We continue to recommend that donors give to GiveWell’s top charities, and especially to our Top Charities Fund, which we allocate quarterly to the highest priority needs we see among our top charities.
The onset of COVID-19 doesn’t alleviate the challenges that came before: the hundreds of thousands who die every year from malaria, the children sick from parasitic worms, or the millions of people living in extreme poverty. These problems remain, and we guess they’ll only be made worse by COVID-19.
We know how to address these cheaply. A $3,000-$5,000 donation can save the life of a child who would otherwise die from malaria. A few dollars can cure a child of parasitic worms. These are exceptional outcomes.
We have yet to find many similarly cost-effective opportunities to address COVID-19. We’ve made some grants to address COVID-related problems. However, we believe individual donors can do the most good by giving to the Top Charities Fund and our top charities, all of which are extremely cost-effective organizations serving the world’s most vulnerable people.