Thanks for your support. This page lists the options for donating to our recommended charities that we are aware of. Published: September 2015; Updated: March 2016
Donate to GiveWell in support of our recommended charities
We recommend that donors giving gifts smaller than $1,000 donate online by credit card because this method requires the lowest amount of administrative work for us. More details on donating via credit card as well as alternative methods:
- Online credit card donations: Use this form. Transactions are processed by Braintree Payments (www.braintreepayments.com). Like all credit card processors, Braintree charges a percentage fee on every transaction. Braintree charges GiveWell 2.2% (3.25% for AMEX) + $0.30 on each transaction. The fee is taken out on GiveWell's end: if you donate $100, we receive $97.50 (or $96.45 if using an AMEX).
- Online through PayPal: Select an option from this page. PayPal charges 2.2% + $0.30 on each transaction. There is some administrative work for us to process PayPal donations.
- Mail a check, using our check donation form (Microsoft Word version here). For donors giving more than $1,000, we recommend sending a check. Checks have no processing fees, but require more administrative work for us than either credit card or PayPal donations.
- Donate by bank transfer. Please contact us at donations@givewell.org if you are interested in making a bank transfer. Donations made by bank transfer may have fees for the donor. It is our impression that some banks charge a fee for transfers and some do not. If you're interested in donating by bank transfer, we suggest you check with your bank about the fees involved. GiveWell does not pay fees on bank transfers.
- Donate stocks. Donations of stock are processed by E*Trade. E*Trade charges a $9.99 commission on each sale. Please email us at donations@givewell.org if you are interested in making a donation of stock to GiveWell. Alternatively, donors giving $5,000 or more can give to GiveWell's Vanguard donor-advised fund, which may be able to accept certain types of securities that E*Trade cannot, including Vanguard mutual funds.
- Bitcoin or other payment methods. Please email us at donations@givewell.org if you would like to make a donation with Bitcoin or an alternative payment method. We are interested in hearing from donors who would prefer other options, and in some cases, we may be able to coordinate with donors to accept other forms of payment.
Donate directly to our recommended charities
It is important to us to track donations made due to our research. If you choose to give directly to one or more of our recommended charities (rather than through our site), please let us know through our donation report form and, if the charity's donation form provides a place to do so, please tell the charity that your gift was a result of our research. Follow the links below to donate directly:
- Against Malaria Foundation
- Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI)
- Evidence Action, which runs Deworm the World Initiative
- GiveDirectly
- Iodine Global Network
- Living Goods
- Our other recommended charities do not currently have a way to accept individual donations. These are: Development Media International (DMI) and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)'s universal salt iodization (USI) program.
Common questions
Why does GiveWell collect donations on behalf of its recommended charities?
(1) It allows us to track our own impact on donations, (2) it gives us a chance to ask you if you'd like to receive updates on GiveWell's research, and (3) when we grant the funds to the charity, we can designate them as we believe is best (generally as unrestricted donations; more details for AMF, GiveDirectly, and Evidence Action).
Does GiveWell charge fees on donations to its recommended charities?
No, GiveWell collects no fees from donations to its recommended charities.
Will my donation be tax-deductible?
GiveWell (a.k.a. The Clear Fund) is a federally-recognized tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. We are able to make grants for the support of our recommended charities, and US donors are able to take tax deductions for donations to GiveWell to the extent permitted by US tax laws.
- UK donors can make a tax-deductible donation to the Giving What We Can Trust for the support of one or more or GiveWell's recommended charities. Only charities listed on the form are currently eligible – more may be added later. Donations by UK tax-payers via the trust are eligible for Gift Aid.
- German and Swiss donors can make a deductible donation to Giordano-Bruno-Stiftung or Effective Altruism Foundation for the support of GiveWell or one or more of our recommended charities.
