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We search for the charities that save or improve lives the most per dollar.

Our goal is to produce the world's top research on where to give. Free, for everyone. We recommend a small number of charities that do an incredible amount of good.
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Last updated April 7, 2021
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Why these 9 charities?


Our Top Recommendation:

The Maximum Impact Fund

Photo credit: Malaria Consortium/Sophie Garcia
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If you'd like your donation to do the most good, consider giving to our Maximum Impact Fund. GiveWell takes no fees and uses our most up-to-date research to grant your gift to the charities where donations will help the most.

Find out more about the Maximum Impact Fund.

Why these 9 charities?


Your estimated impact in one year

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MAXIMUM IMPACT FUND OVERVIEW

This is the best fit for donors who want to maximize their impact. We take zero fees and use our most up-to-date research to grant your gift where it will help the most.

We typically grant this pool of funds to one or more of our recommended charities each quarter. Once we grant your donation, we’ll email you to let you know which charity or charities we selected and what we expect your donation will accomplish.

Find out more about the Maximum Impact Fund. Learn more about how these results are calculated here.

Why these 9 charities?


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MALARIA CONSORTIUM (SEASONAL MALARIA CHEMOPREVENTION PROGRAM) OVERVIEW

Malaria kills over 400,000 people annually, mostly children under 5 in sub-Saharan Africa.(1) Seasonal malaria chemoprevention is preventive medicine that saves children’s lives. It is given during the four months of the year when malaria infection rates are especially high.

Find out more about the Malaria Consortium’s seasonal malaria chemoprevention program. Learn more about how these results are calculated here.

Why these 9 charities?


Your estimated impact in one year

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AGAINST MALARIA FOUNDATION OVERVIEW

Malaria kills over 400,000 people annually, mostly children under 5 in sub-Saharan Africa.(2) Nets save lives. Participants hang the nets and sleep under them so they are not bitten by malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

Find out more about the Against Malaria Foundation. Learn more about how these results are calculated here.

Why these 9 charities?


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HELEN KELLER INTERNATIONAL'S VITAMIN A SUPPLEMENTATION PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Vitamin A deficiency leaves children vulnerable to infections and can lead to death. We attribute over 200,000 children's deaths to vitamin A deficiency each year.(3) This program saves lives by providing vitamin A supplements to children under 5 years old.

Find out more about Helen Keller International’s vitamin A supplementation program. Learn more about how these results are calculated here.

Why these 9 charities?


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NEW INCENTIVES OVERVIEW

In Nigeria, 43% of infants did not receive all recommended childhood vaccines in 2019.(4) This program provides cash transfers to incentivize caregivers to bring babies to clinics for routine childhood vaccinations. It operates in North West Nigeria

Find out more about New Incentives. Learn more about how these results are calculated here.

Why these 9 charities?


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SCI FOUNDATION OVERVIEW

Hundreds of millions of people around the world are infected with parasitic worms.(5) This program provides children with medication that clears parasitic infections and may lead to a large increase in lifetime earnings. We recommend the program based on its small potential for a large impact on earnings.

Find out more about the SCI Foundation. Learn more about how these results are calculated here.

Why these 9 charities?


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EVIDENCE ACTION'S DEWORM THE WORLD INITIATIVE OVERVIEW

Hundreds of millions of people around the world are infected with parasitic worms.(6) This program provides children with medication that clears parasitic infections and may lead to a large increase in lifetime earnings. We recommend the program based on its small potential for a large impact on earnings.

Find out more about Evidence Action's Deworm the World Initiative.. Learn more about how these results are calculated here.

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SIGHTSAVERS' DEWORMING PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Hundreds of millions of people around the world are infected with parasitic worms.(7) This program provides children with medication that clears parasitic infections and may lead to a large increase in lifetime earnings. We recommend the program based on its small potential for a large impact on earnings.

Find out more about the SightSavers' deworming program. Learn more about how these results are calculated here.

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THE END FUND'S DEWORMING PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Hundreds of millions of people around the world are infected with parasitic worms.(8) This program provides children with medication that clears parasitic infections and may lead to a large increase in lifetime earnings. We recommend the program based on its small potential for a large impact on earnings.

Find out more about the END Fund’s deworming program. Learn more about how these results are calculated here.

Why these 9 charities?


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GiveDirectly Overview

The majority of people in the world live on less than $3,700 per year.(9) This program gives cash to very poor families, mostly in Africa, to spend as they like. Many participants make investments in business and agricultural assets, housing, and education.

