We envision a world in which philanthropists increasingly document and share their research, reasoning, results, and mistakes to help each other learn more quickly and serve others more effectively.
In this space, we often cross-post items from the blog of our partner, Open Philanthropy, to give readers a fuller picture of the reasoning behind our work.
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We are launching South Asian Air Quality and Global Aid Advocacy as our first two new causes in more than five years.
Topics: Global Health & Development, Open Philanthropy ProjectAlexander Berger outlines our 2021 allocation to GiveWell top charities and explains why we're giving more going forward.
Topics: Open Philanthropy Project, Global Health & DevelopmentZachary Robinson and Alexander Berger announce that our Criminal Justice Reform program is now an independent organization: Just Impact.
Topics: Criminal Justice Reform, Open Philanthropy ProjectWe’re excited to announce that Open Philanthropy co-founder Alexander Berger has been promoted to co-CEO!
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectWe're excited to introduce the new members of the Open Philanthropy team.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky compares Open Philanthropy's progress with the goals it set forth a year ago, and lays out plans for the coming year.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectGiveWell recommended $100 million in grants to its top and standout charities this year.
Topics: Global Health & Development, Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky compares Open Philanthropy's progress with the goals it set forth a year ago, and lays out plans for the coming year.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectWe're excited to introduce the new members of the Open Philanthropy team.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectGiveWell recommended $54.6 million in grants to its top and standout charities this year.
Topics: Global Health & Development, Open Philanthropy ProjectOpen Philanthropy Farm Animal Welfare Program Officer Lewis Bollard discusses whether companies will follow through on their cage-free pledges.
Topics: Farm Animal Welfare, Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectOpen Philanthropy Communications Director Michael Levine discusses the questions our program officers ask themselves before making our grant.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectOpen Philanthropy Managing Director Alexander Berger discusses how the organization is thinking about near-term, human-centered giving opportunities now.
Topics: Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectOpen Philanthropy Science Program Officers Chris Somerville and Heather Youngs discuss Sherlock Biosciences in the context of preventing pandemics.
Topics: Scientific Research, Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky compares Open Philanthropy's progress with the goals it set forth a year ago, and lays out plans for the coming year.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectWe're excited to introduce the new members of the Open Philanthropy team.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky reflects on how the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs may have played a role in reducing the risk of nuclear war.
Topics: History of Philanthropy, Global Catastrophic Risks, Open Philanthropy ProjectOpen Philanthropy Project staff give personal recommendations for individual donations.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectGiveWell recommended $64 million in grants to its top and standout charities this year.
Topics: Global Health & Development, Open Philanthropy ProjectThis new case study from our History of Philanthropy project focuses on the role of philanthropy in the campaign to secure marriage equality in the U.S.
Topics: History of Philanthropy, Open Philanthropy ProjectMichael Levine discusses some challenges surrounding the funder-grantee relationship.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectA review of the Open Philanthropy Project's progress in 2017 and its plans for 2018.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectMorgan Davis gives an update on the Open Philanthropy Project's thinking behind its grant evaluations.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectThis new case study from our History of Philanthropy project focuses on the role of CBPP in state-level Earned Income Tax Credit programs.
Topics: History of Philanthropy, Open Philanthropy ProjectLewis Bollard discusses fish welfare as a branch of farm animal welfare.
Topics: Farm Animal Welfare, Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectOpen Philanthropy Project staff give personal recommendations for individual donations.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectHeather Youngs discusses our search for projects within scientific research through a request for proposals to NIH transformative research applicants.
Topics: Scientific Research, Open Philanthropy ProjectNick Beckstead gives an update on Open Philanthropy's work investigating biological research, an area it believes is underfunded.
Topics: Scientific Research, Open Philanthropy ProjectPart one of David Roodman's summary of his review of the evidence on the impacts of incarceration on crime for the Open Philanthropy Project.
Topics: Criminal Justice Reform, Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectAjeya Cotra re-examines the evidence on hen welfare in different housing systems.
Topics: Farm Animal Welfare, Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectThe Open Philanthropy Project and Good Ventures support the most promising work according to different perspectives.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectThe Open Philanthropy Project and Good Ventures try to maximize our impact by taking risks and learning from failure.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky discusses project-based, people-based, and process-based approaches to delegating the task of finding giving opportunities.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectLewis Bollard reflects on the success of US corporate cage-free campaigns.
Topics: Farm Animal Welfare, Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectA review of the Open Philanthropy Project's progress in 2016 and its plans for 2017.
Topics: Open Philanthropy Project, Global Catastrophic Risks, Global Health & Development, Policy, Scientific ResearchHolden Karnofsky discusses the Open Philanthropy Project's views on empathy and moral concern.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectThe Open Philanthropy Project responds to requests for giving recommendations in the wake of recent executive orders.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectThis new case study from our History of Philanthropy project focuses on the founding and growth of the Center for Global Development.
Topics: History of Philanthropy, Open Philanthropy Project, Global Health & DevelopmentA review of the Open Philanthropy Project's progress in 2015 and its plans for 2016.
