Giving money to a poverty-relief charity can feel like taking a shot in the dark. Sure, the website and leaflets sound convincing, but how can you be sure that your money will actually get where it’s meant to go and make a real difference?
With overseas aid in particular, the more people hear stories about mismanagement and inefficiency, the more tempting it is just to shake their heads and turn away. But that would be a mistake, because the best developing world charities can do an incredible amount of good with the money they receive. The question is, how can you work out which ones are the best?
That’s the question which drives Giving What We Can, an international charity headquartered in Oxford (in the United Kingdom). It’s a rather unusual charity, as it’s not focused on raising money for itself (its operating costs are covered by a few private donors). Instead, its mission is to find the most effective charities working to relieve poverty in the developing world, and encourage people to give to them.
“There are some amazing charities out there,” says Executive Director Michelle Hutchinson. “Unfortunately, people hear about some of the less amazing ones and start to think that there’s nothing we can do for the developing world. But nothing could be further from the truth: you just need to be careful where you donate.”
Health workers distribute Praziquantel tablets at a school based deworming programme coordinated by the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative.
The organization was formed in 2009 by two philosophers at Oxford University. Aware of just how privileged they were (along with most citizens of developed countries), they felt compelled to help the most disadvantaged people in the world, and to find the best and most efficient ways of doing so.
Finding super-effective charities requires research. Giving What We Can hunts down evidence from scientific papers and program evaluations, allowing it to work out which types of interventions and which specific charities do the most to improve the lives of the most deprived people in the world.
What did the researchers find out? It turns out that there are surprisingly large differences in terms of cost-effectiveness of the different health interventions in developing countries. And researchers have now begun to actually estimate how large these differences are. Some of the findings might not be terribly surprising. Take HIV for instance. You might have guessed that HIV prevention through condom distribution programmes is much cheaper than treating people with medications for HIV (5x). But why would we want to focus exclusively on HIV prevention? Isn’t it health more generally that we care about? We could go even further and ask: where can we donate to get the most health bang for our buck? Check out the graph below and see how many weeks of healthy life £1000 can buy you.
It turns out, large scale distributions of insecticide treated bednets are one of the most effective things you can support. Based on these analyses Giving What We Can currently recommends four outstanding charities: Against Malaria Foundation (which distributes anti-mosquito bednets to stop the spread of malaria), Project Healthy Children (which helps governments to fortify staple foods with vitamins and minerals like iodine, iron and folic acid), Schistosomiasis Control Initiative and Deworm the World Initiative (both of which help distribute pills to cure children of intestinal worms).
View post on imgur.comBut it’s not just about finding the best charities. Giving What We Can is also passionate about building a community of effective altruists, all committed to giving and continuing to give. Joining means taking a public pledge, a statement of intent to give 10% of your income to the charities that you think are most effective for the rest of your working life (while you’re a student you pledge 1% of your spending money - that’s less than $15 USD a month in most cases).
Of course, the pledge isn’t legally binding, and it’s understood that sometimes life takes an unexpected turn and people may have to back out. But Giving What We Can believes that 10% is possible for the vast majority of people living and working in developed countries. And making a commitment to give allows you to plan your finances around it, helping you to stick to your intentions long term.
Members who have taken the pledge, along with those trying it out before committing, form an international community focused around local chapters. These organize meetings and events, supporting and celebrating people in their giving. “The community aspect is really important,” says Hutchinson. “It builds lasting friendships, helps members stay on course and allows us to share information with each other about which charities are most effective.”
Members come from all walks of life: teachers, bankers, social workers, entrepreneurs, all united by their commitment to do the most good possible. The community has expanded rapidly: around 1,300 people have taken the pledge so far, donating $9.5 million USD to effective charities and pledging a further $480 million USD across the course of their lives.
Giving What We Can proves that with a little time and effort, we can make a huge difference and move humanity that much closer to a world without extreme poverty.
This piece was contributed by Hauke Hillebrandt on behalf of Giving What We Can.