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Grace Adams

Here's what we know about the aid freeze, including how to help and where to donate

February newsletter: US aid freeze – how to help & where to donate

It’s hard to believe the global health landscape has changed so significantly in just one month. We wanted to update our community on what we know so far and how this might impact your donation decisions. (There is a lot to cover, so this newsletter will be a bit longer than usual!)

The US aid funding freeze has left millions without access to critical global health services. While a judicial order was issued to temporarily reverse the freeze, the 

 USAID staff & access to systems have been gutted, and – despite the government’s stated waiver program for life-saving work – many 

qualifying programs aren’t able to obtain waivers, and many who have them aren’t able to actually get the funding the waivers promise.

Many are wondering: “Is there anything I can do?”

The good news is that several folks within the effective giving ecosystem are stepping up to help fill the funding gaps created by the chaos and help affected high-impact organisations continue their programmes. We’ll provide some information below about how you can support this crucial work. But first, here are a few things to keep in mind as you think about what this means for your donation decisions:

. It’s important to note that there’s a lot we don’t know and that it’s been difficult for organisations working on this to get clarity. It’s unclear if/how much funding will eventually resume and if it does, to which programs. This makes cost-effectiveness calculations extremely difficult.

Cost-effectiveness is more important than ever.

 affected programs will be able to restart work & rebuild operations. Prioritising the most 

 programs means we can essentially make money go further – restoring protection to more people.

-supported programs are experiencing effects from the freeze, to varying degrees. 

While GiveWell’s top charity programs don't receive direct USAID funding, some GiveWell top charities are indirectly impacted by the freeze; for example, some may rely on USAID-funded programs or suppliers to carry out their operations. Additionally, some of GiveWell's other grantees beyond top charities do receive direct USAID funding.

We continue to recommend GiveWell programs. 

At this time, we do not recommend stopping support for GiveWell programs to instead support funds that have been explicitly set up to fill funding gaps. If you are donating to GiveWell programs, you are already supporting the type of work that has been cut – and doing so through highly cost-effective programs.

That said, if you, like us, have confidence in GiveWell's ability to identify cost-effective opportunities, you might consider shifting funding from specific GiveWell Top Charities to their Top Charities Fund or their All Grants Fund

 which can be more flexible in this rapidly changing funding landscape. GiveWell is considering the recent funding freeze in their grantmaking decisions and plans to make grants to fill urgent funding needs. At this moment, they are trying to make some time-sensitive grants while also saving funds for large, critical funding gaps that may appear in the next few months.

Donating to the All Grants Fund gives GiveWell the most flexibility to respond strategically, given funds aren’t restricted to only Top Charities, and the grantmaking timeline is more flexible, making it better suited to responding to emergency funding needs. That said, GiveWell is still advising donors who prioritise having the highest level of confidence to donate to the Top Charities Fund, given it knows these organisations best. Please note that – while GiveWell is considering the funding freeze in their grantmaking decisions – donations to the All Grants Fund or Top Charities Fund may or may not go to new grants GiveWell is specifically making as a result of the stop work order.

As mentioned above, some of GiveWell’s All Grants Fund and Top Charities Fund may be used to support programs affected by the freeze. We also know of two funds that have been set up explicitly to attempt to fill funding gaps for affected organisations.

While our research team has not evaluated the grantmaking of either fund in detail, we currently expect the 

 to be the more cost-effective option of the two, given it specifically supports organisations that are included on Founders Pledge’s or The Life You Can Save’s list of recommended organisations or that otherwise meet their cost-effectiveness criteria.

We do not know how donating to this fund compares to donating to the All Grants Fund or Top Charities Fund. In such an uncertain situation, it’s difficult to know how the strategy of explicitly prioritising direct grants to affected organisations compares to the one GiveWell is taking, and some donors may prefer one approach over the other.

 Launched by Founders Pledge & The Life You Can Save, this fund aims to fill critical funding gaps for top recommendations & other high-impact organisations affected by the USAID freeze, so they can continue life-saving programs. 

This fund is not explicitly tied to the effective giving ecosystem; some of the coalition partners are recommended by impact-focused evaluators but many are not. While its stated criteria seem to prioritise cost-effective organisations, we have not looked into their cost-effectiveness bar and would expect (though we are not certain) that this fund is overall less cost-effective than supporting the Rapid Response Fund. 

Funding gaps for life-saving global health programs are not new. Even with the US responsible for 

42% of the global humanitarian aid tracked by the UN

tiny fraction of its total budget, ranging from 0.7% – 1.4% from 2001 to 2025

. Government aid has long fallen short of providing life-saving services for those who need them, leading to around 

, and nonprofits have long had to step in to help fill the gap left by governments. Now this gap is much, much wider.

 an ongoing crisis that is usually “silent” – bringing visibility to the hard fact that there are people in the world whose lives are ending simply because there isn’t enough funding and/or infrastructure for low-cost interventions like malaria nets, safe water, and essential nutrients to reach them.

Ordinary individuals have the power to help provide this funding and are often unaware of both the scale of the problem and the power they have to make a concrete difference. If people in your life are distressed over the USAID crisis, I hope you’ll help them feel less powerless by sharing the funding opportunities above. If you support GiveWell programs, share that as well – talk about why you’ve chosen to support these programs even before the aid freeze, and how much more important your support is now. Bring visibility to the ongoing “silent” crisis that will unfortunately persist even if USAID-funded programs can restart operations.

Effective giving is more important now than ever, and collective action can’t be underestimated. Let’s work together to deliver life-saving services to those in need by supporting (and spreading the word about) highly impactful programs – with the hope that this support will continue long after the headlines die down. 

