Research and data to make progress against the world's largest problems

Poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality: The world faces many great and terrifying problems. Our World in Data focuses on communicating the best research and data that helps us understand and find solutions to the world’s largest problems.

Our World in Data publishes an open-access publication where users can understand the state of the world today, where we are making progress and where we are falling behind. Through interactive data visualizations we can see how the world has changed; by summarizing the scientific literature we can understand why. We cover everything from global poverty to natural disasters, education and health, democracy; we have over 3500 charts across 300 topics.

Our World in Data is free, open-source and provided as a public good. It has millions of users every month, and is cited in research and media across the world every day. This allows millions of people to understand the large problems the world is facing, and how we can solve them. 

Our World in Data

Committed to stamping out muscular dystrophy

Strongest Hearts is so excited to have you here.  We founded Strongest Hearts in 2022 after our son’s diagnosis with Becker’s Muscular Dystrophy.  BMD is an incredibly serious disease that affects the muscle systems of young boys and men.  Like the more common and more severe Duchenne’s, it is progressive and life threatening.

Strongest Hearts intends to end that threat.  Our non-profit is designed to exclusively work to find a cure or treatment, educate and advocate for this deadly disease.  DMD is the number one killer for adolescents in the US and we search to find a solution that will help over 90% of the DMD and BMD community.  

Like so many people and families, we have felt fear, anxiety and hopelessness and have received massively conflicting data from doctors and websites.  It is time to stop that cycle and move towards a day when we can say that a diagnosis of any muscular dystrophy, while unsettling, is no longer a tragedy.  We truly believe that we have the people, the skill and the technology to end this scourge once and for all.  

Join us in our fight.  Many Hearts, One Mission

Strongest Hearts Foundationis a project of Players Philanthropy Fund a Maryland charitable trust recognized by IRS as a tax-exempt public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (Federal Tax ID: 27-6601178). Contributions to Strongest Hearts Foundationqualify as tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. 




Strongest Hearts Foundation

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies supports psychedelic and cannabis research, education and policy reform.

Founded in 1986, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is a visionary 501(c)(3) non-profit organization ushering the safe and ethical use of psychedelics as tools for healing and growth on individual, familial, societal, and planetary levels.

MAPS’ top priority is ethically introducing global access to MDMA-assisted therapy as a treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through regulatory approvals and training certification for therapy providers, as well as public education, policy reform, and building community support networks.

How Your Donation Will Help

While the MDMA drug development program is the main priority of MAPS, the organization's programs include research into other psychedelic compounds and provide critical resources for researchers around the world interested in studying psychedelics. These resources include assistance with protocol development and regulatory guidance, in addition to providing study drug and training for investigators. As part of its commitment to open science and open praxis, MAPS publishes its research protocols, treatment manual for MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, published articles, and investigator's brochure on its website for free download, and actively collaborates with third-party researchers and institutions. Researchers and institutions around the world are building on the body of research that MAPS has produced.

MAPS operates a global network of intersectional education and research programs focused on the careful study of the risks and benefits of psychedelics. The education programs include: harm reduction and peer support through the Zendo Project; policy and advocacy efforts focused on community organizing and reducing barriers to research; a conflict resolution initiative for peace-building; and an active fiscal sponsorship program for fledgling mission-aligned organizations. MAPS also produces myriad educational materials, training workshops, and conferences, both physical and virtual. MAPS builds its global community of support through: outreach at events worldwide; a robust social media presence; and interviews and publications in various global media outlets. All of this work is supported by MAPS’ general operating fund. 

MAPS aims to transcend geopolitical and social boundaries and intentionally cultivates interactions with thought leaders in a broad range of interest areas and outlets that demonstrate the broad applications of the healing potential of psychedelics, and to proactively build trust and common ground with those most likely to have resistance to psychedelics.  

