Support impactful organizations solving the world’s biggest challenges with cutting edge research and policy.

## The Founders Pledge Perspective

Science and technology have created amazing advances in human civilization, from agriculture to industry and beyond. Yet they have also created new challenges, both foreseen and unforeseen: the threat of engineered pandemics more deadly than any naturally occuring virus, the risk of artificial intelligence unaligned with conventional human values, the mental health implications of lives lived online, and others we may not yet recognize.

To address these challenges, improve the lives of people today, and protect future generations from natural and man-made risks, Founders Pledge has identified a short-list of charities working at the cutting edge of global risk response and human wellbeing. These organizations convene stakeholders, conduct research, and advocate for better national and global policies based on the best available evidence.

By giving to the Founders Pledge Science and Technology Index, you can spread your donation across several highly-impactful and neglected organisations working to answer big questions and create solutions to problems that affect us all. By pooling your donations, this Index fund allows you to make larger grants and thereby maximize your impact.

## Our Approach to Grantmaking

When evaluating potential grants, we consider several key points:

- **Counterfactual impact**. Our grants are designed to create a meaningful outcome that would not otherwise have happened. In particular, we aim to make grants that otherwise wouldn’t have been made, rather than those which just take the place of other philanthropists’ donations. This means that you can rely on the Funds to create meaningful, real change, rather than just maintaining the status quo.
- **The grant’s potential outcomes**. We focus on outcomes (e.g. how many lives were saved), rather than outputs (e.g. how many products were delivered). We review all the available evidence and take into account cost-effectiveness to assess whether the grant money could produce more good if donated elsewhere.
- **The organization’s funding gap**. Not all organizations are set up to scale up their programming and many can’t productively absorb large amounts of unsolicited funding. We evaluate all potential grantees’ capacity for growth and consider how much money they could put to good use.
- **Organizational strength**. Particularly with unrestricted funding, it’s important to have trust in the leadership and capacity of the organizations we support. We look at their track record of success and their transparency about failures as well as successes, and we only support those organizations which are exceptionally well run. We also look for organizations that demonstrate a strong commitment to measuring outcomes and evaluating the impact of their programs.

Science & Technology Index

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

Our organization 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. In less than a decade, our two flagship programs, the Deworm the World Initiative and Dispensers for Safe Water, have grown to measurably impact over 280 million people each year. This success is achieved through the dedication and talent of our staff, the hard work of our partners, and the commitment of our supporters.

By 2024, we seek to double our impact. We are strengthening and expanding our existing programs, and working to identify a new generation of evidence-based and cost-effective interventions that we can scale to reach millions more. 

We currently operate three programs:

Dispensers for Safe Water 

Dispensers for Safe Water program delivers free and reliable access to safe water for 4 million people in rural Kenya, Uganda, and Malawi.
In rural parts of low-income countries, most water sources are untreated, meaning that water is not safe to drink directly from the source. Our uniquely-engineered chlorine dispensers are installed next to commonly-used water sources, enabling people to treat their water using a safe and pre-measured dose of chlorine. The chlorine stays active for 2-3 days, ensuring water doesn’t get recontaminated even when stored at home. Adding diluted chlorine to water is a WHO-endorsed approach to improving water quality. 
Dispensers for Safe Water is a cost-effective solution - just over $1.00 delivers safe water access to one person for an entire year. In 2019, our program averted over 380,000 cases of diarrhea among children, one of the main causes of childhood mortality in the countries where we operate.

Deworm the World Initiative

Deworm the World Initiative helps governments launch, scale, and sustain school-based deworming programs.

Over 868 million children globally are at risk of contracting parasitic worm infections. If left untreated, infections can lead to anemia, malnourishment, and impaired mental and physical development—ultimately affecting children’s educational outcomes and income as adults.Our program brings free treatment to children at their schools instead of placing the burden on the families to obtain it. We partner with governments to regularly treat all at-risk children in places where at least 20% are infected with worms, as recommended by the World Health Organization.  

Rigorous research shows that deworming leads to significant improvements to children’s health, education, and long-term wellbeing. In 2019, we helped governments treat over 280 million children in India, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Pakistan for less than US 50 cents per treatment.

Accelerator:  
 
Evidence Action Accelerator is our engine for new program development that selects, optimizes, and scales interventions with the highest potential to measurably improve the lives of millions of people in the world’s poorest places.  

Each intervention considered by the Accelerator must undergo a multi-stage process of program development, taking it from an evidence-based concept to a fully-developed solution that can be replicated in multiple geographies. We look for three critical aspects during the assessment process: rigorous evidence, cost-effectiveness, and potential for scale. 

We are currently accelerating two promising health solutions: working with the Liberian government to detect and treat maternal syphilis, with the aim of preventing thousands of child deaths and disabilities each year; and supporting the Indian government to improve the distribution of iron and folic acid supplementation to millions of children and adolescents —treating iron deficiency anemia, one of the main causes of disability in the country.





Evidence Action

We are a think tank dedicated to figuring out the best ways to make the world a better place.

Rethink Priorities is a research organization that conducts critical research to inform policymakers and major foundations about how to best help people and nonhuman animals in both the present and the long-term future.

Our research spans everything from animal welfare to the threat of nuclear war. We explore neglected but promising areas to improve the world and try to further build the community of researchers working on understanding how to do this most effectively.

If you'd like to support one of our fiscally sponsored projects (e.g. Epoch), you can give via Every.org, and let us know how to allocate your gift at info@rethinkpriorities.org.

Rethink Priorities

Founders Pledge is a global nonprofit empowering entrepreneurs to do the most good possible with their charitable giving. 

We equip members with everything needed to maximize their impact, from evidence-led research and advice on the world’s most pressing problems, to comprehensive infrastructure for global grant-making, alongside opportunities to learn and connect. We’re grateful to be funded by our members and other generous donors. 

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