The GiveWell Blog

Deworming might have huge impact, but might have close to zero impact

We try to communicate that there are risks involved with all of our top charity recommendations, and that none of our recommendations are a “sure thing.” Our recommendation of deworming programs (the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative and the Deworm the World Initiative), though, carries particularly significant risk (in the sense of possibly not doing much/any good,…

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Update on GiveWell’s web traffic / money moved: Q1 2016

In addition to evaluations of other charities, GiveWell publishes substantial evaluation of ourselves, from progress against our goals to our impact on donations. We generally publish quarterly updates regarding two key metrics: (a) donations to top charities and (b) web traffic (though going forward, we may provide less frequent updates). The tables and chart below…

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Weighing organizational strength vs. estimated cost-effectiveness

A major question we’ve asked ourselves internally over the last few years is how we should weigh organizational quality versus the value of the intervention that the organization is carrying out. In particular, is it better to recommend an organization we’re very impressed by and confident in that’s carrying out a good program, or better…

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Why we don’t currently recommend charities focused on vaccine distribution

GiveWell does not recommend any charities focused on vaccine funding and distribution. But we remain excited about vaccinations as a health intervention. The vaccination programs we’ve researched have been backed by strong, independent evidence of effectiveness and appear likely to be competitive with our top charities in their cost-effectiveness. We’d be excited to support a…

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