Giving plan
Plan a gift you can stand behind.
Choose what you care about and, if you like, how much you want to give. Your plan shows the charities independent evaluators rate highest for each cause, the evaluators’ own funds, the open questions and what to ask. We never pick a winner for you, and no one pays to be listed.
Your giving plan
For a gift of . The amount never changes the list; it only switches on the notes about funding needs below.
The causes you chose are measured differently: GiveWell estimates lives saved, and the Happier Lives Institute measures wellbeing. Weighing a life saved against wellbeing is a moral choice, so we show both and leave that choice to you.
Saving lives
Against Malaria Foundation, Helen Keller Intl, Malaria Consortium and New Incentives are GiveWell Top Charities. We don't pick a winner. GiveWell measures all four the same way, so you can compare any two side by side.
Against Malaria Foundation
Buys long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets and works with local partners to hand them out in places where malaria is common, then checks the nets are still in use.
Evidence Exceptionally strong, rated by GiveWell What this label means: Exceptionally strong
Open question Duration of protection from bed nets and insecticide resistance in GiveWell-funded locations.
Helen Keller Intl
Gives children under five regular vitamin A supplements, which help prevent deaths from common childhood infections.
Evidence Very strong, rated by GiveWell What this label means: Very strong
Open question Whether vitamin A supplementation remains as effective amid improved child health since older trials; some studies find small or no effects.
Malaria Consortium
Gives young children preventive malaria medicine during the rainy months, when malaria spreads most.
Evidence Exceptionally strong, rated by GiveWell What this label means: Exceptionally strong
Open question Level of malaria mortality in areas where GiveWell supports seasonal malaria medicine.
New Incentives
Gives families in Northern Nigeria small cash incentives to complete their babies' routine vaccinations.
Evidence Exceptionally strong, rated by GiveWell What this label means: Exceptionally strong
Open question Whether vaccine efficacy is lower in Nigeria than in other evidence settings.
For a gift of this size, check current funding needs: GiveWell doesn’t publish a live funding gap for these charities. Its Top Charities Fund directs money to where it’s needed most.
Side by side, measured the same way:
Improving wellbeing
Friendship Bench and StrongMinds are Happier Lives Institute Top Charities. Pure Earth and Taimaka are Happier Lives Institute Promising Charities. We don't pick a winner. The Happier Lives Institute measures all four the same way, so you can compare any two side by side.
Friendship Bench
Offers one-to-one problem-solving therapy for people struggling with their mental health, delivered by trained lay health workers in Zimbabwe.
Evidence Low to moderate, rated by Happier Lives Institute What this label means: Low to moderate
Open question Friendship Bench's randomized trials: some or high risk of bias in half of studies; moderate imprecision and inconsistency.
Happier Lives Institute’s estimate
48.52 WELLBYs per $1,000 donated
Happier Lives Institute, published table (opens in a new tab)
Your gift is larger than the funding gap the Happier Lives Institute lists for Friendship Bench, $3,900,000 (as of ). Beyond that, extra money may not go as far, so consider splitting your gift. Source: Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab)
StrongMinds
Runs group talk therapy for people with depression, led by trained lay counsellors, in countries including Uganda and Zambia.
Evidence Low to moderate, rated by Happier Lives Institute What this label means: Low to moderate
Open question Limited relevance of Baird et al. randomized trial to StrongMinds’ current adult partner-delivered model.
Happier Lives Institute’s estimate
40.37 WELLBYs per $1,000 donated
Happier Lives Institute, published table (opens in a new tab)
Your gift is larger than the funding gap the Happier Lives Institute lists for StrongMinds, $4,000,000 (as of ). Beyond that, extra money may not go as far, so consider splitting your gift. Source: Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab)
Pure Earth
Works to cut people's exposure to lead, a poison that harms children's development; the evaluator's analysis looks at lead in cosmetics in Ghana.
Evidence No published rating we can quote
Open question Higher uncertainty than Top Charities; medium depth (~200 hours / ~60% of useful research).
Happier Lives Institute’s estimate
105.43 WELLBYs per $1,000 donated
Happier Lives Institute, published table (opens in a new tab)
Your gift is larger than the funding gap the Happier Lives Institute lists for Pure Earth, $1,545,000 (as of ). Beyond that, extra money may not go as far, so consider splitting your gift. Source: Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab)
Taimaka
Treats children with acute malnutrition in north-east Nigeria using ready-to-use therapeutic food.
