All Grants Fund
by GiveWell
GiveWell's All Grants Fund supports the full range of GiveWell’s grantmaking to high-impact opportunities, including at organisations outside of its top charities.
UPDATED 11/2023
What are the best charities to support in 2023?
Our recommended charities are highly reputable and remarkably effective. They have been rigorously evaluated and vetted by impact-focused charity evaluators — and those evaluators themselves have been investigated by our research team. We believe these charities represent some of the best opportunities to donate to, as they do substantially more good per dollar than average.
What we look for
(in a charity)
Extreme effectiveness
Charities that demonstrably maximise the good they do with each dollar donated.
Research based
Charities that operate evidence-backed programs or that experts estimate have very high expected impact.
Third-party evaluated
Charities that have been vetted by the research of industry-leading charity evaluators.
Who we look to
(for the best charities)
Trusted, transparent, third-party evaluators play a critical role in our recommendations. And we don’t just rely on any evaluator — we research which evaluators can best help donors maximise their impact.
Where we focus
(to have the biggest impact)
Global health and wellbeing
Animal welfare
Reducing global catastrophic risks
What do we mean by “effective”?
Not all charities are equal. Your choice of where to donate can lead to significant differences in impact.
Our research team estimates that you can often do 100x more good with your dollar by donating to the best charities, and sometimes this multiplier is even greater.
If this comes as a surprise, you’re not alone. Many donors vastly underestimate the difference between “good” and “great” charities, which explains why many of the best charities to donate to remain underfunded.
3 steps to donate effectively
Choose a promising cause
Just like triaging in an emergency room, it’s important to be smart about what we work on when. If we don’t prioritise, we won’t help as well as we could have.
Find an exceptional organisation or fund
Donating $100 to one of the best charities can do more than giving $10,000 to a typical one. Give to charities backed by the best available research and reasoning.
Donate efficiently
Automating your giving is easier than an ad-hoc approach. Create a personalised, recurring donation that automatically gives to multiple high-impact programs at once.
Best charities for global health and wellbeing (6)
Millions of people die each year from preventable and curable diseases, including approximately 15,000 children every single day. These deaths (and the considerable suffering caused by these types of disease) can be prevented with proven treatments and techniques — that’s why we’ve eradicated these diseases in higher-income countries. The organisations implementing these interventions in lower-income countries, however, are perpetually underfunded.
The best charities for global health and wellbeing tend to operate programmes with a strong evidence base behind them and a proven track record of success. They — quite literally — save and improve lives.
Top Charities Fund
by GiveWell
The Top Charities Fund supports the highest-priority funding needs among GiveWell’s top charities, which are evidence-backed, high-impact, and highly cost-effective opportunities to save and improve the lives of people living in low- and lower-middle-income countries.
Malaria Consortium
Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention
Malaria Consortium's seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) programme distributes preventative antimalarial drugs to young children during times of peak malaria transmission.
Against Malaria Foundation
Bednets To Prevent Malaria
Against Malaria Foundation (AMF) works to prevent malaria-caused deaths and illness by distributing long-lasting insecticide-treated mosquito nets in at-risk, low-income communities. The organisation also consistently monitors its impact through surveys and case rate data.
Helen Keller International
Vitamin A Supplementation
Helen Keller Intl partners with governments across Africa and Asia to provide millions of children every year with lifesaving vitamin A supplements and other nutrients.
New Incentives
Childhood Immunisation Incentives
New Incentives’ mission is to save lives in a way that does the most good per dollar. Guided by evidence, they provide cash incentives to increase childhood vaccination rates.
Global Health and Wellbeing Fund
by Giving What We Can
The Global Health and Wellbeing Fund directs funding to highly effective organisations working to improve human wellbeing. Currently, the research team consults with GiveWell when determining where to allocate funds.
More options in global health and wellbeing
We've highlighted a few other supported programmes below. We don't currently include these programmes on our recommendations list, but think they may be interesting for donors to investigate further. The full list of supported programmes is available on our donation platform.
Best charities for animal welfare (2)
Despite widespread awareness of animal suffering, only about 3% of US charitable contributions support animals and the environment. Farmed animals are even more neglected, receiving only 0.03% of all US charitable donations. Yet farmed animals experience the overwhelming majority of human-inflicted animal suffering. They live lives filled with extreme physical and emotional distress — and in the US alone, over one million land animals are slaughtered every hour.
