What The Share Trust does

The Share Trust is a Dover, Delaware-based nonprofit (founded 2018) that builds evidence and convening infrastructure to strengthen the Self Help Group (SHG) ecosystem globally. SHGs are groups of 10-25 people who meet weekly to pool savings, start small enterprises, and drive collective community action; The Share Trust positions them as a proven, cost-effective vehicle for locally led development, citing outcomes such as a 37% reduction in maternal mortality, women in SHGs being twice as likely to participate in local politics, and benefit-to-cost ratios exceeding $58 per $1 spent in Ethiopia. Its core products are the SHG model, the Local Coalition Accelerator (LCA) platform that bridges bilateral/multilateral donors and philanthropies with coalitions of Local and National Organizations (LNOs), and a research and learning library of evidence briefs and policy reports co-developed with academic and operational partners.

The organization works through three layers of activity: building an evidence base on SHG impact across health, income, gender, political participation, and food security; coalition-building with LNOs in specific geographies, notably LCA Uganda (14 LNOs in Kampala) and the Sundarban Coalition in Bangladesh; and engaging aid agencies, development institutes, research centers, foundations, and philanthropists to shift power, process, and funding toward local actors. Notable proprietary assets include the Decision Mapping Tool (DMAT) developed with King's College London for measuring power transfer in aid relationships, and a Local Intermediary landscaping study mapping 126 organizations across 11 countries. Its business model is nonprofit grant-funded: revenue is sourced from donations, a Giving Circle membership, and partnerships with institutional funders including the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies.

Name

The Share Trust

Legal name

The Share Trust

Website

https://thesharetrust.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Share Trust is a Dover, Delaware-based nonprofit that builds evidence and coalition infrastructure (Local Coalition Accelerator) to strengthen Self Help Groups and shift international aid funding toward Local and National Organizations across Africa, South Asia, and other Global South regions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Development Nonprofit

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Social Assistance (624), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Philanthropic & Charitable Trust Services (FSAAANAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB), Trust Funds & Multi-Donor Pooled Funds (BPADAOAE)

Keywords

• Nonprofit development organization
• Self help group support
• Local coalition building
• Community development programs
• Evidence-based development research

Headquarters

HQ city

Dover

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: The organization operates as a nonprofit, accepting donations and working with foundations and philanthropists to fund their work in building evidence for SHGs and supporting local actors.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Share Trust builds an evidence base and coalition infrastructure that supports Self Help Groups (SHGs) — groups of 10–25 people who meet weekly to save, start businesses, and drive community change — and connects international funding directly to local actors through the Local Coalition Accelerator platform. It produces research publications, evidence briefs, and policy documents demonstrating SHG impact on health, income, gender, and political outcomes, while partnering with Local and National Organizations (LNOs) to shift power, process, and funding to community-driven initiatives.

Product overview

The Share Trust offers a suite of programs and knowledge products centered on the Self Help Group (SHG) methodology. The core offering is the SHG Model—a collective action approach where groups of 10-25 people meet regularly to pool resources and drive community change. The Local Coalition Accelerator (LCA) platform extends this work by building coalitions of local actors to shift international funding and power directly to community-driven initiatives. Combined with a robust evidence base of research papers, evidence briefs, and policy documents, The Share Trust provides both programmatic tools and evidence to support locally led development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Self Help Group (SHG) Model
• Local Coalition Accelerator (LCA)
• Research & Learning Resources
• Enabling Environment Support

Quantifiable outcome

• 37% reduction in maternal mortality through women's groups practicing participatory learning and action
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• ALNAPmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 June 2025Co-authored report on intermediary models supporting locally led humanitarian action. The report showcases promising intermediary models and outlines how donors can strengthen or reform intermediaries to more effectively empower local leadership in crisis response.
• Warande Advisory CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 14 November 2022Co-authored 'Passing the Buck: The Economics of Localizing International Assistance' report estimating that local intermediaries could deliver programming that is 32% more cost efficient than international intermediaries. Also partnered on the Local Coalition Accelerator and LCA Uganda initiatives.
• Start NetworkmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Collaboration partner for the Sundarban Coalition which fosters locally led resilient and humanitarian action in coastal Bangladesh areas. The coalition is multi-sectoral and leverages members' strengths to design holistic programs designed, led, and implemented by local actors.
• Sundarban CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Coalition of community leaders including Morsheda Begum formed in 2022 to foster locally led resilient and humanitarian action in coastal Bangladesh. Works through the Local Coalition Accelerator platform to strengthen capacity for local-level actions and influencing initiatives with national and international actors.
• King's College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped the Decision Mapping Tool (DMAT) for supporting localisation efforts in aid. The tool maps decisions across three Decision Spaces: Local Decision Space, Partnership Decisions Space, and External Decision Space to gauge effectiveness of transferring decision-making power to local hands.
• LCA UgandacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition of 14 Local and National Organizations operating in Kampala that has come together to challenge traditional funding models. With support from The Share Trust and others, LCA Uganda is positioning local actors as intermediaries for funding and designed their Joint Action Plan based on community needs.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Namati: Namati trains and supports community-based paralegals and grassroots advocates, sharing the Share Trust's commitment to community-driven justice and locally led development alongside funders and multilaterals.
• Peace Direct: Peace Direct is a nonprofit that partners with local peacebuilders and runs a Localization Lab advising donors on shifting power to local actors; it is the most direct peer to The Share Trust given their shared focus on intermediary models, donor advisory, and locally led development.
• Restless Development: Restless Development is a youth-led global development agency that places young people at the center of locally led change — a directly comparable peer in advancing grassroots leadership and shifting power to local actors.
• Global Development Incubator (GDI): GDI launches and incubates development initiatives and advises funders on systemic change, making it a close peer in scaling locally led solutions and operating as a social-impact intermediary.

Others

• ALNAP: ALNAP is the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in humanitarian action and a co-author of research with The Share Trust on intermediary models, functioning as a knowledge partner and adjacent convening body.
• SEWA (Self-Employed Women's Association): SEWA organizes over 2 million self-employed women in India through a model closely related to Self Help Groups; it appears in The Share Trust's own reference data as a stakeholder, making it an ecosystem participant that overlaps with the SHG community the organization serves.

Broad incumbents

• BRAC: BRAC operates one of the largest Self Help Group and community empowerment programs globally, making it both a peer and a potential LNO partner for The Share Trust given their overlapping focus on savings groups and women's collective action.
• Co-Impact: Co-Impact is a global collaborative philanthropic collaborative funding systems-change initiatives led by local partners, sharing The Share Trust's evidence-based, locally driven model but at significantly larger scale and grantmaking capacity.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/thesharetrust
• Facebookfacebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fthesharetrust.org%2F
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-share-trust

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Share Trust