Our Recommendation Friendship Bench Zimbabwe is a high‑performing, evidence‑rich mental‑health organization that squarely fits our framework: it has an explicit Theory of Change, a tightly aligned intervention, and multiple RCTs showing substantial improvements in depression and functioning, plus wellbeing‑based cost‑effectiveness estimates. The idea is famous
Our Recommendation Friends of the Children is a strong organization, particularly for funders who recognize that breaking the cycle of generational poverty requires long-term human relationships rather than short interventions. Its model is explicitly built toward ultimate, whole-life outcomes such as: belonging, self-esteem, emotional health, hope, and
Our goal is helping more philanthropic dollars flow to incredible social impact organizations that actually change lives. This requires being able to tell which ones do. That is harder than it sounds, and over the past several months we enhanced the standards and tools we use to do that. We
Our Recommendation We highly recommend Babban Gona for reducing food insecurity and helping farmers to improve their homes. Credible evidence exists on four of the five criteria, including one genuine counterfactual on yield and two measured ultimate outcomes. A propensity score matched study published by academics in Kaduna State, and
Homelessness is an ever increasing problem in the US. Chronic homelessness, those with mental health and addiction problems, seems impossible to address. The Other Side Village provides an innovative way that seems to be working on this intractable problem.
Charity says we dig wells to bring water to the developing world. That’s wrong. Meet Water Access Rwanda, a for-profit organization that does it right. They don’t just drill wells but treats, tests, maintains, and delivers safe water directly into people’s homes, just like the system you rely on.
What if the future of mental health didn’t depend on more doctors—but on empowering everyday people to care for each other? With an innovative model that trains near-peer counselors to deliver school-based, evidence-backed group sessions, Shamiri is reaching 100,000s.
Most global nutrition programs try to change how people eat—but behavior change rarely scales. Semilla Nueva or “New Seed” is enhancing the corn families already rely on through natural biofortification–boosting nutrition, farmer income, and child health across Guatemala and beyond.