- Canadian donors can make a tax-deductible donation to Charity Science to support GiveWell or GiveWell's recommended charities. Donors can give online through PayPal (2-3% processing fee) at Charity Science's website, or, for donations greater than $1,000, can contact Charity Science at joey@charityscience.com for more information about giving by check or bank transfer (low or no fees). Note that there is an aggregate limit to how much Charity Science can give to charities that are not registered in Canada, so donors considering giving a gift of $5,000 or more for GiveWell, GiveDirectly, Deworm the World Initiative, GAIN, DMI, or Living Goods should contact Charity Science or GiveWell (donations@givewell.org) before donating.
- Australian donors can make a tax-deductible donation to Effective Altruism Australia and earmark the donation for one of several GiveWell recommended charities. (Australian donors wishing to give to the Against Malaria Foundation can make a tax-deductible donation directly to that organization – see below.)
In addition, donations to our top charities and other standout charities themselves are eligible for tax deductions in the following countries:
- Against Malaria Foundation: several countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia.
- GiveDirectly: US
- Schistosomiasis Control Initiative: UK (Gift Aid)
- Evidence Action, which leads Deworm the World Initiative: US
- Iodine Global Network: Canada
- Living Goods: US
We ask that donors who use our research to decide to support these organizations through their own websites complete our donation reporting form so we are able to track our own impact.
Unfortunately, there are many countries where many people wish to use our research but none of our top-rated charities are tax-deductible. In some countries, donors may be able to take advantage of donor-advised funds or fiscal sponsorship organizations in order to make tax-deductible gifts to our top charities.
In general, we think that differences in effectiveness between charities are sufficiently large that in cases where the best giving opportunity may not be tax-deductible, it makes sense to give a smaller post-tax donation to the best organization rather than a larger pre-tax donation to a tax-deductible organization. However, we understand that donors may have different intuitions on this question, and are hoping to eventually have tax-deductible giving opportunities in other countries with many GiveWell users.
When does GiveWell grant funds it has collected to charities?
We currently plan to make grants to charities every other month, about a month after the end of each period (for example, around the beginning of April based on donations collected in January and February). We may alter this schedule in the future (e.g. if a charity tells us that having the funds sooner will impact its operations or if we face capacity limitations).
How do I modify or cancel a recurring donation? How do I update the credit card number for a recurring donation?
Please send us an email at donations@givewell.org if you would like to modify or cancel your monthly donation to GiveWell.
Can you help me change or cancel a donation I made to one of your recommended charities?
We can only assist with donations made to recommended charities through GiveWell; in order to change or cancel a donation made directly to a GiveWell-recommended charity, you will need to reach out to the charity directly.
I would like to reallocate my existing, recurring donation according to your updated recommendation.
If your existing donation is designated for regranting to our top charities, we will automatically reallocate the money you donate in accordance with our updated recommendation. There is no need for you to take any action.
I want to give stocks or other securities, or I want to donate by bank transfer.
Please email us at donations@givewell.org, and we can help you set up the donation.
Can I donate to a donor-advised fund?
GiveWell has a donor advised fund (DAF) through Vanguard Charitable for this purpose. More information and instructions for donating are available here.
I want to donate in honor of someone.
If you are giving by credit card, there is an option on our online donation forms to dedicate your donation to someone. If you check this box and and tell us the person's email address, we'll send them an email letting them know about your gift.
I tried entering my credit card number and got an error. What do I do?
We’re sorry about the trouble. We know that some donors occasionally experience problems with our donation pages. One thing that has worked for some donors in the past is using a different browser.
If that fails, we can also accept credit card donations via PayPal at http://www.givewell.org/about/donate/paypal and we can accept donations by check made out to GiveWell and sent to 182 Howard St #208, San Francisco, CA 94105. Other donation options are listed above.
We appreciate you letting us know if you continue to have website issues so that we can troubleshoot. Please email donations@givewell.org with a description of the problem.
Is the email I received "from GiveWell" spam?
GiveWell has experienced several cases of others pretending to represent GiveWell. We don't contact people based on their posting of resumes on job sites and we never ask applicants to send money on our behalf. One name that has occurred frequently in fraudulent messages is "Susan Komer" (we will add other names to this paragraph if you alert us about them). If you are uncertain that a contact is real, please email us at info@givewell.org.
Other questions?
Please don't hesitate to email us at donations@givewell.org.