentum to fund managers.
What Could Limit the Impact
Limited transparency on long-term outcomes and impact metrics.
Risk of favoring scalable tech solutions over grassroots efforts that don’t map well to “investable” criteria.
Tension between profit and purpose when returns enter the equation.
Lessons Whether You’re A Brand Or Individual
Brands can back systemic change (e.g. supply chain decarbonization, regenerative sourcing) rather than one-off campaigns.
Don’t limit yourself to grants. Consider guarantee funds, co-investments, debt, or hybrid instruments to amplify your capital.
If your brand backs bold initiatives and is transparent about them, you influence peers, clients, and your ecosystem which can shape market norms.
Work with NGOs, tech ventures, or alliances already operating in these spaces.
Just as Builders Initiative aligned its endowment, brands with CSR or social arms should look at how their use of internal funds or choice of suppliers reflect their values.
Cheers,
Christine