Find out more about GiveDirectly. Learn more about how these results are calculated here.

to the Maximum Impact Fund
to the Malaria Consortium
to the Against Malaria Foundation
to Helen Keller International
to New Incentives
to the SCI Foundation
to Evidence Action
to SightSavers
to the END Fund
to GiveDirectly

The gold standard for giving.

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How we maximize your gift's impact:

1
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GiveWell shares the top charities we've found for saving and improving lives.
2
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You choose the top charity (or charities) you prefer, or have GiveWell direct your donation where it will help the most.
3
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GiveWell takes no fees and sends your donation to the organization(s) you choose.
4
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Your donation makes a meaningful difference for some of the poorest people in the world.
We spend over 20,000 hours annually researching charity.
We conduct in-depth evaluations of a few highly effective charities. Our nine top charities do an incredible amount of good.
GiveWell is independently supported by donors who give directly to our operations.

Our Research Process

We extensively research each charity before recommending it. We continue evaluations each year after.

Learn about research
1
Independent evidence

We look at independent studies of charity programs, such as randomized controlled trials, to understand their effectiveness.

2
Modeling cost-effectiveness

We build in-depth models to analyze charities' cost-effectiveness. We refine this throughout our charity evaluation process, based on their budget and monitoring, to estimate impact per dollar spent.

3
Interviews and site visits

We conduct extensive interviews with charity staff. We visit charities in the field to see their work on the ground.

4
Budget reviews

We review charities' past spending and forecast their future spending, to better understand their track record and expected impact.

5
Charities' data

We ask charities to share their data showing how well their programs reach the intended beneficiaries so we can better understand how successful charities' programs have been.

6
Ongoing reviews

We continually assess the work, progress, and future plans of our recommended charities. We will remove a charity recommendation if we no longer believe the organization meets our criteria.

As seen in

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More than 50,000 donorsiBased on our records of donors who've contributed either to GiveWell or to our recommended charities.
— Learn more have trusted GiveWell to direct their donations. Together, they have given over $500 millioniBased on our records of the money we've directed to our recommended charities since 2011.
— Learn more to the organizations we recommend.

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These donations will save over 75,000 livesiBased on our cost-effectiveness analysis and our records of money we've directed to our recommended charities since 2011.
— Learn more and provide cash grants of over $90 millioniBased on our records of money we've directed to GiveDirectly since 2011, and our understanding of how GiveDirectly transfers funds to its very poor recipients.
— Learn more to the global poor.

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Check our work.

It's right to ask questions of any charity that promises incredible impact. It's hard to do incredible things.

We publish the full details of our analysis so you can fully vet our reasoning. We also share mistakes we've made which are relevant to evaluating our work.

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Why our top charities work in lower-income countries.

Helping people in high-income countries is expensive, and the gains can be more marginal. People living in low-income countries face many problems that have ready solutions, such as children dying from malaria or suffering from parasitic worms.

Donating internationally is the most cost-effective way to provide lifesaving help.

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"For almost a decade I've trusted GiveWell to guide most of my donations. Without them, I couldn't answer the question that matters most to me: How can I do the most good with my limited funds?"

- Dan Heath,
New York Times bestselling author, former GiveWell board member, and donor since 2010
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Frequently Asked Questions

What is GiveWell?

GiveWell is an independent nonprofit focused on helping people do as much good as possible with their donations. We recommend a short list of top charities that we update annually. All of our research is free and available to the public.

Who works at GiveWell?

GiveWell was founded by two individuals working in the finance industry in 2007. Our team has grown quite a bit since then! For more, see our story and meet our team.

How does GiveWell make money?

GiveWell is a nonprofit that is funded by donors who choose to support our mission. We don’t take any fees from donations directed to charities we recommend, nor do we receive any fees from charities for being featured on our site.

Will my donation be tax-deductible?

GiveWell (a.k.a. The Clear Fund) is a federally-recognized tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. GiveWell is also a registered charity in the Netherlands with tax-deductible status (a Public Benefit Organization). GiveWell can accept donations on behalf of our recommended charities. U.S.- and Netherlands-based donors can donate to GiveWell for our operations or the support of our recommended charities and take tax deductions to the extent permitted by the law. More information is available here on the tax-deductibility of donations to GiveWell and our recommended charities, including for donors based outside of the U.S. and the Netherlands.

Does GiveWell recommend charities for every cause?

We do not. GiveWell's mission is to recommend charities that we believe can save or improve the greatest number of lives per dollar donated. We focus on the areas that we believe are most promising to achieve this aim. This has led us to research and recommend charities working in global health and poverty alleviation because your dollar can go further overseas.