A Tipping Point for Psychedelic Medicine

MDMA-assisted therapy is poised to be a true breakthrough for psychedelic medicine and is the first psychedelic therapy to enter a Phase 3 clinical trial. This trial recently cleared a critical interim evaluation, with analysis confirming a 90% or greater likelihood that the final results will show significant effectiveness in treating PTSD. Achieving FDA approval for this treatment could be the tipping point to shifting psychedelics into the medical mainstream. This shift has the potential to unlock previously unavailable resources for the investigation of psychedelic-assisted treatments applied to our most critical mental health challenges: trauma, depression, addiction, anxiety, and more.

When administered in a clinical setting with trained therapy providers, MDMA has proven to be a powerful adjunct to therapy, which assists individuals in processing traumatic experiences in a deep and profound manner, leading to the alleviation of suffering. Clinical research indicates that MDMA may catalyze therapeutic processing by allowing participants to stay emotionally engaged when revisiting traumatic experiences, without feeling overwhelmed by anxiety or other painful emotions.

FDA approval of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD could help millions of people who are suffering from trauma. A long-term follow-up study published in June 2020 demonstrated that 67% of the study volunteers (N=91) who had PTSD for an average duration of 17.8 years were still in remission and no longer qualified for a PTSD diagnosis at least 12-months following the completion of their treatment. 

While MAPS is the engine that powers this research, passionate supporters are the fuel that feeds our fire. We are inspired to press on towards the finish line of this 35-year marathon.

If you have any questions, please email us at giving@maps.org.

MAPS

Eliminating obstacles on the path to the comprehensive medical control of aging and age-related disease.

Longevity Escape Velocity (LEV) Foundation exists to proactively identify and address the most challenging obstacles on the path to the widespread availability of genuinely effective treatments to prevent and reverse human age-related disease.

Pending a change of registered name, LEV Foundation is a project of the Ichor Research Institute, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization (EIN 84-4001770.)

Ichor Research Institute Inc

b-present Foundation is a nonprofit focused on ensuring every adolescent and young adult with cancer feels connected and supported

This holiday season, show gratitude and share the love by launching a fundraiser or making a donation in honor of someone who chose to b-there for you and made a huge difference in your life. Remember the impact it had on you? This is your chance to pay it forward and help others b-there for their loved one dealing with cancer. Because no one should have to face cancer alone. 💪
 
Here's how your contribution will support the young adult cancer community... 🫶

➡️ $25 donation provides a hospital with supporter roadmaps for 10 patients and their supporters. (Goal: 200 donations at this level)

➡️  $50 donation helps fund one b-there for YA Support Kits (coming in 2023). Each kit includes a Supporter Roadmap, access to our digital resource suite, and practical tools and comfort items that will be distributed to newly diagnosed adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients and their supporters to help them get off to a good start and stay connected. The best part? These kits will be designed by those that have been there. (Goal: 100 donations at this level)

➡️ $100 donation helps ensure that newly diagnosed patients and their supporters receive the help they need throughout treatment and beyond with our recently launched b-there connection and support app. (Goal: 50 donations at this level)

➡️ $500 donation will help support our 2023 Spark Tank Innovation Workshop, where young adult survivors, supporters, researchers, health professionals, and advocates gather to explore the gaps and barriers that contribute to social isolation and poor mental health after cancer and brainstorm solutions that spark improved quality of life and health outcomes for AYAs with cancer. (Goal 10 donations at this level)
 
Will you Give the Gift of Presence and help us raise $20,000 this holiday season to support the implementation of our programs in hospitals and schools nationwide? With your help, b-present can enable thousands of young adult cancer patients and their supporters across the U.S. to become advocates at home, at school, and in their communities for connections and support. 
 
✨More about b-present✨
The b-present Foundation is a nonprofit inspired by and founded in memory of 20-year-old Kirsten Westerman, who we lost to leukemia in 2016. Our work focuses on improving social support so adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer between the ages of 15-39, and their communities of support, stay connected and are supported throughout treatment and beyond. 

b-present approaches this critical work from two angles: preventative and supportive. Creating awareness and providing the support network with tangible tools and guidance to navigate their support experience are vital first steps to preserving and sustaining that important community of support.

b-present foundation

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

The Fungi Foundation is a global organization that works for the Fungi, their habitats, and the people who depend on them.

