Applications Open: Become a Supported Program on the GWWC Donation Platform

By Aidan Whitfield🔸, Giving What We Can🔸 @ 2025-08-14T02:13 (+14)

Giving What We Can is now accepting applications from programs that wish to be considered for other supported program status on our donation platform. 

Applications will remain open until 31 August 2025.

What are other supported programs?

Giving What We Can lists two categories of programs that donors can give to via our donation platform:

• Recommended programs are those we have strong reason to believe are among the most cost-effective giving opportunities available. These programs are recommended by an impact-focused evaluator we have vetted via our evaluating evaluators project.
• Other supported programs are programs that we don’t currently recommend, but that work in a promising cause area and take a reasonably promising approach.

We include other supported programs primarily as a service to support pledgers and other donors, by providing a variety of impactful donation options in one place, and as an acknowledgement that our list of recommendations is based on very specific criteria.

You can read more about our inclusion criteria and the distinction between recommended and other supported programs here.

Who should apply?

We emphasise that we expect to onboard only 5–15 programs and we expect the majority of these will be programs that have received a recent endorsement from an impact-focused evaluator. 

Before applying, we recommend that programs consider whether  being listed on Giving What We Can’s donation platform would generate significant value – for example, if you’d expect to send a large volume of donors to the platform, etc.  We emphasise that other supported program status by itself  does not generally bring in a significant amount of extra funding for a program, especially if that program does not conduct its own fundraising activities to send donors to the platform. Additionally, there is a minimum amount programs must move through the platform to retain supported program status (see below). Please only apply if you think the program would meet this bar and gain significant value from being listed.

At a minimum, programs being onboarded to the GWWC platform must meet all of the following criteria:

• Fit within Giving What We Can's charitable scope and have broad alignment with effective altruism principles (i.e. the charity works on a pressing problem and takes a reasonably promising approach). The research team is responsible for reviewing this, and may pay attention to:
  • The evidence supporting the program’s approach.
  • Whether the program has been supported by an impact-focused charity evaluator.
• Follow best practices such that there is no major risk of accidental harm from supporting the organisation.
• Expect to receive at least $25,000 USD in the next year through our platform (as we need to ensure the costs of retaining programs on our platform don't outweigh the benefits).

Additionally, other support programs must meet at least two of the following four criteria:

1. Sufficient level of support by impact-focused evaluators.
   1. “Standout” or second-tier recommendation by an evaluator we have already vetted and rely on for our recommendations
   2. Recent grantee of an evaluator we have vetted and rely on for our recommendations
   3. Top-rated charity designation by another impact-focused charity evaluator
2. Adds an option that the GWWC research team believes could be the most cost-effective to a donor according to a plausible worldview. For instance, they are among the most promising organisations we know of pursuing a specific approach to doing good that has been identified as especially promising by researchers in the area.
3. Is an impact-focused evaluator, fundraiser for highly effective charities, or otherwise contributes to the effective giving ecosystem in a way that brings significant impact.
4. Is expected to raise at least $50k USD  per year through the GWWC donation platform.

Beyond these criteria, we also consider other factors. For example, if we already list a supported program that works on a particular problem or utilises a particular intervention, then this raises our bar for adding another program implementing a similar intervention.

Application Process

To apply:

1. Complete our application form: Link to form 
2. Applications will close on 31 August 2025, and we expect to make decisions by the end of September.
3. Programs receiving other supported program status will be contacted with onboarding information. All other programs will receive a brief summary of the research team’s review, along with the reason(s) for not receiving other supported program status at this time.

Note that we do not accept applications for recommended status, as this is determined based on evaluations by external evaluators we’ve vetted. More on how we recommend charities here.

Questions?

If you have any questions about the application process, please reach out to us at research@givingwhatwecan.org.