About Giving What We Can Usa
To make giving effectively and significantly a cultural norm and create a world without extreme poverty, animal suffering, and existential risk by inspiring people to give more and give more effectively.
Focus Areas
Global health & wellbeingAnimal welfareGlobal catastrophic risksEffective giving / philanthropy advocacy
Who They Fund
people living in extreme poverty / poorest householdschildren in malaria-endemic regionsfarmed/nonhuman animalsfuture generations / global population at long-term existential risklocal animal advocacy organizations and individual advocates (Africa)policy-makers and technical experts transitioning into government rolesglobal health and development organizations (including GiveWell-recommended and outside top charities)
About Giving What We Can Usa
Giving What We Can USA Inc’s largest recent grant went to The Good Food Institute Inc for work to accelerate the transition toward alternative proteins. That grant sits alongside major support for global catastrophic risk reduction, global health, and animal welfare, showing a portfolio built around evidence-driven interventions rather than a single issue. In 2025, the foundation also funded Effective Ventures Foundation USA Inc for grants addressing catastrophic risks, and Longview Philanthropy USA Inc for work to reduce existential and catastrophic threats. The giving pattern extends across several strands of effective altruism-style philanthropy: support for organizations improving human health and wellbeing, funding for farmed animal advocacy, and grants tied to advanced nuclear policy and other long-term risk work. It also backs intermediaries and grantmakers that channel funds to other high-impact projects, such as GiveWell and Longview Philanthropy. Recent grants include support for Givedirectly Inc’s cash transfer work and The Against Malaria Foundation’s malaria prevention programs. The result is a funder profile defined by high-conviction support for scalable, research-informed approaches to poverty alleviation, animal welfare, and long-term risk reduction.
What Giving What We Can Usa Funds
In animal welfare, the foundation gave $287,216 to The Humane League for industry pressure and advocacy, and $30,459 to Animal Charity Evaluators to support organizations it has evaluated as highly impactful. It also awarded $36,712 to Animal Advocacy Africa to strengthen animal welfare in Africa by supporting local advocates and organizations. In global health and poverty work, it funded GiveDirectly with $83,714 for direct cash transfers to the world’s poorest households, $74,776 to The Against Malaria Foundation for insecticidal bed nets, and $25,296 to Helen Keller International for vitamin A supplementation and related child health work. On the catastrophic-risk side, it backed Good Energy Collective with $249,999 for equitable adoption of advanced nuclear energy and Horizon Institute for Public Service with $104,741 to place AI and biotechnology experts into policy roles.
How Giving What We Can Usa Gives
The recent grant list is dominated by larger awards at the top and smaller follow-on grants below, with the biggest single grant at $2,099,997 and the listed awards stepping down to $25,296. The foundation operates as a Public Charity and does not fund individuals or make program-related investments. Its grantmaking includes both direct operating support and support for intermediary organizations and pooled funds, including managed cause-area funds and donor-advised or evaluator-linked grantmaking. The record also shows recurring thematic support across multiple years through 2025, with grants concentrated among organizations that can deploy evidence-based programs at scale.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$5.4M
Total Assets
$22M
Total Revenue
$27.9M
Total Expenses
$6.8M
Geographic Reach
National8 states funded
About 15% of grants go to recipients in CA.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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