Launched in 2012, the Fungi Foundation is the first NGO dedicated to the fungi kingdom. Since its inception, it has achieved numerous milestones while dedicating itself to exploring the fungi world in view of increasing knowledge of their diversity, educating about their applications, and recommending public policy for their conservation. As part of our ongoing 3F initiative, the foundation played a key role in enabling Chile to become the first country in the world to include protection of fungi in its environmental legislation. More recently, the foundation proudly announced the Fantastic Fungi Education Curriculum, the world's first mycological set of courses designed for schools.

In short, the Fungi Foundation envisions a healthy planet in which Fungi are recognized, protected, and embraced as the interconnectors of nature; a mission that would be impossible without the essential support of our kind, engaged donors.

Fungi Foundation

TerraPraxis designs and implements strategies that leverage science, technology and energy innovation for a prosperous planet

We co-founded TerraPraxis to design and implement strategies that leverage science, technology and energy innovation for a prosperous planet. 

Our special focus is on enabling high-impact rapid transitions for neglected parts of the decarbonization challenge. 

We work with an extensive global network to define, incubate and initiate scalable strategies that fulfil the twin missions of prosperity and decarbonization. 

TerraPraxis

For cancer information, call 1-800-227-2345 anytime, day or night, or visit www.cancer.org

The American Cancer Society is leading the fight for a world without cancer. 

We’re finding cures and doing so much more. 

The ACS supports patients with free lodging near hospitals, free rides to treatment, and our live 24/7 cancer helpline.  

We’re providing information, tools and services to help people cope with the challenges and questions that come with a cancer diagnosis.  

We’re making breakthroughs in research and urging lawmakers to improve access to care.

When it comes to cancer, we are the only organization attacking from every angle.

American Cancer Society

Science, technology, and other cool stuff from the folks behind public radio's Science Friday. It's brain fun, for curious people.

Science Friday

An international NGO working at the intersection of plant medicines & psychedelics, human rights, science, & Indigenous knowledge.

ICEERS serves humanity by transforming society’s relationship with psychoactive plant medicines and psychedelics, while respecting and honoring their traditional, Indigenous roots. We engage with fundamental issues resulting from the globalization of ayahuasca, iboga, and other ethnobotanicals.

Founded in 2009, ICEERS has special NGO consultative status with the United Nations’ Ecosoc, is registered as a non-profit foundation, and has charitable status in Spain. 

Donations in the USA are accepted through our fiscal sponsor MAPS, who will provide you with a tax receipt. 



ICEERS - International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research & Service

Works to end coercive population control, and fight the myth of overpopulation which fuels it.

Debunk the myth of overpopulation, which cheapens human life and paves the way for abusive population control programs  Expose the relentless promotion of abortion, abortifacient contraception, and chemical and surgical sterilization in misleadingly labeled “population stabilization,” “family planning,” and “reproductive health” programs.  Defund these programs by exposing the coercion, deception, and racism inherent in them.  Emphasize that people are the most valuable resource on the planet, the one resource we cannot do without.  Promote pro-natal and pro-family attitudes, laws, and policies worldwide.  Encourage programs to help the poor become agents of their own development.

Population Research Institute

The GiveWell Top Charities Fund supports evidence-backed giving opportunities that save or improve lives most per dollar donated.

[GiveWell](https://www.givewell.org/) - 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. Learn more and view past grants at [givewell.org/top-charities-fund](https://www.givewell.org/top-charities-fund).

GiveWell

Identify, educate, train, and mobilize youth activists to #MakeLibertyWin 

The mission of Young Americans for Liberty is to identify, educate, train, and mobilize youth activists to make liberty win. Our goal is to cast the leaders of tomorrow and reclaim the policies, candidates, and direction of our government.

