Our top charities are evidence-backed, thoroughly vetted, underfunded organizations.
We recommend charities according to how much good additional donations can do. We examine charities' overall quality and cost-effectiveness, as well as what more funding would enable them to do. We regularly publish discussions of our top charities' strengths and weaknesses.
Donations to support GiveWell's recommended charities are tax deductible for donors in a number of countries. Learn more here.
Preventing deaths from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa.
Malaria is one of the leading killers of children in Africa. Insecticide-treated nets prevent deaths and many other non-fatal cases of malaria and are relatively inexpensive — about $5 per net. (For more details, see our full report on nets.) We believe that AMF effectively expands access to nets. Read More
Donors in many countries are able to make tax-deductible donations to AMF. Details here.
Treating people for parasite infections in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.
The charities listed below support programs that treat people for parasitic worm infections that can cause short-term symptoms and may impact children's long-term development and earnings in adulthood. These worms are extremely inexpensive to treat. (For more, see our full report on deworming.)
Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI)
The Schistosomiasis Control Initiative advocates for, funds, provides technical assistance to, and monitors government-run deworming programs. SCI has a strong track record of starting and scaling up deworming programs. It has a fairly strong track record of demonstrating that its programs are effective. Read More
Deworm the World Initiative, led by Evidence Action
The Deworm the World Initiative advocates for, funds, provides technical assistance to, and monitors government-run school-based deworming programs. We believe that Deworm the World, of the deworming charities we have evaluated, has the strongest track record of demonstrating that its programs are effective. Read More
END Fund (deworming program only)
The END Fund manages grants, provides technical assistance, and raises funding for controlling and eliminating neglected tropical diseases, including deworming. We recommend the END Fund's work on deworming programs because we believe the END Fund is in a strong position to identify opportunities to start and scale-up deworming programs. Our recommendation is only for the END Fund's work on deworming programs. Read More
Sightsavers (deworming program only)
Sightsavers advocates for, funds, provides technical assistance to, and monitors deworming programs as part of its work to prevent and treat neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Deworming programs are similar to Sightsavers' other NTD programs and Sightsavers has a fairly strong track record with respect to its NTD programs, although its track record on deworming programs, specifically, is more limited. Our recommendation is only for Sightsavers' deworming program. Read More
Donors in many countries are able to make tax-deductible donations to the Deworm the World Initiative, END Fund, Schistosomiasis Control Initiative, and Sightsavers. Details here.
Preventing deaths from malaria in Africa.
Malaria is one of the leading killers of children in Africa. Strong evidence suggests that seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) programs—preventative treatment for young children during the peak malaria season—substantially reduce cases of malaria. (For more details, see our interim report on SMC.) We believe that Malaria Consortium effectively reaches a large proportion of children targeted by its SMC programs. Our recommendation is only for Malaria Consortium's SMC program. Read More
Donors in some countries are able to make tax-deductible donations to Malaria Consortium. Details here.
Distributing cash to very poor individuals in Kenya and Uganda.
Directly transferring money to poor individuals allows them to purchase that which they believe will help them most. Strong evidence indicates that cash transfers lead recipients to spend more on their basic needs (such as food) and may allow recipients to make investments with high returns, with no evidence of large increases in spending on items like alcohol or tobacco. (For more, see our full report on cash transfers.) We believe that GiveDirectly effectively distributes cash to extremely low-income individuals. Read More
Donors in many countries are able to make tax-deductible donations to GiveDirectly. Details here.
Standout charities
The organizations listed below support programs that may be extremely cost-effective and are supported by some evidence. We do not feel as confident in the impact of these organizations as we do in our top charities; the charities listed below may be implementing programs with weaker evidence bases, may have shorter track records, or may collect less monitoring information than our top charities.
Although we don't recommend these organizations as strongly as we do our top charities, they stand out from the vast majority of organizations we have considered in terms of the evidence base for their work and their transparency, and offer additional giving options for donors who feel highly aligned with their work. We have published reviews of all of these organizations.
- Development Media International produces mass media to promote improved health behaviors in developing countries.
- Food Fortification Initiative works to reduce micronutrient deficiencies through advocacy and assistance to countries implementing food fortification programs.
- The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN)'s Universal Salt Iodization program aids salt iodization programs in developing countries.
- Iodine Global Network (IGN) aids salt iodization programs in developing countries.
- Living Goods supports a network of community health promoters in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Project Healthy Children works to reduce micronutrient deficiencies by assisting small countries with their food fortification programs.
Tax-deductibility of donations to our top charities
GiveWell (a.k.a. The Clear Fund) is a federally-recognized tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. US donors are able to take tax deductions for donations to GiveWell to the extent permitted by US tax laws. In addition, GiveWell is able to make grants to our recommended charities. Please note that donations to GiveWell are irrevocable and donor requests to grant donations to our recommended charities are subject to our approval (more details on GiveWell's approval process here). In addition:
- Charity-specific considerations. Gifts to the Against Malaria Foundation are tax-deductible in several countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia. Gifts to SCI and GiveDirectly (through this link) are tax-deductible in the UK. It is possible for UK donors to make tax-deductible gifts to Sightsavers, the END Fund, and Malaria Consortium (credit card donations only), though donors will need to specify how their donation should be used if they want to support the specific programs we recommend. Donors in India, Ireland and Italy can also make tax-deductible gifts to Sightsavers. Gifts to the Iodine Global Network are tax-deductible in Canada.
- UK donors wishing to give to a GiveWell-recommended charity not listed above may contact donations@givewell.org for additional assistance.
- 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 contact@charityscience.com for more information about giving by check or bank transfer (low or no fees). For information about giving for GiveWell-recommended charities not on the list, please email contact@charityscience.com. 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, Sightsavers, Malaria Consortium, the END Fund, GAIN, DMI, or Living Goods should contact Charity Science or GiveWell 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. Only charities listed on the form are currently eligible – more may be added later. (Australian donors wishing to give to the Against Malaria Foundation can make a tax-deductible donation directly to that organization – see above.)
More information on tax-deductibility of donations to our top charities.
Donate to GiveWell
Donate Online
You can donate online by using the button below:
You may give an unrestricted donation to GiveWell, which we may choose to either use for operating expenses or to grant to recommended charities, or you may choose to give funds that we will only grant to recommended charities. Please note that donor requests to grant donations to our recommended charities are subject to our approval (details on our grant approval process are available here).
*If you have any trouble using the form linked above, we can also accept credit and debit card donations through Paypal.
Donate By Mail
You can donate to GiveWell (a.k.a. The Clear Fund) by sending a check made out to GiveWell to:
You may give an unrestricted donation to GiveWell, which we may choose to either use for operating expenses or to grant to recommended charities, or you may choose to give funds that we will only grant to recommended charities. If you would like us to grant your donation to recommended charities, please specify this on the check donation form (Microsoft Word version here). Please note that donor requests to grant donations to our recommended charities are subject to our approval (details on our grant approval process are available here). If you do not designate how you would like your donation to be used, we will treat it as an unrestricted donation.
Donating to support GiveWell's recommended charities as a gift for a friend or family member? Download, fill in, and print our gift acknowledgement letters.
Donate to GiveWell's Operations
Using the button below, you can make a donation to support GiveWell's operations:
Discuss these charities with GiveWell staff
If you'd like to discuss our research and top charities with a GiveWell staff member, you can request a call here.
