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Effective giving, how to choose where to donate and why giving effectively matters

Why we give

~700 million people around the world live in extreme poverty, surviving on less than £1.50 per day. This forces people to make impossible choices for themselves and their families regarding healthcare, food, water, education, and housing.

Diseases associated with extreme poverty kill millions of people every year. ~14,500 children under the age of five die every day from completely preventable causes, such as malaria, diarrhoea, or malnutrition. Millions more are stunted or suffer chronic disease.

If these illnesses and ultimately, deaths can be prevented or treated through simple and affordable interventions, we can and should do something about it.

We can make a difference

You could save at least ~1.2 lives a year

The scale of poverty can often feel overwhelming, yet the majority of us reading this are in an incredibly fortunate position. Did you know that if you were earning £30,000 per year post-tax, you’re in the richest 2.1% of people on the planet? If you were to donate 10% of your income, £3,000 each year could fund the distribution of 836 insecticide-treated bednets or more than 4,354 treatments for schistosomiasis. This is equivalent to saving ~1.2 healthy lives per year if you gave to high-impact charities.

How much impact could you have?

With the rise of evidence-driven interventions, we each have an unprecedented opportunity to transform lives. We have already made significant progress, with extreme poverty rates cut in half between 1990 and 2015.

Check out this Impact Calculator to see just how far your donation can go.

How to give effectively

By giving effectively, we can make the world better for all its inhabitants, for generations to come.

  • Some people lump charities into one “doing good” bucket. But research shows that they can vary significantly in their impact per dollar, or cost-effectiveness. Because our resources are limited and the scale (and number) of the world’s problems are large, it’s important to find the giving opportunities where our donations go furthest.

    Charity Entrepreneurship equips funders and philanthropic professionals with the tools and skills they need to become effective and impactful grantmakers.

  • We might think it’s obvious which charities will do the most good. Won’t our gut or passions tell us where we should give? Unfortunately, a charity’s marketing materials and purpose statement can be quite persuasive even when its impact isn’t.

    For some of the best guidance, look to organisations who make all of these assessments through deep research and list the most up-to-date giving opportunities for example Giving What We Can.

    Refer to research organisations and charity evaluators:

    • Animal Charity Evaluators evaluates charities focused on animal welfare.

    • GiveWell evaluates global health and development charities.

    • Founders Pledge evaluates charities in many different areas, including climate, global health & development and global catastrophic risks.

    • Giving Green evaluates charities in the climate sector.

    • Longview Philanthropy provides grantmaking advice on global catastrophic risk such as nuclear security, pandemic preparedness, and beneficial artificial intelligence

    • Open Philanthropy focuses on global health & wellbeing and global catastrophic risks

    • Effective Altruism Funds provides support in global development, animal welfare, long-term future, and EA meta/infrastructure

  • We recommend relying on the research of impact-focused charity evaluators when deciding where to donate. Donors can use this research to first select a high-impact problem (or “cause”) and then choose a charity or fund that is particularly well positioned to make progress on that problem.

    Consider collaborating and coordinating with other funders that share a common interest.

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