Young Americans for Liberty

We’re fighting to pass anti-corruption laws & fix our broken political system. 

We're the nation's largest grassroots anti-corruption campaign, bringing together conservatives and progressives to pass anti-corruption laws across the country. Learn more at Represent.Us.

RepresentUs

We empower anyone to become a citizen scientist and fight global health threats by donating their unused computer power.

Folding@home (FAH or F@h) is a distributed computing project for simulating protein dynamics, including the process of protein folding and the movements of proteins implicated in a variety of diseases. It brings together citizen scientists who volunteer to run simulations of protein dynamics on their personal computers and scientific researchers. Insights from these data are helping scientists to better understand biology and providing new opportunities for developing therapeutics.

Folding@home Foundation

Developing the roadmap for a sustainable, secure, and just global protein supply 🧫🌱


Check out what your support makes possible at gfi.org/your-impact. 

The Good Food Institute (GFI) is a global network of nonprofit organizations developing the roadmap for a sustainable, secure, and just protein supply. Industry alone will not meet this challenge at the scale or speed we need. GFI is accelerating the transformation of the food system by identifying solutions and mobilizing resources to make alternative proteins the default way meat is made.

GFI is a network of nonprofits around the world strategically based in the most critical economies for alternative protein advancement. In Asia, Europe, Brazil, India, Israel, and the U.S., GFI’s teams are mobilizing the international community to use markets and technology to replace harmful practices with ones that are better for the climate and biodiversity, for food security, and for global health.

GFI’s Focus
As a nonprofit, GFI is uniquely positioned to accelerate the transition to alternative proteins by focusing on three programmatic priorities:

-Cultivating a strong scientific ecosystem | GFI’s science and technology teams map out the most neglected areas that will allow alternative proteins to compete on taste and price. GFI meets these challenges by developing open-access research and resources, educating and connecting the next generation of scientists and entrepreneurs, and funding research that benefits alternative protein development across the sector. 

-Influencing policy and securing government funding | GFI’s policy teams ensure that alternative proteins are a part of the policy discussion around climate change mitigation and global health. In every region where GFI has a presence, teams advocate for government funding and incentives to transition to alternative proteins and are paving the way for the approval of novel proteins such as cultivated meat.

-Ensuring industry prioritizes alternative proteins | GFI’s corporate teams are creating a transformation of our global meat supply. GFI works to replicate past market transformations by showing companies of all sizes, from startups to multinational corporations, how alternatives to animal products can be profitable while meeting environmental, social, and governance goals.

Reimagining meat
The very real threats of climate change, global food insecurity, antibiotic resistance, and pandemics require us to imagine a different future of food. Alternative proteins are the solution that will securely and sustainably feed the world.

GFI’s global community of scientists, policy experts, and corporate specialists are creating a world where alternative proteins are no longer alternative.



The Good Food Institute

We aspire to stimulate curiosity and inspire science learning in everyone by creating fun, memorable experiences.

We value science as an indispensable tool for understanding our world, accessibility and inclusiveness, and enriching people's lives. FREE admission to permanent galleries for the public (excludes IMAX and special paid exhibits).

California Science Center

We use large-scale global incentive competitions to crowdsource solutions to the world's grand challenges.

XPRIZE

A minimal & transparent student-run nonprofit founded to enable all students to experience and explore computer science education.

Execute Big is a minimal & transparent student-run nonprofit organization founded to enable all students, with a focus on underrepresented demographics, to experience and explore computer science education.

Founded in 2019 by Megan Cui, Mingjie Jiang and Sean Kim, Execute Big is filling a niche in the technology industry that has been overlooked by giant companies and individuals alike. We work with institutions, educators, and other organizations to build programs and provide scholarship funds in order to make CS education more accessible for any student, regardless of their gender, race, geographic location, or socioeconomic status.

Execute Big

Independent research and analysis on the most important policy issues in the world.

