# Vision: "Did it work?"

*Better World (diditwork.org): where we are going, plainly stated. Last updated 2026-10-21.*

## The problem

People, and more and more often the AI assistants acting for them, ask "where should I give?" They usually get a confident answer with no source, no date, and no way to check later whether the money did what was promised.

## What we want to be by 2029

The place that donors and their agents check first, because every answer here is **sourced, dated, labeled, and re-checked**, and because nobody can pay to change it.

## How we plan to get there

1. **Keep a public "Did it work?" ledger.** When a recognized evaluator (GiveWell, the Happier Lives Institute, Animal Charity Evaluators, WHO, IHME) publishes an estimate, we record exactly what they said and when, with a hash so the record cannot be quietly edited, and a date to check again. Over the years this becomes a history of which promises held up. Today it holds 9 seeded records, all copied from evaluator citations we already had. None of them has been re-checked yet.
2. **Publish an open format for impact claims.** It is a simple, free standard (license pending) plus a checker that any charity can run on its own claims: number, unit, source, date, uncertainty, and when to re-check. Passing the checker means a claim is well-formed and honestly labeled. It does not mean the claim is true.
3. **Be the tool AI assistants call.** We publish machine-readable interfaces (an API, MCP tool descriptions, llms.txt) so assistants can quote us accurately instead of guessing.
4. **Learn what donors want, privately.** We have proposed (not switched on) counting only coarse, anonymous totals, such as how often a cause is asked about, with small groups hidden and an easy opt-out, so charities and evaluators can see unmet demand.

## What we will not do

- We will not invent cost-effectiveness numbers. When a number isn't published by a recognized evaluator, we say "unknown."
- We will not present a modeled estimate as a promise. **Modeled, not guaranteed.**
- We will not let money buy rank. Sponsored or paid placement can never change rankings or evidence.
- We will not combine different kinds of good (lives saved, wellbeing, carbon) into one score.
- We will not move donors' money, take charges, or give tax advice.

## Where things stand today (honest)

- The site and the read-only API are live (https://api.diditwork.org). The ledger is new and small.
- Ranking covers 50 global-health organizations, using GiveWell and Happier Lives Institute evidence.
- Charities cannot submit claims yet. That waits on an approved review process.
- One person (Ho Hum) approves every change to which organizations are listed or ranked.

## How to hold us to this

Every record and claim links to its source. The ledger's hash chain shows whether history was edited. If you find an error, tell us: errors count against us, and a public corrections log is planned.