Sean asks (via email): What’s your view on whether funders should do research on techniques and then fund organizations that use those techniques or do research on organizations and let them decide on techniques? I was intrigued with your education research post, but was wondering if it might make more sense to find smart dynamic…
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The metrics debate
About a year ago, we participated in a Giving Carnival on the topic of metrics in philanthropy, and laid out the metrics we were planning on using – along with caveats. Seeing a continuing interest in this topic (even including a panel called “Metrics Mania”), I’d like to share a bit of my progressed thinking…
Politics vs. philanthropy in education research
There’s a big question in my mind about K-12 education. The question is which of the following hypotheses about helping disadvantaged children is the best bet: Disadvantaged children are so far behind by age 5 that there’s nothing substantial to be done for them in the K-12 system. Disadvantaged children are so far behind by…
Reinventing the wheel
I think the following comment, from Andrea, is broadly representative of a common criticism we receive. One thing Givewell is missing, and has been criticized for in the past, is that people are already working on these issues, and that one small organization like Givewell can’t solve this “problem” where all others have failed. For…
Quick update
I’m going out of town for the next week and will have only sporadic internet access. A few odds and ends: At our Board meeting on Tuesday the 4th, we officially named our grantees in Causes 3 (Nurse-Family Partnership) and Cause 4 (KIPP). We think both are excellent options for donors. Our writeups on these…
Flip-flopping
A little over a year ago, we ballparked the cost to save a life from malaria at $200. Now we think it’s closer to $1000. Last August, I wrote that K-12 education is my favorite cause. A week ago, I owned up to moving it to the bottom of my list, and far preferring global…