Brookings's mission is to conduct high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations that advance three broad goals:      * Strengthen American democracy;     * Foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans and     * Secure a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international system.

The Brookings Institution

Organization, founded in 2005 that promotes student achievement and career exploration in math and science for K-12 students by connecting them with individuals with STEM Backgrounds

SEM Link’s mission is to strengthen the self-efficacy of K-12 students to pursue STEM careers by exposing them to positive adult role models from the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) community that increase students' awareness of STEM careers and encourage their participation in STEM Research through digital learning and hands-on activities.

Science, Engineering and Mathematics Link Inc

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. 

Founders Pledge

Bringing together great minds in science and the arts.  Awaken Your Inner Genius at World Science Festival 2019, May 22–June 2, 2019 in New York City.

Our mission is to cultivate and sustain a general public informed by the content of science, inspired by its wonder, convinced of its value, and prepared to engage with its implications for the future.

World Science Festival

Promoting personal freedom and prosperity in Illinois.

Illinois Policy is an independent organization generating public policy solutions aimed at promoting personal freedom and prosperity in Illinois.

Illinois’ comeback story starts here.

We educate and engage citizens, lawmakers and the courts to ensure all Illinoisans have:

• An honest, efficient and transparent government
• Access to educational opportunities that prepare each child for the future
• A fair and cost-effective criminal justice system that enhances public safety
• The right to earn a living
• Economic policies that create jobs and opportunity
• Limited taxation

Illinois Policy generates marketable policy solutions to unleash Illinois’ talent and entrepreneurial spirit.

We believe Illinois should be a place where people of all talents, interests and cultural backgrounds can succeed with hard work and ingenuity. We want families to feel confident in planting their roots in Illinois soil. We want to live in a state where communities flourish and good opportunities abound.

This is why we fight.

Illinois Policy

Koko is a tech-based nonprofit that brings mental health and well-being to millions of people.

Koko is a tech-based nonprofit created by a team out of Airbnb and MIT. Our mission is to bring mental health and well-being to as many people as possible. We believe the best way to do this, the best way to help millions of people, is to reach people where they are — online. 

We work with social networks and large online communities, arming them with the tools to make a measurable impact on the health and well-being of millions of people, especially young adults. Our services have reached 2 million people so far, mostly adolescents.




Koko

The Venus Project proposes to work toward a worldwide, resource-based economy, which is a holistic social and economic system in which the planetary resources are held as the common heritage of all the earth's inhabitants.

The Venus Project - Global

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

ACE is dedicated to finding and promoting the most effective ways to help animals.

Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit registered in the United States dedicated to finding and promoting the most effective ways to help animals. ACE aids compassionate donors, professionals, and volunteers in making informed decisions about how to help animals as effectively as possible. We strive to identify ways to alleviate suffering and improve the lives of animals on a wide scale, while continuously updating our recommendations based on new evidence. We oppose all systems of oppression and recognize that they are connected and mutually reinforcing.

Animal Charity Evaluators

Advance understanding of Earth's weather and atmosphere. 

Mount Washington Observatory is a private, nonprofit, member-supported institution with a mission to advance understanding of the natural systems that create Earth’s weather and climate. It serves this mission by maintaining a weather station on the summit of Mount Washington, performing weather and climate research, conducting innovative science education programs, and interpreting the heritage of the Mount Washington region.

Mount Washington Observatory

    * The Union fosters excellent Earth and space science research, to the benefit of humanity.     * The Union advances the Earth and space sciences by catalyzing and supporting the efforts of individual scientists within and outside the membership. As a learned society, the Union serves the public good by fostering quality in the Earth and space sciences and by publicizing the results of research.     * The Union welcomes all in academic, government, industry and other venues who share its interest in understanding the Earth, planets and their space environment, or who seek to apply this knowledge to solving problems facing society.     * The Union's scientific mission transcends national boundaries. Individual scientists worldwide are equals in all AGU activities. Cooperative activities with partner societies of all sizes worldwide enhance the resources of all, increase the visibility of the Earth and space sciences, and serve individual scientists and students.     * The Union is its members. Dedicated volunteers represent an essential ingredient of every Union program, including publications, meetings, public education and outreach. Union staff works flexibly and responsively in partnership with volunteers to achieve Union goals and objectives. Вижте повече

American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Turning complex ideas into practical tools for living your best life and making the world a better place.

