Evidence Action scales evidence-based and cost-effective programs to reduce the burden of poverty. 

Evidence Action was founded in 2013 to address a big gap in the fight against global poverty – many of the most promising interventions are either implemented at a very small scale, or not at all. We set out to address this gap by building programs that would scale evidence-based and cost-effective interventions, leading to significant improvements in quality of life for hundreds of millions of people.

Our model worked. Since then, our interventions have reached more than 530 million people. This success is achieved through the dedication and talent of our staff, the hard work of our partners, and the commitment of our supporters.

Our Accelerator is the engine for our new program development. To find the most cost-effective solutions in the world, we explore untapped opportunities with the greatest potential for impact. Through a rigorous process, we test groundbreaking health and development interventions, selecting those with a proven ability to reduce the burden of poverty at scale. This focus allows us to maximize the impact made for every single dollar invested.

**Programs:**

**Safe Water Now**

We provide sustained safe water access to communities through water treatment – one of the most cost-effective ways to prevent childhood illnesses and death. Safe Water Now programming in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, and India uses innovative, low-cost approaches like chlorine dispensers and automatic in-line chlorination. With local government and community buy-in, we reach nearly 10 million people with safe water access and have saved the lives of more than 15,000 children under 5 years old. Now, we are scaling in partnership with the Government of India to reach tens of millions more.

**Deworm the World** 

We help improve children's health, education, and long-term wellbeing by treating parasitic worm

infections at schools. In partnership with governments in Kenya, Nigeria, India, and Pakistan, Evidence Action designs, scales, and sustains cost-effective mass deworming programs. Since 2014, Deworm the World has helped governments deliver 2 billion deworming treatments to children, dramatically reducing worm prevalence and collectively increasing economic productivity by an estimated $23 billion USD.

**Equal Vitamin Access**

We combat the leading cause of childhood malnutrition and disability in low- and middle-income countries by helping to deliver essential supplementation. Equal Vitamin Access provides end-to-end support to governments in India and Malawi to address anemia by leveraging our school-based deworming platform to offer iron and folic acid supplementation cost effectively. In 2023 alone, our program reached 35.8 million children with weekly treatments, giving them a

better chance to develop into strong, healthy adults.

**Syphilis-Free Start**

We safeguard the health of pregnant women and their unborn children by enabling access to low-cost syphilis screening and treatment as part of prenatal care. We partner with governments in Liberia, Cameroon, and Zambia to prevent disability, neonatal

mortality, and stillbirths resulting from congenital syphilis. Syphilis-Free Start’s timely detection and treatment prevented 2,300 adverse outcomes such as blindness, neurological issues, and hearing loss between 2021 and 2023, including 1,300 lives saved.



Evidence Action

Malaria Consortium

The Top Charities Fund supports the highest-priority funding needs among our top charities.

We find and recommend outstanding giving opportunities and publish our research to help donors give more effectively and with greater confidence.

All donations here support our Top Charities Fund. Donations to the Top Charities Fund are granted on a rolling basis to support cost-effective funding opportunities at our top charities. We use our latest research to grant the funds to the top charity (or charities) where we believe they’ll do the most good.

Learn more and view past grants at https://www.givewell.org/top-charities-fund


Photo caption: At health centers in Sierra Leone supported by Helen Keller Intl, mothers who bring their children in for twice-yearly vitamin A supplemention can also receive comprehensive counseling about birth control options that are available to them free of charge. Combining family planning and children's healthcare services benefits both mother and child. 2019.

Top Charities Fund

Exists to end the greatest cause of suffering on the planet: the exploitation of animals for food.

Mercy For Animals exists to end the greatest cause of suffering on the planet: the exploitation of animals for food.

Mercy For Animals

CHS at Johns Hopkins advances policy, science and technology to protect people’s health from epidemics and disasters.

The Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security explores how new policy approaches, scientific advances, and technological innovations can strengthen health security and save lives. Our research focuses on improving organizations, systems, and tools to prevent and respond to outbreaks and other public health crises. We advance policies and practice addressing a range of challenges, including the global rise in emerging infectious diseases, a continued risk of pandemic flu, major natural disasters, and the potential for biological accidents or intentional threats. Interdisciplinary and international collaborations with other experts and policymakers improve and inform our work.

Center for Health Security

Delivering unconditional cash directly to the world's poorest households via secure mobile transfers. 