Evidence No published rating we can quote
Open question HLI describes cost-effectiveness estimate as extremely speculative; medium depth.
Happier Lives Institute’s estimate
66 WELLBYs per $1,000 donated
Happier Lives Institute, published table (opens in a new tab)
Your gift is larger than the funding gap the Happier Lives Institute lists for Taimaka, $400,000 (as of ). Beyond that, extra money may not go as far, so consider splitting your gift. Source: Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab)
A WELLBY is the Happier Lives Institute's unit of wellbeing: one point of life satisfaction, on a scale from 0 to 10, for one person for one year.
Side by side, measured the same way:
- Friendship Bench or StrongMinds
- Friendship Bench or Pure Earth
- Friendship Bench or Taimaka
- StrongMinds or Pure Earth
- StrongMinds or Taimaka
- Pure Earth or Taimaka
Everything we track for improving wellbeing · The short answer
Malaria
Against Malaria Foundation and Malaria Consortium are GiveWell Top Charities. We don't pick between them. GiveWell measures both the same way, so you can see them side by side.
Against Malaria Foundation
Buys long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets and works with local partners to hand them out in places where malaria is common, then checks the nets are still in use.
Evidence Exceptionally strong, rated by GiveWell What this label means: Exceptionally strong
Open question Duration of protection from bed nets and insecticide resistance in GiveWell-funded locations.
Malaria Consortium
Gives young children preventive malaria medicine during the rainy months, when malaria spreads most.
Evidence Exceptionally strong, rated by GiveWell What this label means: Exceptionally strong
Open question Level of malaria mortality in areas where GiveWell supports seasonal malaria medicine.
For a gift of this size, check current funding needs: GiveWell doesn’t publish a live funding gap for these charities. Its Top Charities Fund directs money to where it’s needed most.
Side by side, measured the same way:
Nutrition
Helen Keller Intl is a GiveWell Top Charity. Taimaka is a Happier Lives Institute Promising Charity. They're measured differently: GiveWell measures lives saved and the Happier Lives Institute measures wellbeing. Weighing a life saved against wellbeing is a moral choice, so we show both and leave that choice to you.
Helen Keller Intl
Gives children under five regular vitamin A supplements, which help prevent deaths from common childhood infections.
Evidence Very strong, rated by GiveWell What this label means: Very strong
Open question Whether vitamin A supplementation remains as effective amid improved child health since older trials; some studies find small or no effects.
Taimaka
Treats children with acute malnutrition in north-east Nigeria using ready-to-use therapeutic food.
Evidence No published rating we can quote
Open question HLI describes cost-effectiveness estimate as extremely speculative; medium depth.
Happier Lives Institute’s estimate
66 WELLBYs per $1,000 donated
Happier Lives Institute, published table (opens in a new tab)
Your gift is larger than the funding gap the Happier Lives Institute lists for Taimaka, $400,000 (as of ). Beyond that, extra money may not go as far, so consider splitting your gift. Source: Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab)
A WELLBY is the Happier Lives Institute's unit of wellbeing: one point of life satisfaction, on a scale from 0 to 10, for one person for one year.
For a gift of this size, check current funding needs: GiveWell doesn’t publish a live funding gap for these charities. Its Top Charities Fund directs money to where it’s needed most.
Vaccinations
New Incentives is a GiveWell Top Charity. It's the only charity we track for vaccinations with an evaluator's top or promising rating.
New Incentives
Gives families in Northern Nigeria small cash incentives to complete their babies' routine vaccinations.
Evidence Exceptionally strong, rated by GiveWell What this label means: Exceptionally strong
Open question Whether vaccine efficacy is lower in Nigeria than in other evidence settings.
For a gift of this size, check current funding needs: GiveWell doesn’t publish a live funding gap for these charities. Its Top Charities Fund directs money to where it’s needed most.
Mental health
Friendship Bench and StrongMinds are Happier Lives Institute Top Charities. We don't pick between them. The Happier Lives Institute measures both the same way, so you can see them side by side.
Friendship Bench
Offers one-to-one problem-solving therapy for people struggling with their mental health, delivered by trained lay health workers in Zimbabwe.
Evidence Low to moderate, rated by Happier Lives Institute What this label means: Low to moderate
Open question Friendship Bench's randomized trials: some or high risk of bias in half of studies; moderate imprecision and inconsistency.