Topics: Open Philanthropy Project, Global Catastrophic Risks, Global Health & Development, Policy, Scientific ResearchHolden Karnofsky outlines the Open Philanthropy Project's giving strategy: hits-based giving.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectLewis Bollard discusses the reasoning behind the Open Philanthropy Project's recent support of corporate cage-free campaigns.
Topics: Farm Animal Welfare, Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectThe Open Philanthropy Project has recommended a grant of $1.75 million to launch the Alliance for Safety and Justice.
Topics: Criminal Justice Reform, Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectOpen Philanthropy Project staff recommendations for individual donors interested in giving to organizations in Open Philanthropy focus areas.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectWe are excited to announce our grants to GiveWell’s “top charities” for the 2015 giving season.
Topics: Global Health & DevelopmentHolden Karnofsky lays out our working framework for deciding how much Good Ventures should give to GiveWell top charities this year.
Topics: Global Health & Development, Open Philanthropy ProjectShould the Open Philanthropy Project be recommending more/larger grants at this stage? Holden Karnofsky lays out the case for and against.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectDavid Roodman examines a new study on the Mariel boatlift and concludes that it doesn't give cause to change our view of the benefits of immigration.
Topics: Immigration Policy, Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectSome thinking on the question of "differential technological development": is it desirable to accelerate progress on certain technologies over others?
Topics: Global Catastrophic Risks, Scientific Research, Open Philanthropy ProjectAn update on the progress we've made over the last six months at the Open Philanthropy Project.
Topics: Open Philanthropy Project, Policy, Global Catastrophic Risks, Scientific ResearchWe're excited to announce that Lewis Bollard plans to join us as a Program Officer, working on the treatment of animals in industrial agriculture.
Topics: Open Philanthropy Project, Farm Animal WelfareOn the process of and reasoning behind hiring our Program Officer for criminal justice reform, Chloe Cockburn.
Topics: Criminal Justice Reform, Open Philanthropy ProjectWe recently published a case study on the impact of philanthropy on the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
Topics: History of Philanthropy, Open Philanthropy ProjectWhat if a big geomagnetic storm does hit? Part 4 in David Roodman's series.
Topics: Geomagnetic Storms, Global Catastrophic Risks, Open Philanthropy ProjectNick Beckstead discusses our work on global catastrophic risks, & how we think about what size of risks are most worth worrying about.
Topics: Global Catastrophic Risks, Open Philanthropy ProjectDavid Roodman investigates whether increasing alcohol tax rates would save lives.
Topics: Open Philanthropy Project, PolicyOur investment is meant to accelerate GiveDirectly’s growth and build its capacity to partner with major international aid agencies.
Topics: Global Health & Development, Economic EmpowermentPart 3 in our series on fundamental questions for philanthropists: things to keep in mind when making and evaluating grants.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectDavid Roodman uses extreme value theory to estimate the risk of an outsized geomagnetic storm: part 3 of a series.
Topics: Geomagnetic Storms, Global Catastrophic Risks, Open Philanthropy ProjectHow to hire program staff and choose focus areas? Part 2 in our series on fundamental questions for philanthropists.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectWhat does the history of geomagnetic storms tell us about the risk? Part 2 of David Roodman's series.
Topics: Geomagnetic Storms, Global Catastrophic Risks, Open Philanthropy ProjectWhat's the right role for a grantmaker, beyond providing funding? The first post in a series on fundamental, under-discussed questions about philanthropy.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectAre geomagnetic storms a global catastrophic risk? Part 1 of David Roodman's investigation.
Topics: Geomagnetic Storms, Global Catastrophic Risks, Open Philanthropy ProjectChloe Cockburn is joining the Open Philanthropy Project as a Program Officer, leading our work on criminal justice reform.
Topics: Criminal Justice Reform, Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectThe second case study from our history of philanthropy project focuses on the Pew Charitable Trusts' drug safety legislation program.
Topics: History of Philanthropy, Open Philanthropy Project, PolicyUnlike for-profit companies, it seems that many major nonprofits are initiated by funders. We give some examples and possible explanations.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky outlines the steps we're taking to determine our priorities in science philanthropy.
Topics: Scientific Research, Open Philanthropy ProjectWe outline a vision for a think tank devoted to addressing systemic issues in the world of biomedical sciences.
Topics: Scientific Research, Open Philanthropy ProjectKaitlyn Trigger and Mike Krieger discuss why they're partnering with the Open Philanthropy Project.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectKaitlyn and Mike will be learning with us and supporting the work of the Open Philanthropy Project over the next two years.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectA compilation of our biggest lessons to date, for people who want to quickly absorb what we've learned.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky discusses the difficulty of securing support for "breakthrough fundamental science" in the current life sciences ecosystem.
Topics: Scientific Research, Open Philanthropy ProjectIs there a "valley of death" between academic biomedical research and clinical application? Holden Karnofsky discusses what we've learned about this topic.
Topics: Scientific Research, Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky discusses the process and challenges of investigating neglected goals in scientific research.
