Evaluations of GiveWell

We complete two types of evaluations:

  • Internal reviews of our progress over the past year, focusing on the research we’ve completed, growth in the organization, and key metrics such as donations influenced and web traffic.
  • We actively solicit external assessments of the quality of our research, focusing on the quality of our methodology, the usefulness of our recommendations, and the accuracy of our findings.

Table of Contents

Last Updated: January 2024 (December 2021 version)

Internal Reviews and Plans

GiveWell’s mission is to find outstanding giving opportunities and publish the full details of our analysis to help donors decide where to give. The ultimate goal is to have a significant impact on the flow of donations, moving toward a world in which donors reward effectiveness in improving lives.

Each year we complete an internal review of our progress over the previous year and publish a plan of our goals for the coming year.

Note: As of June 2017, the Open Philanthropy Project is no longer a part of GiveWell. As of March 2021, we are no longer including summary links. As of 2022, we are sharing updates on GiveWell's progress and priorities primarily via our Board meeting materials, which are publicly available here.

Annual Reviews and Plans
Published Plan Review Summary
Mid-2007 Original business plan (PDF) - Summary
Mid-2008 Plan for 2008-09 (PDF) Annual review (PDF) Summary
Late-2008 Change of direction (PDF) Interim review (PDF) Summary
Early 2010 Review and plan (DOC) Review and plan (DOC) | Metrics report (DOC) Summary
Early 2011 Top-level priorities | Specifics of the research GiveWell metrics report | Introduction: big picture priorities shift | Evaluating GiveWell as a donor resource | Evaluating GiveWell as a project Summary
Early 2012 Top-level priorities | Specifics of the research GiveWell metrics report | GiveWell's progress in 2011 | Evaluating GiveWell as a donor resource | Evaluating GiveWell as a project Summary
Early 2013 Top-level decision | Update on plans GiveWell metrics report | GiveWell's progress in 2012 | Evaluating GiveWell as a donor resource | Evaluating GiveWell as a project Summary
Early 2014 Traditional work | GiveWell Labs GiveWell metrics report | GiveWell's progress on traditional work in 2013 | Progress on GiveWell Labs in 2013 | General plans for GiveWell as an organization in 2014 Summary
Early 2015 Traditional work | Open Philanthropy Project 2014 metrics | Summary of GiveWell's Progress in 2014 and Plans for 2015 | GiveWell's progress on traditional work in 2014 | Progress on the Open Philanthropy Project in 2014 | General plans for GiveWell as an organization in 2015 Summary
Early 2016 Traditional work | Open Philanthropy Project 2015 metrics | GiveWell's progress in 2015 | Open Philanthropy Project Summary
Early 2017 Our work 2016 metrics | GiveWell's progress in 2016 Summary
Early 2018 Our work 2017 metrics | GiveWell's progress on research in 2017 | GiveWell's progress on outreach and operations in 2017 and plans for 2018 Summary
Mid 2019 Our work 2018 metrics |GiveWell's progress in 2018 Summary
Mid 2020 Our work 2019 metrics | GiveWell's progress in 2019 Summary
Late 2021 2020 metrics | GiveWell's progress in 2020
Late 2022 2021 metrics
Late 2023 2022 metrics

External Reviews

We actively solicit and publicize feedback on our research and reasoning. In 2022 we held the Change Our Mind contest to solicit critiques of our cost-effectiveness analyses.

Sometimes, we commission external consultants to review our work or particular scientific studies. For example, David Roodman has looked into tricky, complex questions like the effect of childhood deworming on later-in-life consumption; see his blog posts here and here. More recently, we commissioned a report from an iron and anemia expert to inform our view on concerns raised by an entry to our Change Our Mind Contest. We also commissioned two external experts to review a water quality meta-analysis so that we could consider their views (see here and here) as we researched water quality interventions.

In some cases, other organizations have independently evaluated GiveWell's research. In 2023, Giving What We Can evaluated nonprofit evaluators and grantmakers, including GiveWell. Its full evaluation is available here.

We also provide an opportunity for all grantees to review and respond to the reasoning that supported GiveWell's decision to recommend a grant to them.

Anyone is also welcome to submit comments on our blog with their thoughts, questions, and feedback on our work. We publish an open post each quarter specifically to solicit feedback.