Delivering unconditional cash directly to the world's poorest households via secure mobile transfers. 

Since 2009, GiveDirectly has delivered more than $580 million in unconditional cash transfers to families in need. These one-time cash transfers allow recipients to invest in what they need most and have been shown to improve their earnings, children’s school attendance, health, nutrition, and mental well-being.
 
GiveDirectly uses government data to target villages where most or all residents are living in extreme poverty, defined by the World Bank as earning under $2.15/day. In-country GiveDirectly staff enroll one member of each household in the entire village to receive a one-time transfer of about $1,000 USD sent in two installments using mobile money. Recipients can then withdraw the mobile funds as cash with local agents and use the funds to invest in what they need – whether it’s on starting a business, education, making their home safer/sturdier, healthcare, or livestock.
 
GiveDirectly uses rigorous experimental research (randomized controlled trials) to measure the impact of their unconditional cash programs and answer public policy questions, generating evidence on key design and implementation questions across varied contexts. You can find over 300 studies on the positive impacts of cash transfers in GiveDirectly’s Cash Research Explorer.

GiveDirectly

We connect donors with cost-effective, evidence-based ways to increase global happiness and wellbeing.

​There are many ways to improve people's lives. If we want to find the best ways, we need to be able to measure and compare the impact of these different approaches. Of fundamental importance is the choice of metric: what can we measure that reflects the values that we, as individuals and societies, care about? 

A common approach is to measure the impacts on people’s health or wealth and use these as proxies for life improvement. However, health and wealth aren't the only things that matter. At HLI, we believe that they are valuable to the extent that they increase wellbeing. Although closely linked, it is people’s wellbeing, and not their health and wealth, which is intrinsically valuable.

We think the best available approach is to use subjective wellbeing (SWB): individuals' own reports of their happiness and life satisfaction. Social scientists - mostly economists and psychologists - have been collecting data on subjective wellbeing for the last few decades. The field has recently grown dramatically, with 175,000 books or articles published within the previous decade. 

Subjective wellbeing data is a powerful tool to incorporate into our assessments of how to help others. We aim to conduct research that looks into this in greater depth: building on the theoretical foundations of the SWB literature and applying this to the question of how resources can most effectively be used to improve worldwide well-being. 

Happier Lives Institute

The Top Charities Fund supports the highest-priority funding needs among our top charities.

We find and recommend outstanding giving opportunities and publish our research to help donors give more effectively and with greater confidence.

All donations here support our Top Charities Fund. Donations to the Top Charities Fund are granted on a rolling basis to support cost-effective funding opportunities at our top charities. We use our latest research to grant the funds to the top charity (or charities) where we believe they’ll do the most good.

Learn more and view past grants at https://www.givewell.org/top-charities-fund


Photo caption: At health centers in Sierra Leone supported by Helen Keller Intl, mothers who bring their children in for twice-yearly vitamin A supplemention can also receive comprehensive counseling about birth control options that are available to them free of charge. Combining family planning and children's healthcare services benefits both mother and child. 2019.

Top Charities Fund

FLI catalyzes and supports research and initiatives for safeguarding life and developing optimistic visions of the future.

To catalyze and support research and initiatives for safeguarding life and developing optimistic visions of the future, including positive ways for humanity to steer its own course considering new technologies and challenges.

Future of Life Institute

We do the research to make sure your donation has the highest impact.

We are a community of people who believe in taking action. Our role is to help you make the most effective donations possible in the fight against extreme poverty. Since our founding in 2013, we have compiled a list of research-backed charities working on interventions against the multidimensional factors of poverty, resulting in over $100 million donated to high-impact charities.

The Life You Can Save

Supporting highly-impactful, evidence-based solutions to the triple challenge of climate change, air pollution and energy poverty.

The Founders Pledge Climate Change Fund exists to leverage each dollar and fund the most effective, neglected climate solutions.
 
Climate change is an incredibly complex problem borne out of how we produce and consume energy; it's intertwined with challenges of economic development, energy poverty, and emissions-fueled air pollution. It is an environmental and humanitarian crisis we must urgently address. 

