Investors are used to the idea of delegating decisions to expert fund managers. Donors can also find great funds targeting important philanthropic causes.
As someone seeking to make an impact, finding dedicated research organizations that evaluate charities was frankly a godsend. They make it easy to select from vetted recommended charities, but my favorite organizations also offer funds: one makes a single donation, and the proceeds are re-granted out to what are judged to be the best opportunities (the ones discussed below do not take any fees for managing this process).
GiveWell is the premier evaluator in the arena of human health and wellbeing. They find the most cost-effective, evidence-backed interventions (and publish the analysis that lies behind their work). While well known for their list of top charities, they also offer two funds. The Top Charities Fund directs dollars to this selected group of tried and true programs. Their second fund is called the All Grants Fund. This fund also benefits the top charities but makes other high expected-value grants as well: these include opportunities where the track record or evidence-base may not be as well established (and may also direct support to further research). This flexibility has been particularly helpful this year as cuts in US government funding have created gaps that lead to new potential grants.
Turning to another cause area: Giving Green is a research organization that recommends impactful climate initiatives in the non-profit space. They recently published new research reports outlining their strategic perspective on where to direct support and updated their list of recommended charities. The Giving Green Fund makes grants to the organizations that top their list and can also flexibly make other grants to cover a wider range of opportunities.
Finally, Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) publishes annually a list of recommended charities that seek to improve animal welfare globally. A focus of many of these organizations is to advocate for farm animals, while a few also look to support wild animal welfare. ACE’s Recommended Charity Fund allocates donations to these top choices.
As always, one can also choose to support these research organizations directly, since their operations are also donor-funded.
(Note this list is not exhaustive: other worthy organizations offer funds in a similar spirit, but these are the ones I have spent the most time getting to know and have chosen to support).
[Also posted to LinkedIn]