From civil rights to the Suffragettes, social movements have historically been crucial drivers of social and political change. Yet little research and funding goes into understanding which strategies and tactics are most effective.

Social Change Lab addresses this gap by conducting rigorous empirical research on how people-powered movements can accelerate positive social change on pressing global issues including animal rights, climate change, and AI safety.

Through research reports, workshops, and trainings, Social Change Lab provides actionable insights to help activists and funders more effectively accelerate positive social change. Through its work, Social Change Lab:

Equips movements with evidence on what works. Its research has directly shaped the strategy of dozens of major campaigns working across climate change, animal rights, and AI safety. In a survey of stakeholders, over half of respondents (57%) said Social Change Lab’s work had changed their mind or beliefs about the use of certain strategies and tactics within social movements. Its research has explored the impact of disruptive protest tactics, the impact of activism on electoral preferences, and the effects of different messaging strategies, among other topics.
Advises donors on funding decisions. Social Change Lab conducts research on how philanthropy can better support social movements. It has influenced hundreds of thousands of dollars in movement funding decisions, directing resources toward high-impact activist groups that may otherwise be overlooked.
Shapes public discourse on protest effectiveness. Social Change Lab reaches millions of people through major media outlets. Its work has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, and BBC among other outlets. This coverage helps counter negative narratives about protest and builds public understanding of strategic activism as an important driver of social change.

We don't currently have further information about the cost-effectiveness of Social Change Lab beyond it doing work in a high-impact cause area and taking a reasonably promising approach.

Please note that GWWC does not evaluate individual charities. Our recommendations are based on the research of third-party, impact-focused charity evaluators our research team has found to be particularly well-suited to help donors do the most good per dollar, according to their recent evaluator investigations. Our other supported programs are those that align with our charitable purpose — they are working on a high-impact problem and take a reasonably promising approach (based on publicly-available information).

At Giving What We Can, we focus on the effectiveness of an organisation's work -- what the organisation is actually doing and whether their programs are making a big difference. Some others in the charity recommendation space focus instead on the ratio of admin costs to program spending, part of what we’ve termed the “overhead myth.” See why overhead isn’t the full story and learn more about our approach to charity evaluation.