The Government Cooperative Programme (GCP) is among the largest of the FAO trust fund programmes, with a recent approval level of US$ 135 million in 2004 (compared to US$ 1.5 million in 1970). GCP assistance is usually provided by a developed country and it is directed at an individual recipient country, a group of countries within the same region (a regional project) or a group of countries in different regions (an interregional project).

In addition, Trust Fund programmes are not necessarily funded by one single donor. In fact, some programmes are funded by many donors. Examples of successful multi-donor trust fund are the programme which helped eliminate the New World Screwworm, avian flu, Tsunami reconstruction and the FAO desert locust campaign which illustrates FAO's utility as an agent for facilitating and catalysing effective development initiatives.

In 2004, approximately 60 percent of the contributions to the GCP Programme were received from 9 sources: the European Union (25 percent), Netherlands (22 percent), Italy (12 percent), Norway (10 percent),Germany and the United Kingdom (9 percent each), Japan and the United States (7 percent each), Belgium (6 percent). These figures reflect an appreciated trend towards diversification of funding sources. For example, during a preceding period, between 1994 and 2002, 54 percent of all GCP contributions were received from only two countries, namely the Netherlands (32 percent) and Italy (22 percent).