Effective Giving

Making the most of major philanthropy

We are a small group of major philanthropists passionate about maximising the impact of our giving.

Major philanthropy works best when donors think strategically, rely on high-quality research, and are willing to take bets on promising new ideas.

This isn’t easy to do. Misinformation, cognitive bias, and parochialism are major barriers to giving effectively. Only a fraction of the hundreds of billions donated annually are targeted to help as many individuals as possible.

Effective Giving was founded by the philanthropists and social scientists working to change this.

We take our lead from world-class researchers at Cambridge, MIT, Oxford and elsewhere, to develop, test and improve methodologies for identifying exceptional funding opportunities.

We connect at strategy retreats and seminars, and we share our results at dinners and an annual leaders forum.

Shared values

Effective Giving is an independent nonprofit, supported by a small group of funders who have no control over our operations. We never solicit funding at events, charge membership fees, or accept payment for services.

Our shared values help to build our common culture, and guide us in all of our activities:

We work together

We cultivate an environment where free expression and inquiry can flourish, and where we can support one another in continued learning.

We value reason

We use reason, evidence and careful analysis to generously support the most promising solutions to the world’s most pressing problems.

We are open minded

We approach new ideas with curiosity and an open mind. We are eager to learn from expert academics and practitioners, and to reflect on whether we are using our time and resources as well as possible.

We share knowledge

We believe that we can have a greater impact if we share information and our decision-making frameworks. While respecting confidentiality, we share our research, grant-making, and results where it can help others to learn.