Topics: Scientific Research, Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky provides an update on Open Philanthropy Project's progress in 2014 and plans for 2015.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky provides an update on Open Philanthropy Project's progress and plans for work on global catastrophic risks.
Topics: Global Catastrophic Risks, Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky provides an update on Open Philanthropy Project's progress and plans for work on U.S. policy causes.
Topics: Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky provides a basic guide to understanding biomedical research and examines common misperceptions regarding scientific research.
Topics: Scientific Research, Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky examines the track record of the Sandler Foundation and whether or not its success is a product of an atypical approach to philanthropy.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky writes about the November convening on possible Open Philanthropy Project U.S. policy priorities.
Topics: Policy, Criminal Justice Reform, Immigration Policy, Macroeconomic Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectCari Tuna explains the reasoning behind our grants to GiveWell's recommended charities for the 2014 giving season.
Topics: Global Health & DevelopmentHolden Karnofsky gives an update on our work to choose focus areas for the Open Philanthropy Project.
Topics: Open Philanthropy Project, Policy, Global Catastrophic RisksHolden Karnofsky considers the benefits of developing deep expertise in a few causes compared with getting involved in many causes.
Topics: Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectHolden Karnofsky reflects on the biggest challenges of being public and open about giving decisions.
Topics: Transparency, Open Philanthropy ProjectWe commissioned David Roodman to examine how increasing immigration to the U.S. would impact wages for current U.S. residents.
Topics: Immigration Policy, Policy, Open Philanthropy ProjectCari Tuna writes about the Open Philanthropy Project, a new name to describe the collaboration between Good Ventures and GiveWell.
Topics: Open Philanthropy ProjectGood Ventures has awarded $3 million to The Pew Charitable Trusts as part of our work on criminal justice reform.
Topics: PolicyAlexander Berger writes about the areas we currently see as most promising with the goal of reducing global catastrophic risks.
Topics: Global Catastrophic RisksA blog post by Holden Karnofsky about the specific causes we're considering as possible focus areas in U.S. policy advocacy.
Topics: PolicyA blog post by Holden Karnofsky about how we've investigated the space of policy-oriented philanthropy.
Topics: PolicyA blog post by Cari Tuna and Natalie Crispin about their recent trip to Myanmar and thoughts on the value of site visits.
Topics: Global Health & DevelopmentA blog post by Holden Karnofsky about how committing to causes will help us learn.
A blog post by Elie Hassenfeld about our research into opportunities to support malaria control and elimination.
Topics: Global Health & DevelopmentA blog post by Holden Karnofsky about our research into the cause of criminal justice reform.
Topics: Criminal Justice Reform, PolicyThe first case study from our history of philanthropy project focuses on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Health Care for the Homeless program.
Topics: History of PhilanthropyRead about the progress we've made toward identifying focus areas and our plans for 2014.
Good Ventures announces its plans for the 2013 giving season, including $5 million in matching funds for GiveDirectly.
Effective altruism isn't about having the "right" answers. It’s about continuous learning and being open to any cause or approach to doing good.
Topics: Effective AltruismGood Ventures shares a report it commissioned on the drug policy reform landscape.
Topics: PolicyA blog post by Cari Tuna about Good Ventures' grant to the Center for Global Development to learn about the history of philanthropy.
Topics: Global Health & Development, History of PhilanthropyAn update on Good Ventures' grant to Population Services International Myanmar.
Topics: Global Health & DevelopmentCari Tuna writes about Good Ventures' search for opportunities to fund the delivery of immunizations and micronutrient supplements.
Topics: Global Health & DevelopmentA blog post by Cari Tuna about key questions that shape every donor's giving decisions.
A blog post by Cari Tuna about Good Ventures' learning grants in policy advocacy in support of drug policy reform and marriage equality.
Topics: PolicyA blog post by Cari Tuna announcing Good Ventures’ $2 million in year-end grants to GiveWell’s top charities, including the Against Malaria Foundation.
Topics: Global Health & DevelopmentA blog post by Cari Tuna about Good Ventures’ grant to the US Cochrane Center, which publishes systematic reviews of medical research.
Topics: Improving ResearchA blog post by Cari Tuna about the project Good Ventures is co-funding with the Gates Foundation to slow the spread of drug-resistant malaria in Myanmar.
Topics: Global Health & DevelopmentA blog post by Cari Tuna about Good Ventures’ first co-funding effort, an anti-malaria initiative with the Gates Foundation.
Topics: Global Health & DevelopmentA blog post by Cari Tuna about Good Ventures’ grants to “standout” charities identified by GiveWell in 2011.
Topics: Global Health & Development, EducationA blog post by Cari Tuna about increasing transparency in philanthropy by publishing notes from Good Ventures’ key conversations.
Topics: TransparencyA blog post by Cari Tuna about Good Ventures’ decision to team up with GiveWell, a nonprofit researching philanthropic opportunities, on similar goals.
Topics: Effective AltruismA blog post by Cari Tuna about Good Ventures' vision, mission and initial approach to grantmaking.