Since 2009, GiveDirectly has delivered more than $580 million in unconditional cash transfers to families in need. These one-time cash transfers allow recipients to invest in what they need most and have been shown to improve their earnings, children’s school attendance, health, nutrition, and mental well-being.
 
GiveDirectly uses government data to target villages where most or all residents are living in extreme poverty, defined by the World Bank as earning under $2.15/day. In-country GiveDirectly staff enroll one member of each household in the entire village to receive a one-time transfer of about $1,000 USD sent in two installments using mobile money. Recipients can then withdraw the mobile funds as cash with local agents and use the funds to invest in what they need – whether it’s on starting a business, education, making their home safer/sturdier, healthcare, or livestock.
 
GiveDirectly uses rigorous experimental research (randomized controlled trials) to measure the impact of their unconditional cash programs and answer public policy questions, generating evidence on key design and implementation questions across varied contexts. You can find over 300 studies on the positive impacts of cash transfers in GiveDirectly’s Cash Research Explorer.

GiveDirectly

We implement projects aimed at doing the most good in terms of reducing suffering.

Most of us want to make a difference. We see suffering, injustice and death, and are moved to do something about them. But working out what that ‘something’ is, let alone actually doing it, can be a difficult and disheartening challenge.

Effective altruism is a response to this challenge. It is a research field which uses high-quality evidence and careful reasoning to work out how to help others as much as possible. It is also a community of people taking these answers seriously, by focusing their efforts on the most promising solutions to the world's most pressing problems.

Effective Altruism Foundation 

One of GiveWell's top charities for the past several years, AMF provides anti-malarial bednets to people in need. 

From Givewell: 
What do they do? AMF (againstmalaria.com) provides funding for long-lasting insecticide-treated net (LLIN) distributions (for protection against malaria) in developing countries. (More)

Does it work? There is strong evidence that distributing LLINs reduces child mortality and malaria cases. AMF conducts post-distribution surveys of completed distributions to determine whether LLINs have reached their intended destinations and how long they remain in good condition. AMF's post-distribution surveys have generally found positive results but have some methodological limitations. (More)

What do you get for your dollar? We estimate that the cost to purchase and distribute an AMF-funded net is $4.95, or $4.65 excluding in-kind contributions from governments. The numbers of deaths averted and other benefits of distributing LLINs are a function of a number of difficult-to-estimate factors, which we discuss in detail below. (More)

Is there room for more funding? We believe that AMF is likely to be constrained by funding. We estimate that AMF could use up to an additional $37.8 million to support LLIN distributions that will occur between now and late 2023. 

AMF is recommended because of its:

Focus on a program with excellent evidence of effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.
Processes for ensuring that nets reach their intended recipients and monitoring whether they remain in homes and in good condition over the long-term.
Room for more funding – we believe AMF will be able to use additional funds to deliver additional nets.
Transparency – AMF shares significant information about its work with us and we are able to closely follow and understand its work.

The Against Malaria Foundation

International nonprofit ending the abuse of animals raised for food.

The mission of The Humane League, why we exist, is to end the abuse of animals raised for food. This sense of purpose drives every action in our unrelenting march forward for animals.

The Humane League

We search for the charities that save or improve lives the most per dollar.

Our goal is to produce the world's top research on where to give. Free, for everyone.

We recommend a small number of charities that do an incredible amount of good. 

If you would like to donate to our giving funds or individual top charities, please see our projects below. You can donate here or on the Unrestricted Fund page below to make an unrestricted gift to GiveWell to support the full spectrum of our grantmaking and underwrite our ability to continue doing what we do.

GiveWell

1435915265

148788709

1766541537

We are a nonprofit, so instead of charging NONPROFIT we rely on the generosity of donors like you.

Choose a donation for Every.org

2074652487

2535103040

2547000601

2869979572

2883383521

3128160991

3389178628

339774024

3605944885

3797661376

3868271524

410756082

4124487947

496574456

2729980760

3440869557

671754822

1014384873

1112422858

153399038

2028390811

220342792

2266630408

2456389719

2519810400

2539558839

2826465835

2843798242

2898624300

2916352438

3259439560

3583328878

3642494300

3902459442

4136002033

4177183036

4250940449

585491400

641510716

91682487

Instructions to get up to $300 matched: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/oMBKeyx7ir8Jnbenz/make-a-usd50-donation-into-usd100-6x