The best charities for animal welfare tend to operate programmes that are large in scale and tractable — they could reduce or eliminate the suffering of many, many animals through changes in policy, legislation, and consumer choices.
Animal Welfare Fund
by Effective Altruism Funds
The Animal Welfare Fund aims to effectively improve the wellbeing of nonhuman animals by making grants that focus on one or more best-in-class opportunities.
The Humane League
Corporate Animal Welfare Campaigns
The Humane League exists to end the abuse of animals raised for food. It does this by influencing the policies of the world’s biggest companies, demanding legislation, and empowering others to take action and leave animals off their plates. We specifically recommend The Humane League’s work on corporate campaigns for chicken welfare.
Effective Animal Advocacy Fund
by Giving What We Can
The Effective Animal Advocacy Fund directs funding to highly effective organisations working to improve animal welfare. Currently, the research team plans to allocate half of this fund to the Animal Welfare Fund (EA Funds) and half to The Humane League’s corporate campaign work.
More options in animal welfare
We've highlighted a few other supported programmes below. We don't currently include these programmes on our recommendations list, but think they may be interesting for donors to investigate further. The full list of supported programmes is available on our donation platform.
Best charities for reducing global catastrophic risks (2)
Pandemics. Rogue AI. Nuclear catastrophe. Some of these threats may be more likely than we imagine — and with the wrong dice roll, could endanger the future of not only everyone alive today, but everyone who could ever live. Despite the enormous scale of these threats, research and initiatives to prevent them are still relatively limited. While interventions in this area aren’t always as tractable as in other areas, the threats are so large that it could be incredibly impactful to fund projects that give us a better chance at preventing them.
The best giving options for reducing global catastrophic risks are funds that support promising projects to improve nuclear and biosecurity, prevent pandemics, and promote beneficial AI. (Because the field is developing so rapidly and the impact of interventions is harder to measure than in other areas, the expertise and context of specialised grantmakers are even more valuable when supporting this type of work.)
Emerging Challenges Fund
by Longview Philanthropy
The Emerging Challenges Fund — managed by Longview Philanthropy — directs funding to highly effective organisations working to safeguard the long-term future of humanity.
Long-Term Future Fund
by Effective Altruism Funds
The Long-Term Future Fund aims to positively influence the long-term trajectory of civilisation by making grants that address global catastrophic risks, especially potential risks from advanced artificial intelligence and pandemics.
Risks and Resilience Fund
by Giving What We Can
The Risks and Resilience Fund directs funding to highly effective organisations working to reduce global catastrophic risks. Currently, the research team plans to allocate half of the fund's budget to the Long-Term Future Fund (EA Funds) and half to the Emerging Challenges Fund (Longview Philanthropy).
More options in global catastrophic risks
We've highlighted a few other supported programmes below. We don't currently include these programmes on our recommendations list, but think they may be interesting for donors to investigate further. The full list of supported programmes is available on our donation platform.
More impact with funds
A fund pools donations from many donors, which expert grantmakers then direct as effectively as possible — typically taking into account the current funding needs of high-impact charities working within the cause area the fund aims to support.
In other words, donating to a charitable fund is similar to using an actively managed investment fund instead of trying to pick individual stocks to invest in — but with charitable funds, you don’t typically pay a fee for the expertise you gain! Read more.
Global Health and Wellbeing Fund
by Giving What We Can
The Global Health and Wellbeing Fund directs funding to highly effective organisations working to improve human wellbeing. Currently, the research team consults with GiveWell when determining where to allocate funds.
Effective Animal Advocacy Fund
by Giving What We Can
The Effective Animal Advocacy Fund directs funding to highly effective organisations working to improve animal welfare. Currently, the research team plans to allocate half of this fund to the Animal Welfare Fund (EA Funds) and half to The Humane League’s corporate campaign work.
Risks and Resilience Fund
by Giving What We Can
The Risks and Resilience Fund directs funding to highly effective organisations working to reduce global catastrophic risks. Currently, the research team plans to allocate half of the fund's budget to the Long-Term Future Fund (EA Funds) and half to the Emerging Challenges Fund (Longview Philanthropy).
All Grants Fund
by GiveWell
GiveWell's All Grants Fund supports the full range of GiveWell’s grantmaking to high-impact opportunities, including at organisations outside of its top charities.
