The News Stand

How GiveWell Measures the Impact of Charitable Donations

GiveWell is a charity research organization that helps donors find the most effective places to give money to save lives. This detailed guide explains how they calculate impact estimates for their recommended charities. They measure both outputs (like how many malaria nets are delivered) and outcomes (like how many lives are saved). For example, they estimate it costs $5,500 to save a life through malaria nets, $4,000 through malaria medication, $4,500 through vaccination incentives, and $3,500 through vitamin A supplements. The organization uses weighted averages based on actual grant data from 2022-2024. They emphasize being accurate and clear while avoiding false precision in their estimates. The guide covers their philosophy of transparency, how they generate impact estimates, what factors they consider, and how donors should interpret these numbers. GiveWell updates these estimates regularly and makes all their detailed calculations available in public spreadsheets. This resource helps donors understand how their charitable giving can have measurable, life-saving impact in global health programs.