We understand the sentiment that "charity starts at home," and we used to agree with it, until we learned just how different U.S. charity is from charity aimed at the poorest people in the world.

Helping people in the U.S. usually involves tackling extremely complex, poorly understood problems. Many popular approaches simply don't work. (See our discussion of education for example.) Many more approaches have simply never been investigated, beyond the stories and anecdotes. (More here.)

In the poorest parts of the world, people suffer from very different problems. A child may die of malaria for lack of a $10 bednet, or of diarrhea for lack of a 5-cent packet of nutrients.

The table below illustrates the difference, comparing our top U.S.-focused charities to our top international charities. Click the name of the cause or charity for more detail.

We estimate that it costs our top-rated international charity less than $2,500 to save a human life. This includes transportation, administration, etc. (Full details available here.) Compare that with even the best U.S. programs: the Nurse-Family Partnership and KIPP both cost over $10,000 per child served, and their impact is encouraging but not overwhelming.

This is not to say that developing-world aid is easy or simple. Some activities are highly proven and cost-effective; others have very poor track records. As in the U.S., generating evidence of impact (not just stories) is essential. We share what we know at our current report on international aid.

• See our recommended charities
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Next: Your dollar goes further when you fund the right program