Making a Check Donation to GiveWell

Thanks for your interest in donating to GiveWell!

Due to an increase in mail fraud and potential mail delays, we encourage you to consider instead making a donation via bank transfer (ACH), which is fast, secure, and has a negligible transaction fee, or one of our other donation methods.

Please complete our donation form below prior to making your donation. Doing so will:

• enable us to match your contact information with the checks we receive and send you a receipt;
• allow you to specify your preference for how we allocate your donation; and
• reduce the administrative cost associated with processing your donation.

Donations received without an accompanying donation form submission or identifying information on the physical check will be treated as anonymous donations to our Unrestricted Fund. Donations to our Unrestricted Fund may be used for operating expenses or, per our excess assets policy, be designated for grantmaking to highly impactful and cost-effective programs.

In order for your donation to be tax-deductible in the current year, your check must be postmarked on or before December 31. See more about charitable donation tax deadlines here.

Donations to GiveWell are not refundable except under exceptional circumstances. GiveWell retains sole discretion in determining whether we will issue a refund. If you have a question about your gift or would like to request a refund, please contact us at donations@givewell.org. GiveWell will never issue a refund after donated funds have been granted to another organization. GiveWell’s board retains final discretion over grant decisions.

If you have any questions about how to donate via check, please email us at donations@givewell.org before making your donation.

Donation form

If you would prefer to print and mail our check donation form, you can use
this donation form (Microsoft Word version here).