FEE's mission is to inspire, educate, and connect future leaders with the economic, ethical, and legal principles of a free society.

These principles include: individual liberty, free-market economics, entrepreneurship, private property, high moral character, and limited government.

The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is a 501(c)3 educational foundation and has been trusted by parents and teachers since 1946 to captivate and inspire tomorrow’s leaders with sound economic principles and the entrepreneurial spirit with free online courses, top-rated in-person seminars, free books for classrooms, as well as relevant and worldly daily online content.

Communicate the science and effects of climate change to the public and decision-makers.

Climate Central

The nation's premier research group tracking money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Our vision is for Americans to be empowered by access to clear and unbiased information about money’s role in politics and policy and to use that knowledge to strengthen our democracy. 

We pursue our mission largely through our award-winning website, OpenSecrets.org, which is the most comprehensive resource for federal campaign contributions, lobbying data and analysis available anywhere. And for other organizations and news media, the Center's exclusive data powers their online features tracking money in politics - counting cash to make change. Our OpenSecrets News features newsbreaking original reporting about money-in-politics, including the sort of investigative work that won the Society of Professional Journalists' 2013 award for Public Service in Online Journalism.

As a 501(c)3 tax-exempt, charitable organization, the Center relies on financial support from a combination of institutional grants, individual contributions and income earned from custom research and licensing data for commercial use. You can support the work of the Center directly by making a tax-deductible contribution through OpenSecrets.org.

OpenSecrets.org

FIRST

Dedicated to the betterment of humanity through promises made and kept.  https://becauseisaidiwould.org

Because I said I would is a social movement and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the betterment of humanity through promises made and kept. We are …changing lives through volunteerism in local chapters, character education programming in schools and awareness campaigns with global reach. We work to end suffering, establish peace and build happiness. To this, we are committed.

Because I said I would.

Providing a second chance for shelter pets by rescuing, training and pairing them with America’s veterans who can benefit from a companion animal.

Please "Suggest to Friends" our page.  Pets for Vets, a 501(c)(3) is dedicated to providing a second chance for shelter pets by rescuing, training and pairing them with America’s veterans who could benefit from having a companion animal.

Pets for Vets

North America’s nonprofit that documents and protects fungi and their habitats through mobilizing community scientists.

Our MISSION: FunDiS protects biodiversity through the conservation of fungi and their habitats by increasing knowledge and public awareness of their diversity and distribution, equipping and engaging community scientists, and partnering with land managers, conservationists, and scientists.

Our VISION: a world in which the fungal kingdom is fully documented, understood, appreciated, and protected.

Fungi underpin life on Earth and play many critically important ecological roles that enable plant and animal diversity, but we are losing fungi faster than we can document them due to habitat loss, pollution, over harvesting, and climate change. Without bringing fungi to the conversation, conservation is incomplete. Fungi make up one of life’s kingdoms – as broad a category as “animals” or “plants” – yet we’ve documented less than five percent of species. 

Understanding if a species is thriving or declining relies on collecting lots of data from lots of people. FunDiS is building a network of community scientists to generate the level of data needed to understand the diversity of fungi and their habitats across North America and integrate our data into conservation action.

We have mobilized hundreds of amateur mycologists (people who love mushrooms) and engaged them in documenting fungi (including rare and threatened) and sequencing DNA from 8,000 documented specimens, helping us map and understand the fungal diversity in North America. Go to fundis.org to learn how you can begin making your fungi observations matter! We track our donations closely as we are growing our organization and every donation makes a big difference. Thank you for your support.

