Who are the best charities?
Effective Altruism Australia’s objective is to help others as much as possible for every dollar donated.
To do this we support charities that are consistently ranked as highly cost effective by independent charity evaluators such as GiveWell, Giving What We Can, and The Life You Can Save. Because of their focus on transparency, commitment to evaluation and follow-up, and scaling of proven interventions, we have high confidence that these charities can reliably and significantly improve and save lives.
Our partner charities are all focused on global health and poverty, which is one of the worlds most pressing problems. If you are interested in other causes we recommend this list of the best charities to donate to across many causes.
Our recommended charities
Against Malaria Foundation (AMF)
Preventing deaths from malaria in sub-Saharan Africa
Malaria is a major problem in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015, around 440,000 people – mostly children – died from malaria. Insecticide-treated bed nets prevent deaths and many other non-fatal cases of malaria and are relatively inexpensive – A$3.50 per net or A$5-7 including the costs of its distribution partners. (For more details, see GiveWell’s full report on bed nets.) We believe that AMF effectively expands access to bed nets. Read reports on AMF by GiveWell, Giving What We Can, and The Life You Can Save.
Malaria Consortium
Preventing malaria in children in sub-Saharan Africa
Malaria Consortium fights malaria by working with national governments to distribute preventive drugs for children under five years via seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) programmes. Based on strong evidence, SMC is particularly effective at preventing malaria in those areas where it is seasonal. It is cost effective and saves lives. We believe that Malaria Consortium cost-effectively expands access to SMC programmes. Read more about Malaria Consortium here and their work on SMC here, including the latest 2021 philanthropy report, summarising how philanthropic funding was used to support the implementation of seasonal malaria chemoprevention. Read reports on Malaria Consortium by GiveWell and Giving What We Can.
Helen Keller International (Vitamin A Supplementation Program)
Vitamin supplementation to prevent child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.
Helen Keller International supports government-run vitamin A supplementation programs. There is strong evidence that VAS programs reduce child mortality. GiveWell estimates it costs $1.23 to deliver a vitamin A supplement in HKI-supported programs. .
Read the reports on Helen Keller International’s Vitamin A Supplementation Program by GiveWell and Giving What We Can.
New Incentives
Cash incentives for routine childhood vaccines.
New Incentives was founded in 2011 to promote the use of Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs), an evidence-based approach for improving health outcomes in Lower and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). In a quest to identify the most impactful and cost-effective application of CCTs to save lives, the organization explored several models and interventions. By 2016, they had developed the Conditional Cash Transfers for Routine Immunization program, which GiveWell has now recognized as one of an elite group of charities that saves the most lives per dollar. In Nigeria, the organization operates as All Babies Are Equal Initiative. Read reports on New Incentives by GiveWell and Giving What We Can.
Other charities we support
Schistosomiasis Control Initiative (SCI)
Treating people for parasite infections in sub-Saharan Africa
SCI supports programs that treat people for parasitic worm infections that cause short-term symptoms such as anemia, and may cause longer-term developmental problems. These worms are extremely inexpensive to treat. (For more, see GiveWell’s full report on deworming.) We believe that SCI cost-effectively expands access to deworming treatment. Read reports on SCI by GiveWell, Giving What We Can and The Life You Can Save.
Deworm the World Initiative (led by Evidence Action)
Treating children for parasite infections in developing countries
The Deworm the World Initiative, led by Evidence Action, supports governments around the world to eliminate the public health threat of parasitic worms through school-based mass deworming programs. More specifically, Evidence Action’s Deworm the World Initiative advocates for school-based deworming to policymakers and provides technical assistance to launch, strengthen and sustain school-based deworming programs. 220 million children will be dewormed in 2016 thanks to Evidence Action’s work. Read reports on Deworm the World by GiveWell, Giving What We Can and The Life You Can Save.
GiveDirectly
Send money directly to the extreme poor
Directly transferring money to poor individuals allows them to purchase that which they believe will help them most. Strong evidence indicates that cash transfers lead recipients to spend more on their basic needs (such as food) and may allow recipients to make investments with high returns, with evidence showing no impact, or a negative impact, of transfers on alcohol or tobacco expenditure. (For more, see GiveWell’s full report on cash transfers.) We believe that GiveDirectly effectively distributes cash to extremely low-income individuals. Read reports on GiveDirectly by GiveWell, Giving What We Can and The Life You Can Save.
GiveDirectly Basic Income Research
Support rigorous research to assess the impact of basic income
You can earmark your funds to support GiveDirectly’s research on basic income, a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) that will be conducted in collaboration with MIT. This will run for 10-15 years and have an active arm of at least 6000 Kenyans. To run the research GiveDirectly will require $30 million, the first $10 million of which they will match at a 1:1 ratio. You can read more at GiveDirectly.
GiveDirectly Refugees
Unconditional cash transfers to refugees in Uganda
You can also earmark your funds to provide direct cash transfers to long-term refugees, empowering them to rebuild their lives in their new, adopted homes. GiveDIrectly’s Refugees program builds on a successful operational pilot completed in 2018 by testing this solution at a larger scale and adding an independent experimental evaluation. GiveDIrectly will deliver unconditional cash transfers of roughly $1000 to ~15,000 refugees in the Kiryandongo settlement of Uganda. At best, the program will help reform the way humanitarian aid is delivered. At worst, it will help alleviate poverty for over 70,000 people.