Donor question · Mental health
What's the best charity for mental health?
What the evaluator that measures how much charities improve people's wellbeing has published, with every figure linked to its source.
The short answer
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
Happier Lives Institute's estimate
48.52 WELLBYs per $1,000 donated
Happier Lives Institute, published table (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
Happier Lives Institute's estimate
40.37 WELLBYs per $1,000 donated
Happier Lives Institute, published table (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.
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
If you can’t decide
Side by side
Two charities at a time, measured the same way by the same evaluator.
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 those working on mental health.
What to weigh before you give
- Strength of evidence. Evaluators also rate how sure they are. It’s shown next to each charity above when they publish a rating.
- Whether more money helps now. Each charity’s profile shows the evaluator’s funding-gap figure when one is published.
- Estimates, not prices. Each figure is an average from the evaluator’s model. A modest gap between two estimates may not reflect a real difference.
Also mentioned by evaluators
- Shamiri Institute: Happier Lives Institute honourable mention. Runs low-cost group mental-health programs delivered by trained lay providers.
Everything we track for mental health
The full picture, including the approaches that work and other organizations in this area: Mental health.
Questions donors ask
- What's the best charity for 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. Each charity's page shows the figures, the source and how strong the evidence is.
- How do you choose which charities to list?
We list the charities that independent evaluators (GiveWell and the Happier Lives Institute) give their top or promising designation, in the same order as our cause pages. We don't re-score them, and no one can pay to appear or to move up.
- Which of them is better?
We don't pick a winner. The Happier Lives Institute measures them the same way, so their figures can be read side by side, together with the strength of the evidence and each charity's funding needs.
- Should I give to one charity or a fund?
Both are reasonable. A fund run by an evaluator lets them direct your gift to where they judge the need is greatest; giving to one charity lets you choose the program yourself.
- Are these figures guaranteed?
No. They are modeled, not guaranteed: the evaluator's best estimate of the average, built from studies and assumptions. Your gift could do more or less.