This is a guest post by David Barry, a GiveWell supporter. He emailed us at the end of December to point out some mistakes and issues in our cost-effectiveness calculations for deworming, and we asked him to write up his thoughts to share here. We made minor wording and organizational suggestions but have otherwise published…
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Evidence of impact for long-term benefits
We’ve recently published our updated review on the evidence on cash transfers. It elaborates on a claim we’ve made previously – that there is evidence for long-term benefits from cash transfers at high average rates of return. Some people have expressed skepticism of this evidence, pointing to several limitations: there are not many studies, some…
Our top charities for the 2012 giving season
Over the past year, we’ve continued to follow and investigate our existing top charities, and we’ve also looked for more outstanding giving opportunities. Today we are announcing our updated top charities: 1. Against Malaria Foundation (AMF). AMF focuses on distribution of insecticide-treated nets to prevent malaria; of all the charitable interventions we know of that…
Update on the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative: Our current #2-ranked charity
Since GiveWell recommended the Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI) in November 2011, SCI has received about $1.4 million in unrestricted funds ($500,000 of which we directly attribute to GiveWell’s recommendation), of which $1.1 million remains to be spent. We have spoken with and met with SCI to discuss its plans for using these funds. Funds spent…
Update on the Against Malaria Foundation: Our current #1-ranked charity
Highlights from our update of AMF follow. For those who want more information, please see our full AMF update. Background Historically, AMF had distributed bednets in the following way: on-the-ground organizations applied to AMF for nets; after AMF reviewed and approved proposals, it would ship nets to the charity; finally, AMF would check in to…
Dissenting opinions on our top charities
We feel very good about recommending that donors give to our top charities, and they’re where all GiveWell staff are – happily and confidently – giving our personal donations this year. That said, we’re skeptical by nature, and internally, we keep thinking about and discussing the ways in which our top charities might not work…