Globally, policymakers and the public are searching for solutions to help ensure money meant for public service delivery goes to fund effective programs. One such solution, results-based financing (RBF), leverages existing or new financial resources to incentivize results by paying for desired outcomes or outputs. RBF approaches are diverse and have emerged in different contexts and with different partners. Generally, however, they share two characteristics: payment is based on results and the relationship between payment and results is predefined. This brief introduces the diverse landscape of RBF approaches around the world and offers some observations and thoughts that may be relevant for the field, including those considering pay for success projects.