Fungal Diversity Survey (FunDiS)

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

Tackling acute childhood malnutrition through treatment and innovation.

What we do: 

Acute malnutrition is the leading cause of under-five childhood deaths globally. We're working to change that.

Taimaka is a joint Nigerian-American NGO operating in northeastern Nigeria, where we 1) treat thousands of children with acute malnutrition and 2) incubate cost-effective interventions, designed to improve the cost and quality of malnutrition treatment globally.

To improve the cost-effectiveness of global malnutrition treatment, we collaborate with academics to rigorously test and incubate a portfolio of candidate innovations each year in our CMAM program. If these candidate innovations prove effective, we advocate for changes to global standards of care and help other implementers adopt our innovations at scale. If we can reduce the cost of treatment by 1% through innovation, we can free up $3.4 million already spent on malnutrition globally and treat an additional 50,000 children a year, in perpetuity. 

We have won acclaim from Founders Pledge, which recommends us as an early-stage charity; USAID, which funded us through its Feed the Future program; and the D-Prize, which we won. The Center for Effective Global Action at U.C. Berkeley wrote that Taimaka “combines the rigor of academia with the dynamism of a startup,” and Innovations for Poverty Action commended Taimaka’s “commitment to evidence-based impact.” 

Why we do it: 

45.4 million children globally suffer from acute malnutrition, resulting in over 1 million preventable deaths every year. In Nigeria, where we work, over 100 children die every hour from malnutrition. Children that do survive suffer from permanent setbacks to the neurodevelopment, immune systems, and future earnings potential. 

At the same time, highly cost-effective treatment exists. Children can be treated for around $60 with program-wide recovery rates of over 90%. We work to make treatment 1) accessible to children who would otherwise have zero access to it in Nigeria and 2) make treatment cheaper and more effective through innovation, so that more children globally can access it. 

Taimaka Project

Discovering and promoting effective solutions to global poverty problems.

Innovations for Poverty Action

We defend your civil liberties in a digital world.

The first line of defense when your rights in the digital world come under attack. EFF champions user privacy, free expression, and innovation through impact litigation, policy analysis, grassroots activism, and technology development. We work to ensure that rights and freedoms are enhanced and protected as our use of technology grows.

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

FLI catalyzes and supports research and initiatives for safeguarding life and developing optimistic visions of the future.

To catalyze and support research and initiatives for safeguarding life and developing optimistic visions of the future, including positive ways for humanity to steer its own course considering new technologies and challenges.

Future of Life Institute

As machine learning (ML) advances, we'll see transformative changes in any area with abundant data and easily measurable objectives. This encompasses a large swath of daily life, but some important areas may fall behind. It’s especially unclear that ML will help in matters that require substantial thought.

At Ought, our mission is to build scalable systems that apply machine learning to the task of helping people think, so that future improvements in ML automatically increase our collective intelligence.

Ought Inc

A new initiative to advance forecasting and epistemics for the aim of improving the long term future of humanity.

We research systematic practices to specify and estimate the most important parameters for the most important or scalable decisions. Research areas include forecasting, epistemics, evaluations, ontology, and estimation. We emphasize technological solutions that can heavily scale in the next 5 to 30 years.

We believe that humanity’s success in the next few hundred years will lie intensely on its ability to coordinate and make good decisions. If important governmental and philanthropic bodies become significantly more effective, this will make society far more resilient to many kinds of challenges ahead.

Quantified Uncertainty Research Institute

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

Zig is a general-purpose programming language and toolchain for maintaining robust, optimal, and reusable software.

The Zig Software Foundation is a non-profit corporation founded in 2020 by Andrew Kelley, the creator of Zig, with the goal of supporting the development of the language. Currently, the ZSF is able to offer paid work at competitive rates to a small number of core contributors. We hope to be able to extend this offer to more core contributors in the future.

Zig Software Foundation Inc

From microbes to alien intelligence, the SETI Institute is the only organization dedicated to the search for life beyond Earth.

