There are a number of high-profile public debates about the value of overseas aid (example). These debates generally have intelligent people and arguments on both sides, and they rightly give many people the sense that “Does aid work?” is a complex question with no simple answer. However, we believe these debates are sometimes misinterpreted, causing…
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GiveWell is hiring Summer Research Analysts for summer 2016
We’re looking for people who will be entering their final year of undergrad or graduate school in 2016 to work at GiveWell in the summer of 2016 as Summer Research Analysts, with the possibility of joining GiveWell full time after graduation. More information and how to apply can be found here: https://www.givewell.org/about/jobs/summer-research-analyst If you follow…
Donating to help with the Syrian refugee crisis
We’ve received a number of questions about where to donate to help with the Syrian refugee crisis. Millions of Syrians have fled the war in their country, risking their lives. Images of the immense suffering accompanying this journey have captured headlines in recent weeks. Although GiveWell hasn’t focused its work on disaster relief organizations, we…
September 2015 open thread
Following up on our open thread in April, we wanted to have another one. Our goal is to give blog readers an opportunity to publicly raise comments or questions about GiveWell or related topics (in the comments section below). As always, you’re also welcome to email us at info@givewell.org if there’s feedback or questions you’d…
History of philanthropy case study: The impact of philanthropy on the passage of the Affordable Care Act
Benjamin Soskis, who has been working for us on our history of philanthropy project, has completed a case study of philanthropy’s impact on the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The case study focuses first on the Atlantic Philanthropies’ funding of Health Care for America Now! (HCAN), as well as on HCAN’s activities…
Has violence declined, when large-scale atrocities are systematically included?
Note: I wrote the following on my personal time, then cleaned it up slightly for public consumption. This post is not directly related to GiveWell’s work, but we thought readers might find it interesting anyway. It provides a simple supplementary analysis to the argument presented in The Better Angels Of Our Nature that violence has…