Note added April 2024: As we explain on our mistakes page, the tone of this blog post, which was written much earlier in our organizational history, fails to convey our uncertainty about the impact of these programs. It also doesn’t indicate that our research involves forming best guesses based on limited information, and that we…
The GiveWell Blog
All Robin Hood Foundation Posts
What we know about Robin Hood (almost nothing)
One of the charities we’re often asked about is the Robin Hood foundation. Partly because we used to work at a hedge fund and Robin Hood is big in the hedge fund world; partly because we emphasize analytical, impact-focused giving and Robin Hood has a reputation for analytical, impact-focused giving. Robin Hood works mostly in…
Robin Hood, Smile Train and the “0% overhead” donor illusion
For an organization focused on financial metrics, the American Institute of Philanthropy can be very interesting. I can’t do justice to this excellent article on Smile Train with an excerpt, and I urge you to read it all. It thoroughly debunks an alleged claim by Smile Train that “100% of your donation goes toward programs…