The Aid Transparency Index is the only independent measure of transparency among the world’s leading development organisations. It is a periodic publication researched and produced by Publish What You Fund. The Index tracks and encourages progress towards aid transparency, while holding donors to account.

Until 2024, the Aid Transparency Index operated as a global public good, was philanthropically funded and focused exclusively on the world’s 50 leading aid organisations. From the 2026 edition onwards, in response to growing demand, the Index will adopt an accreditation-based model. For the first time, it will become a paid-for service, expanding its reach to include a wider range of aid and development organisations. These organisations will have the opportunity to be independently assessed, benchmarked, and formally recognised for their transparency.

To see more on the 2026 Aid Transparency Index please visit the main Index page here: https://www.publishwhatyoufund.org/the-index/

The Index is an interactive process and Publish What You Fund strongly engages with the organisations we are assessing. At the beginning of data collection, Publish What You Fund shares a preliminary assessment of each organisation’s level of transparency and remains available throughout and after the data collection period to respond to questions and queries. Additionally, since 2018, Publish What You Fund provides assessed organisations with the Data Quality Tester, an open source tool that allows organisations to independently test the quality of their data against the Index methodology.

To ensure both the accuracy and impartiality of the Index, independent reviewers also provide feedback, comments and suggestions on assessments. They typically come from CSOs, think tanks or universities familiar with the donor organisation concerned or the development sector more broadly. Further input is provided by a group of peer reviewers, comprised of recognised experts in the development sector and/or on open data. They advise Publish What You Fund on the methodology and related assessments.