GiveWell

GiveWell's Origins

GiveWell is an organisation which aims to help donors find the best charities in their area of interest. It claims a new model for doing so.

The organisation was created in 2006 by two former finance industry workers, Holden Karnofsky and Elie Hassenfeld, and has received favourable media coverage.

Controversy

The organisation became controversial when it was revealed, following a December 31 2007 posting to the AskMetafilter website which raised suspicions, that the two founders had made numerous postings on blogs, sent emails, and asked questions on public forums which they would subsequently "answer" using another username, without revealing their connection to the organisation.

These postings promoted GiveWell, often contrasting it in strong terms with similar organisations like Charity Navigator and Heifer International.

A statement issued by the Board of Directors on January 6 2008 stated that Karnofsky had been removed from his Executive Director and Board Secretary positions, and would serve in future as a Program Officer. A "financial penalty" was also imposed on him.

Organisation with similar name

A charity review organisation called GiveWell also exists in Australia, but is not affiliated with the US organisation. It was founded in 1997. See http://givewell.com.au/