Giving Effectively

GiveWell was founded to answer the following question: How do I do the most good with my donation? It’s a hard question to answer—we think it’s a full-time job.

Over time, we’ve developed criteria and processes for identifying the charities we believe do the most good, in terms of lives saved or improved, for every dollar donated. Below, we share our general principles for giving effectively, as well as how GiveWell applies those principles to find its top charities.

Quick Start Guide

Giving 101

The key principles we recommend you keep in mind when deciding where to give:

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How GiveWell Works

Here's how we look for charities that do the most good per dollar donated:

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