We aim to take a holistic approach that recognizes the global nature of this challenge and the fact that, despite its urgency, we are still in the early days of climate action. We address the worst-case scenarios of climate damage, and look for solutions that can reduce current carbon emissions and accelerate the transition to clean energy to meet global demand, especially in developing countries. Through the Fund, we:

- Accelerate innovation in neglected technologies
- Catalytically grow the most effective climate organizations
- Promote policy leadership and paradigm shaping

### Our Approach to Grantmaking
When evaluating potential grants, we consider several key points:

- **Counterfactual impact.** Our grants are designed to create a meaningful outcome that would not otherwise have happened. This means that you can rely on the Funds to create meaningful, real change, rather than just maintaining the status quo.
- **Impact-driven philanthropy.** This fund prioritizes the highest-impact solutions to challenges. We assess where the gaps are, which opportunities may be neglected by other funders, and where the biggest wins are in terms of making the biggest difference.
- **The organization’s funding gap.** Not all organizations are set up to scale up their programming and many can’t productively absorb large amounts of unsolicited funding. We evaluate all potential grantees’ capacity for growth and consider how much money they could put to good use.
- **Organizational strength.** Particularly with unrestricted funding, it’s important to have trust in the leadership and capacity of the organizations we support. We look at their track record of success and their transparency about failures as well as successes, and we only support those organizations which are exceptionally well run.
- **Time-critical opportunities and funding certainty.** While Founders Pledge members give to our top climate charities regularly, sometimes there are time-critical opportunities which require fast decisions. We will use the Fund to make grants that enable such short-term opportunities and stability for high-impact funding opportunities thereby increasing the impact compared to individual giving to specific organizations.
- **Portfolio approach.** Because most climate damage comes from particular severe outcomes – with a world of 4 degrees of warming being much worse than twice as bad as a world with 2 degrees – and because every particular strategy – such as energy innovation – might underdeliver, we pursue a portfolio approach to maximize positive impact. This means we will diversify our bets in ways that, when one approach fails (such as energy innovation), the others we promote (such as carbon removal) can be expected to be particularly important and still available.

### Frequently-Asked Questions

**Can charities apply for money from the Fund?**
The Funds do not generally accept applications from charities, and we request that charities do not send unsolicited applications for funding. If the Fund Managers choose to open up an application round, this will be publicized. 

**How frequently will you make grants from the Fund?**
In general, Fund Managers will review grantmaking decisions on a quarterly basis. Decisions will be made based on the value of Funds and the available options for high-impact grantmaking. We may disburse funds outside of quarterly review dates if we become aware of a particularly promising and time-sensitive funding.

**How will my contribution be used?**
All funds are granted out. The Fund is not an investment vehicle. The Fund does not use any percentage of contributions to cover staff time or other overhead costs. Every dollar contributed to the Fund will be used to make grants directly to end-user organizations creating a real difference.

### More Questions?

To learn more about the Founders Pledge Climate Change Fund, please visit [founderspledge.com](https://founderspledge.com/funds/climate-change-fund) or email the Fund Managers at [funds@founderspledge.com](mailto:funds@founderspledge.com).

Founders Pledge: Climate Change Fund

Exists to end the greatest cause of suffering on the planet: the exploitation of animals for food.

Mercy For Animals exists to end the greatest cause of suffering on the planet: the exploitation of animals for food.

Mercy For Animals

Helen Keller, our co-founder, envisioned a world without barriers to human potential. We are continuing her work.


Helen Keller, our co-founder, envisioned a world without barriers to human potential. Guided by her fierce optimism, we have been working on the front lines of health and well-being for more than 100 years. We deliver life-changing health care to vulnerable families in places where the need is great, but access is limited. Our proven, science-based programs empower people to create opportunities in their own lives.


Helen Keller International

We are a think tank dedicated to figuring out the best ways to make the world a better place.

Rethink Priorities is a research organization that conducts critical research to inform policymakers and major foundations about how to best help people and nonhuman animals in both the present and the long-term future.

Our research spans everything from animal welfare to the threat of nuclear war. We explore neglected but promising areas to improve the world and try to further build the community of researchers working on understanding how to do this most effectively.

If you'd like to support one of our fiscally sponsored projects (e.g. Epoch), you can give via Every.org, and let us know how to allocate your gift at info@rethinkpriorities.org.

Rethink Priorities

Founders Pledge is a global nonprofit empowering entrepreneurs to do the most good possible with their charitable giving. 

We equip members with everything needed to maximize their impact, from evidence-led research and advice on the world’s most pressing problems, to comprehensive infrastructure for global grant-making, alongside opportunities to learn and connect. We’re grateful to be funded by our members and other generous donors. 

Founders Pledge

We search for the charities that save or improve lives the most per dollar.

Our goal is to produce the world's top research on where to give. Free, for everyone.

We recommend a small number of charities that do an incredible amount of good. 

If you would like to donate to our giving funds or individual top charities, please see our projects below. You can donate here or on the Unrestricted Fund page below to make an unrestricted gift to GiveWell to support the full spectrum of our grantmaking and underwrite our ability to continue doing what we do.

GiveWell

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We are a nonprofit, so instead of charging fees we rely on the generosity of donors like you.

Choose a donation for Every.org

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Monthly donations help nonprofits focus on mission and long-term impact, not fundraising. Cancel anytime.