Giving What We Can is an international community of effective givers who are on a mission to make giving effectively and significantly a cultural norm. They’re best known for The Giving What We Can Pledge to donate at least 10% of their income to highly effective charities.
Giving What We Can was founded in 2009 by two philosophers from Oxford University (Toby Ord and Will MacAskill), and is at the origins of the effective altruism movement. They have more than 8,000 members who’ve given over 250 million dollars and pledged over 3 billion to effective charities.
Giving What We Can in Canada
Many of the Canadian members of Giving What We Can (including RC Forward staff) make their donations through RC Forward for several reasons:
- RC Forward aims to make effective giving easy, through featuring high-impact charities and funds on our platform and by offering low-fee payment methods.
- To choose which charities we feature on RC Forward, we rely on the research of GiveWell, Animal Charity Evaluators, Founders Pledge, and The Life You Can Save, which are among the evaluators that Giving What We Can also uses to determine charity recommendations.
- Donors can recommend support up to 6 charities or funds at once when giving through RC Forward.
- Donations made through RC Forward are eligible for Canadian donation receipts, estimate the value of your credits with our calculator.
Donating using Giving What We Can recommendations
Giving What We Can recommends charities and funds working on important global problems, across a range of causes. These causes include animal welfare, global health and development, and the long-term future.
Through RC Forward, you can make a tax-deductible donation from Canada that is recommended for most of the charities and some of the funds currently recommended by Giving What We Can in 2022.
Current recommended funds
Below are Giving What We Can’s currently recommended expert-advised funds as of December 2022.
Note: Keep in mind that RC Forward also has cause area funds (Global Health, Human Empowerment, Animal Welfare, Climate Change, Long-Term Future), in some cases advised by the same experts overseeing the GWWC recommended funds.
| Fund | Organization | GWWC Cause Area | Donate through RC Forward |
| Top Charities Fund | GiveWell | Improving human wellbeing | Follow steps here to donate |
| All Grants Fund | GiveWell | Improving human wellbeing | Follow steps here to donate |
| Global Health and Development Fund | Effective Altruism Funds | Improving human wellbeing | Donate to CEA, then complete the CEA earmark form |
| Recommended Charity Fund | Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) | Improving animal welfare | Donate to ACE, then complete the ACE earmark form |
| Movement Grants Fund | Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE) | Improving animal welfare | Donate to ACE, then complete the ACE earmark form |
| Animal Welfare Fund | Effective Altruism Funds | Improving animal welfare | Donate to CEA, then complete the CEA earmark form |
| Longtermism Fund | Longview | Creating a better future | Not yet available on RC Forward |
| Patient Philanthropy Fund | Founders Pledge | Creating a better future | Not yet available on RC Forward |
| Long-Term Future Fund | Effective Altruism Fund | Creating a better future | Donate to CEA, then complete the CEA earmark form |
| Climate Change Fund | Founders Pledge | Multiple cause areas | Not yet available on RC Forward (note that RC Forward has its own Climate Change Fund, also advised by Founders Pledge) |
| Global Catastrophic Risks Fund | Founders Pledge | Multiple cause areas | Not yet available on RC Forward |
| Effective Altruism Infrastructure Fund | Effective Altruism Fund | Multiple cause areas | Donate to CEA, then complete the CEA earmark form |
Current recommended charities
Below are Giving What We Can’s currently recommended charities as of December 2022.
| Charity | GWWC Cause Area | Donate through RC Forward |
| Malaria Consortium SMC programme | Improving human wellbeing | Donate |
| Against Malaria Foundation | Improving human wellbeing | Donate |
| Lead Exposure Elimination Project | Improving human wellbeing | Contact us to donate |
| New Incentives | Improving human wellbeing | Donate |
| StrongMinds | Improving human wellbeing | Donate |
| Suvita | Improving human wellbeing | Follow instructions here on Suvita’s website to donate through CanadaHelps (not RC Forward) |
| Iodine Global Network | Improving human wellbeing | Donate |
| Helen Keller International (VAS program) | Improving human wellbeing | Donate |
| The Humane League | Improving animal welfare | Donate |
| Faunalytics | Improving animal welfare | Donate |
| Good Food Institute | Improving animal welfare | Donate |
| Wild Animal Initiative | Improving animal welfare | Donate |
| Nuclear Threat Initiative Biosecurity Program | Creating a better future | Contact us to donate |
| Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security | Creating a better future | Not currently available on RC Forward |
| Effektiv Spenden | Multiple cause areas | Not currently available on RC Forward |
We’re here to help
Would you like to learn more about Giving What We Can? Have you taken The Giving What We Can Pledge and would you like to have contact with other Canadian effective givers? Do you have any other questions? Contact us to start the conversation.
