When we first started GiveWell, we wondered why major staffed foundations didn’t write more about the thinking behind their giving (and the results of it), in order to share their knowledge and influence others. We’ve tried to counterbalance normal practice by making transparency one of our core values. Our commitment to transparency is as strong…
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David Roodman’s draft writeup on immigration and current residents’ wages
As discussed previously, we are investigating the cause of labor mobility as a potential focus area within U.S. policy. Much of our investigation is focused on outlining potential giving opportunities; concurrently, we are interested in reviewing the academic literature on the merits (and possible drawbacks) of the policy changes that we would be working toward….
Open Philanthropy Project (formerly GiveWell Labs)
GiveWell and Good Ventures have launched a new website for the Open Philanthropy Project. This is the new name and brand for the project formerly known as GiveWell Labs. The mission of the Open Philanthropy Project is to learn how to give as effectively as we can and share our findings openly so that anyone…
Thoughts on the end of Hewlett’s Nonprofit Marketplace Initiative
Note: we sent a pre-publication draft of this post to multiple people who had been involved in the Hewlett program discussed here. A response from the Hewlett Foundation is available in the comments of this post; a response from Jacob Harold is available on the GuideStar blog. Last April, the Chronicle of Philanthropy covered the…
Partnership with The Pew Charitable Trusts
Throughout the post, “we” refers to GiveWell and Good Ventures, who work as partners on GiveWell Labs. [Added August 27, 2014: GiveWell Labs is now known as the Open Philanthropy Project.] We have agreed to a major partnership with The Pew Charitable Trusts as part of our work on criminal justice reform. Good Ventures will…
The moral value of the far future
A popular idea in the effective altruism community is the idea that most of the people we can help (with our giving, our work, etc.) are people who haven’t been born yet. By working to lower global catastrophic risks, speed economic development and technological innovation, and generally improve people’s resources, capabilities, and values, we may…