Happier Lives Institute’s estimate
48.52 WELLBYs per $1,000 donated
Happier Lives Institute, published table (opens in a new tab)
Your gift is larger than the funding gap the Happier Lives Institute lists for Friendship Bench, $3,900,000 (as of ). Beyond that, extra money may not go as far, so consider splitting your gift. Source: Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab)
StrongMinds
Runs group talk therapy for people with depression, led by trained lay counsellors, in countries including Uganda and Zambia.
Evidence Low to moderate, rated by Happier Lives Institute What this label means: Low to moderate
Open question Limited relevance of Baird et al. randomized trial to StrongMinds’ current adult partner-delivered model.
Happier Lives Institute’s estimate
40.37 WELLBYs per $1,000 donated
Happier Lives Institute, published table (opens in a new tab)
Your gift is larger than the funding gap the Happier Lives Institute lists for StrongMinds, $4,000,000 (as of ). Beyond that, extra money may not go as far, so consider splitting your gift. Source: Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab)
A WELLBY is the Happier Lives Institute's unit of wellbeing: one point of life satisfaction, on a scale from 0 to 10, for one person for one year.
Side by side, measured the same way:
Safe water
No charity we track for safe water has an evaluator’s top or promising designation yet. That says nothing against the work, only that no evaluator we cite has published that judgment. See what we track for safe water.
Deworming
No charity we track for deworming has an evaluator’s top or promising designation yet. That says nothing against the work, only that no evaluator we cite has published that judgment. See what we track for deworming.
Lead poisoning
Pure Earth is a Happier Lives Institute Promising Charity. It's the only charity we track for lead poisoning with an evaluator's top or promising rating.
Pure Earth
Works to cut people's exposure to lead, a poison that harms children's development; the evaluator's analysis looks at lead in cosmetics in Ghana.
Evidence No published rating we can quote
Open question Higher uncertainty than Top Charities; medium depth (~200 hours / ~60% of useful research).
Happier Lives Institute’s estimate
105.43 WELLBYs per $1,000 donated
Happier Lives Institute, published table (opens in a new tab)
Your gift is larger than the funding gap the Happier Lives Institute lists for Pure Earth, $1,545,000 (as of ). Beyond that, extra money may not go as far, so consider splitting your gift. Source: Happier Lives Institute (opens in a new tab)
A WELLBY is the Happier Lives Institute's unit of wellbeing: one point of life satisfaction, on a scale from 0 to 10, for one person for one year.
Cash transfers
No charity we track for cash transfers has an evaluator’s top or promising designation yet. That says nothing against the work, only that no evaluator we cite has published that judgment. See what we track for cash transfers.
If you can’t decide
Each evaluator runs a fund that sends gifts where it judges the need is greatest. It is a reasonable choice, not a lesser one.
GiveWell Top Charities Fund
Pools donations and grants them to GiveWell's Top Charities wherever GiveWell judges the money is needed most.
It covers all of GiveWell’s recommended charities, not only the causes you chose.
Happier Lives Fund
Pools donations for the Happier Lives Institute's recommended wellbeing charities, with a smaller share supporting the Institute's research.
It covers all of the Happier Lives Institute’s recommended charities, not only the causes you chose.
Before you give, ask three questions
From the donor’s tasting card. If you ask only one: Compared with what?
Compared with what?
Good sign A group that didn’t get the help, chosen the same way, ideally by lottery.
Our rule: No counterfactual, no claim.
Would it have happened without my gift?
Good sign An honest account of what other funders would have paid for anyway.
Will we know in a year?
Good sign A promise to report back, bad news included, and your own note of what you expected.
Our rule: Write it down, then check.
The caveat that matters most
Modeled, not guaranteed. This is the evaluator's best estimate of the average, built from studies and assumptions. Your gift could do more or less. How to read these figures
Each figure is an average from the evaluator’s model, with its own period and source. A modest gap between two estimates may not reflect a real difference, and the next dollar can do more or less than the average.
How we build your plan
- Only the evaluators’ picks. For each cause we list the charities GiveWell or the Happier Lives Institute give their top or promising designation, in the same order as our cause pages and quick answers.
- Their figures, not ours. Every figure is the evaluator’s own, with its period and source. We never score charities or fold lives saved and wellbeing into one number.
- Your amount never changes the list. It only switches on a note when a gift is larger than a published funding gap, or large enough that current funding needs matter.
- Nothing is stored. No account, no cookies. Donate buttons pass through a counted link that records the click, never who clicked; what we count.
- No paid placement. No one can pay to appear in a plan or to move up.
Prefer to read first? Start with how to give well, or see every charity we track.