Although our list of top charities is short (just eight excellent organizations), we’re always on the lookout for other groups to add. Fistula Foundation is one of the charities we’re planning to prioritize highly for further evaluation. Donating to Fistula Foundation is not yet one of our recommendations—as it’s still under active investigation—but we’re excited to share an update on our work so far and next steps.
The GiveWell Blog
Allocation of discretionary funds from Q3 2019
In the third quarter of 2019, donors gave a combined $2.6 million to GiveWell for granting to recommended charities at our discretion. We greatly appreciate this support, which enables us to direct funding where we believe it can be used most impactfully. We grant this funding to one or more of our top charities each quarter.
We decided to allocate all $2.6 million to Helen Keller International’s (HKI) vitamin A supplementation (VAS) program. HKI is a GiveWell top charity that supports provision of vitamin A supplements to young children, reducing their likelihood of dying from infectious disease. It does so by providing technical assistance, engaging in advocacy, and contributing funding to government-run VAS programs in sub-Saharan Africa. We based our decision on our estimate of the high cost-effectiveness of the work HKI expects to conduct with this funding.
We provide an updated recommendation for donors below.
Summary
In this post, we discuss:
We’re glad to answer your questions
We know that many individuals make their charitable donations at this time of year. We’re here to help!
If you would like to discuss your 2019 giving decision with a GiveWell staff member, please email us at info@givewell.org or schedule a call here.
For example, we’re glad to:
- Provide a brief overview of our 2019 top charity recommendations.
- Assist with the logistics of making a donation and discuss options for donating, such as appreciated securities, checks, and wire transfers.
- Answer any questions about our research or recommendations.
We look forward to hearing from you!
December 2019 open thread
Our goal with hosting quarterly open threads is to give blog readers an opportunity to publicly raise comments or questions about GiveWell or related topics (in the comments section below). As always, you’re also welcome to email us at info@givewell.org or to request a call with GiveWell staff if you have feedback or questions you’d prefer to discuss privately. We’ll try to respond promptly to questions or comments.
Staff members’ personal donations for giving season 2019
For this post, a number of GiveWell staff members volunteered to share the thinking behind their personal donations for the year. We published similar posts in previous years.1See our staff giving posts from 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013. Staff are listed in order of their start dates at GiveWell.
You can click the below links to jump to a staff member’s entry:
Ask us your questions about giving on our year-end conference call
We invite you to join our year-end conference call on Thursday, December 12 at 3:30pm ET/12:30pm PT. GiveWell’s Executive Director Elie Hassenfeld and research staff will present our latest work and answer your questions.
On the call, we will provide introductory context on our top charities and research process as well as taking questions on all topics, including new research.
We hope you’ll join us!