Giving What We Can
Depends
Confidence: Medium
Take it if you're financially stable and want a curated path to effective giving plus an accountable community.
New check
Comparison
Giving What We Can vs GiveWell
Giving What We Can lands on Depends, and GiveWell lands on Worth it.
GiveWell
Worth it
Confidence: Medium
Use it if you want free, evidence-backed routing of donations to rigorously vetted global health charities.
| Compare | ||
|---|---|---|
| Verdict | Depends | Worth it |
| Best for | Committed effective-giving donors | Donors maximizing impact per dollar |
| Who it's not for | Anyone who can't comfortably spare 10% of pre-tax income | Donors who want to choose their own charities |
| Privacy | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.⁵ | No known public vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed. |
| Support quality | No evidence in sources reviewed | No support evidence found |
| Public sentiment | Pledgers describe the 10% commitment as sustainable and meaningful, including on modest incomes.⁸ | Effective altruism communities largely praise GiveWell's rigor and impact focus while debating its model assumptions and narrow cause selection. |
| Biggest gotcha | Pledge terms debated publicly; conflicting funding-bar interpretations caused friction with dedicated donors.10 | Scammers impersonate GiveWell . verify the domain before donating |
Pick Giving What We Can when
- Committed effective-giving donors
- High earners wanting vetted charities
- People wanting a giving community
When Giving What We Can is not a fit
- Anyone who can't comfortably spare 10% of pre-tax income
- People allergic to public, lifelong commitments
- Companies or teams . this is for individuals
- Casual donors wanting one-off, no-commitment giving
Pick GiveWell when
- Donors maximizing impact per dollar
- Busy givers who trust third-party research
- Effective altruism community members
- Large donors wanting a grants portfolio
When GiveWell is not a fit
- Donors who want to choose their own charities
- People giving to local or community causes
- Buyers expecting an actual software product
- Anyone skeptical of cost-effectiveness methodology
Sources
- Giving What We Cangivingwhatwecan.orgofficial
- Our impactgivingwhatwecan.orgofficial
- Donation Platformgivingwhatwecan.orgofficial
- Fundraisersgivingwhatwecan.orgofficial
- Product security pagegivingwhatwecan.orgsecurity
- GWWC's 2020-2022 Impact evaluation (executive summary)forum.effectivealtruism.orgreview
- GWWC's evaluations of evaluatorsforum.effectivealtruism.orgreview
review
- Dedicated Donors May Not Want to Sign the Giving What We Can Pledgeforum.effectivealtruism.orgreview
- GWWC's Handling of Conflicting Funding Barsforum.effectivealtruism.orgreview
- What is an Effective Giving Initiative?mieuxdonner.orgnews
- Giving What We Can - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.orgnews
- GiveWell | Charity Reviews and Researchgivewell.orgofficial
- Our Top Charitiesgivewell.orgofficial
- All Grants Fundgivewell.orgofficial