Have you ever looked at the stars and wondered if humans are alone in the universe?

The SETI Institute is a non-profit dedicated to the exploration and understanding of life on Earth and beyond. Our researchers are working to understand humanity's beginnings and our place among the stars. 

The SETI Institute runs the Allen Telescope Array, the first observatory built from the ground up to search for signals from technologically advanced societies in nearby star systems. Since federal funding for SETI research like this is limited, our donors have carried the torch for humanity in searcing the universe for other intelligent species. 

But life comes in all sizes, and just because there aren't other intelligent species in our solar system, doesn't mean there isn't microbial life on Mars or under the ice of Europa. Our scientists study extreme environments and the microbes that inhabit them so we are better prepared to search for life on planetary bodies throughout the galaxy. For example, the SETI Institute has a long history of supporting Mars exploration, including the search for biosignatures and the understanding of the planet's past climate. 

And research is only a part of what we do. We are also committed to educating the next generation of SETI scientists and public programming on science topics critical to all of humanity.

Where will you be when we find life beyond Earth? Join the search today.


SETI Institute

We do foundational mathematical research to ensure smarter-than-human artificial intelligence has a positive impact.

The Machine Intelligence Research Institute is a research nonprofit studying the mathematical underpinnings of intelligent behavior. Our mission is to develop formal tools for the clean design and analysis of general-purpose AI systems, with the intent of making such systems safer and more reliable when they are developed.

The field of AI has a reputation for overselling its progress. In the “AI winters” of the late 1970s and 1980s, researchers’ failures to make good on ambitious promises led to a collapse of funding and interest in AI. Although the field is now undergoing a renaissance, overconfidence is still a major fear; discussion of the possibility of human-equivalent general intelligence is still largely relegated to the science fiction shelf.

At the same time, researchers largely agree that AI is likely to begin outperforming humans on most cognitive tasks in this century. Given how disruptive domain-general AI could be, we think it is prudent to begin a conversation about this now, and to investigate whether there are limited areas in which we can predict and shape this technology’s societal impact.

Researchers at MIRI tend to be relatively agnostic about how the state of the art in AI will change over the coming decades, and how many years off smarter-than human AI systems are. 

Machine Intelligence Research Institute

We empower animal advocates with research, analysis & strategies that maximize their effectiveness to reduce animal suffering.

We conduct essential research, maintain an online research library, and directly support advocates and organizations in their work to save lives. The range of data we offer helps our movement understand how people think about and respond to advocacy, providing advocates with the best strategies to inspire change for animals.

Our Original Studies are carefully selected, designed, and conducted to provide actionable and insightful data for the animal protection movement. Our research prioritization process helps us identify studies that have a high potential impact for animals, and our commitment to transparency and rigorous methodology ensures that our studies are of the highest quality. Our studies have been covered in hundreds of publications across animal advocacy circles as well as in mainstream media, and have been used by animal advocacy groups worldwide.

The Faunalytics Library is completely free, and houses summaries of over 4,000 peer-reviewed research articles, public opinion surveys, and blog posts offering deep analysis on every animal issue you can think of. It’s the world’s biggest collection of opinion and behavior research about animal issues, and it’s presented with an emphasis on effectiveness, readability, and useability. Sign up for our email alerts and you’ll get weekly or monthly updates on the latest research we cover, delivered straight to your inbox.

Get a comprehensive overview of a particular topic area by exploring our Faunalytics Fundamentals, a series that provides infographics and visualizations of data to help you get informed and stay informed. The Fundamentals series has everything you need to get started or update your knowledge in a familiar area, and the visuals are highly shareable beyond an advocacy audience.

Have a research question that you don’t know how to solve? Want to dive deep into a particular issue but don’t know where to start? Just ask us! Faunalytics’ Office Hours give you the opportunity to connect with us directly and get one-on-one help with research design, strategy, and general knowledge questions. We also engage in select partner projects with advocacy groups.