Top Charities Fund
by GiveWell
The Top Charities Fund supports the highest-priority funding needs among GiveWell’s top charities, which are evidence-backed, high-impact, and highly cost-effective opportunities to save and improve the lives of people living in low- and lower-middle-income countries.
Animal Welfare Fund
by Effective Altruism Funds
The Animal Welfare Fund aims to effectively improve the wellbeing of nonhuman animals by making grants that focus on one or more best-in-class opportunities.
Emerging Challenges Fund
by Longview Philanthropy
The Emerging Challenges Fund — managed by Longview Philanthropy — directs funding to highly effective organisations working to safeguard the long-term future of humanity.
Long-Term Future Fund
by Effective Altruism Funds
The Long-Term Future Fund aims to positively influence the long-term trajectory of civilisation by making grants that address global catastrophic risks, especially potential risks from advanced artificial intelligence and pandemics.
All Causes Bundle
Can’t decide? This bundle allows you to split your donation across all three of our GWWC-managed cause area funds.
Promising charities in other areas
We haven’t (yet) included areas like climate change or effective giving outreach/education on our recommendations list, but we think these areas (and the charities working in them) may be interesting for donors to investigate further. We've highlighted a selection below; you can see the full list on our donation platform.
Climate Change Fund
by Founders Pledge
The Founders Pledge Climate Change Fund supports highly impactful, evidence-based solutions to the “triple challenge” of carbon emissions, air pollution, and energy poverty.
Giving Green Fund
by Giving Green
Giving Green is a team of climate scientists, economists, and impact evaluation experts with decades of experience working at the intersection of evidence-based policy and the environment. The Giving Green Fund strategically supports its recommended high-impact giving opportunities.
Effective Altruism Infrastructure Fund
by Effective Altruism Funds
The Effective Altruism Infrastructure Fund aims to increase the impact of projects that use the principles of effective altruism, by increasing their access to talent, capital, and knowledge.
Incubated Charities Fund
by Charity Entrepreneurship
Charity Entrepreneurship is a research and training programme that incubates multiple effective charities annually. Its Incubated Charities Fund allows you to support its Incubated Charities that do not have their own GWWC page. Donations to this fund are used to advance incubated charities' seed grants when these charities finish the program.
The Life You Can Save
Effective Giving Research & Advocacy
The Life You Can Save works to end extreme global poverty through the power of effective giving.
Don’t see what you're looking for?
The recommendations above have been thoroughly researched and vetted as exceptional opportunities for impact. However, our donation platform also supports a number of other programmes that broadly align with our principles — in other words, they are addressing a pressing problem and taking a reasonably promising approach. We’ve highlighted a few of these that we think may be of particular interest to donors in each cause area (see why), but you can also see all of our supported programmes here.
About Giving What We Can
Co-founded in 2009 by moral philosophers Toby Ord and William MacAskill, Giving What We Can is a global community of effective givers and a resource hub for people who want to help. We curate a carefully vetted list of charity recommendations, offer resources and guides so you can make a bigger difference on the problems you care about, and work to change the norms around charitable giving to inspire people to give more, and more effectively.
We believe the scale of global income inequality is so vast that most people living in high-income countries have significant power to affect the lives of others. (See where you stack up here.) To that end, we also help people support high-impact charitable programmes and projects via our donation platform and invite you to join the 9,364 people who have taken a giving pledge.
Donor advising
Donors who plan to make substantial donations can benefit from working with a philanthropic advisor. Please reach out to us and we’ll connect you with an appropriate person or organisation.
Recommendations FAQ
We don’t charge fees.
Giving What We Can does not take any fees from donors who use our platform. We are independently funded to promote our mission of making giving effectively and significantly a cultural norm.
We don’t accept funding from the evaluators and programmes we recommend.
Giving What We Can does not take any fees from the charities and programmes listed on our platform. We are independently funded to promote our mission of making giving effectively and significantly a cultural norm.
We provide our services for free.
So that you can donate effectively and confidently. But you can support us directly if you appreciate our work.
How do I choose among these charities and funds?
How do you decide which charities to recommend?
Why is your list of recommendations so short?
Why do you highlight charities or funds that you haven’t recommended?
Where can I find more donation options?
Why did you decide to more deeply investigate the third-party evaluators you use?
What are the Giving What We Can cause area funds?
Why don’t you recommend charities working on my favourite cause?
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