[Added August 27, 2014: GiveWell Labs is now known as the Open Philanthropy Project.] While we haven’t spent as much time as hoped on GiveWell Labs, we have made some progress. This post summarizes how we’ve spent our time, what we’ve learned, and what we’re planning next. We’ve put substantial time into each of the… Read More
The GiveWell Blog
Month: April 2013
Challenges of passive funding
[Added August 27, 2014: GiveWell Labs is now known as the Open Philanthropy Project.] Something I think about a lot is the spectrum from “passive funding” to “active funding.” By “passive funding,” I mean a dynamic in which the funder’s role is to review others’ proposals/ideas/arguments and pick which to fund, and by “active funding,”… Read More
Is the world getting better?
I recently spoke with Robin Hanson and he proposed that donors invest their money in order to give more in the future. One question that came up was whether the world is improving such that opportunities to cost-effectively accomplish good are running out. I think there’s a strong argument that this may be the case,… Read More
GiveWell’s history of philanthropy/philanthropy journalism project
Programs’ track records have always been a major input into our research process. For example, when assessing the case for distributing nets to prevent malaria, we’ve looked for information about the track record of similar programs. As we begin to research other areas where philanthropy could play a role, we similarly want to learn from… Read More
Deep value judgments and worldview characteristics
One purpose of this blog is to be explicit about some of the deep value judgments and worldviews that underlie our analysis and recommendations. As we raise the priority of expanding our research into new causes, this seems like a good time to lay out some of the things we believe – and some of… Read More