As usual, we’re sharing plenty of other news below.

Grace Adams & the Giving What We Can Team

Here are some of our favourite responses from people who took a pledge last m

What motivated you to take a pledge with Giving What We Can?

 to build and lead our operations division during a critical organisational growth phase. The COO will build the systems, processes, and teams that will enable us to scale our impact while staying true to our core values and high standards. If you’re looking for a high-impact leadership role and have experience scaling operations and managing organisational growth, please apply by 16 March or sooner! We will be reviewing applicants on a rolling basis. Find 

key details, requirements, and the link to apply here

. This role is critical to our success and we’re serious about finding the right person. Please help us spread the word!

GWWC is hiring a Community Engagement Coordinator

Effective Altruism Global Conferences (EAG(x)s)

 annually. This is a 12-month, travel-heavy contract position with the potential for a permanent role. 

: one that fits the Pledge into the Financial Independence timeline and one that focuses on scaling up a 5% Pledge by re-donating tax benefits. 

, GWWC Head of Community and Partnerships and former UN contractor, shared his thoughts on the WHO withdrawal in a new blog post 

Trump's WHO Withdrawal: Head in the Sand, or Time to Act?

 James writes, "While it’s not a substitute for government, I strongly believe ordinary individuals can play a vital role in filling aid gaps. This is especially important when governments can't – or won't – act." 

 has launched in the US and worldwide! Read Jacob's 

 about how writing his book inspired him to take the 10% Pledge, and check out 

 (one of our recommended funds) published its grant 

 from October to December 2024. The fund recommended USD $1,328,106 in funding during this period and has paid out 11 grants.

Exploring the Impacts of Food System Education: A Case Study

, which summarises research investigating the long-term effects of 

’s food systems education program. The study suggests that education programs can play a role in shaping students’ ethical views, dietary choices, and career trajectories, and can contribute to the broader animal protection movement.

, which highlights a focus on R&D and the investigation of scalable strategies. FWI estimates that even with this R&D focus, its 2024 work improved the lives of around 1.2 million fish, mainly through water quality improvements.

 that links to all the peer-reviewed natural science papers published by WAI and its grantees in 2024. You can find the 

 and learn about Wild Animal Initiative's 

 that helps people offset the animal welfare impact of their diet through donations to highly effective animal welfare charities (kind of like carbon offsetting, but for your diet!). 

 (AMF) (one of our recommended charities) is hiring a 

. Early applications are encouraged as AMF will review applications on an ongoing basis. Find the details and 

. 217,219 people in eleven countries received a total of $126M USD in cash from GiveDirectly in 2024. You can read about GiveDirectly’s impact on these people’s and communities’ lives in the 

 about how good data is integral to the sustainable control and elimination of parasitic diseases, and about its work to close data gaps across sub-Saharan Africa.

 in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training in Zanzibar, Tanzania. This program will reach 25 government schools and support around 10,500 children in strengthening their literacy skills.

 in Chicago from 22-26 March. The TaRL team will make a presentation on scaling and systems change, teacher effectiveness and enhancing mathematics instruction.

The Center for Human-Compatible Artificial Intelligence

 about AI systems’ influence in the political sphere and the need to define what “political neutrality” would mean for AI systems.

Attended the 2025 Munich Security Conference where it ran several biosecurity-focused events – 

an article about the virtual Track II biosecurity dialogue it convened with US & Chinese experts

, in collaboration with the Chinese Arms Control and Disarmament Association (CACDA).

Two biosecurity researchers published a post on the EA Forum: 

Five Tractable Biosecurity Projects You Could Start Tomorrow

, which outlines five project ideas they believe are particularly high-impact and that could be started without too much context.

Is hiring for two new Program Officer positions to lead their nutrition and malaria chemoprevention grantmaking portfolios. GiveWell is looking for senior leaders to increase its impact by expanding into new areas, increasing the size of the portfolios, and improving the cost-effectiveness of the opportunities it funds:

Program Officer - Malaria Chemoprevention

’s research team has identified fresh high-impact charity ideas that have been rigorously researched and are ready to be launched – they just need people to launch them! If you’re a driven, altruistic, and fast-moving talent passionate about launching high-impact organisations, 

Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program

 (CEIP) August 2025 or February 2026 cohort by 24 March.

 this year. Applications for the first round are now open. Submit an 

Recently launched a marketing campaign targeting a new audience, guided by a market research survey. See 

 from Pro-Animal Future’s ballot initiative to ban slaughterhouses, which ACE supported via a $50,000 Movement Grant in 2024. While the proposed ballot measure did not succeed, this campaign (and other similar initiatives) offer valuable lessons for advocates working to improve the lives of animals. 

 on how to act on climate under a new Trump administration: 

All In: Strategies for Climate Philanthropists in a New Political Landscape

. The report presents a systematic mapping of climate philanthropy priorities in a changed world, examining the implications of the new political landscape and what this suggests about priorities for philanthropic action within the effective giving context.

 for grants for AI safety research. The goal is to mitigate risks of AIs becoming misaligned and plan for the possibility of transformative AI now, during this phase of rapid development. You can find out more and 

. The first step is a 300-word expression of interest and applications will be open until 15 April.

This month's featured social post from our community

We love seeing our community sharing stories about what pledging means to them and spreading the word about effective giving. We are stronger together!

 for informing your audience about Giving What We Can. In Céline’s words: “No need to be rich, just convinced that our choices matter.”View the full post 

 and stay connected with us for more news and updates.

Do you have any feedback on our newsletter or communications? 

Alana Horowitz Friedman

Adapting the Pledge to your goals & values 

We often get asked very specific questions about how to calculate a 

. For example - should you count monetary gifts (such as from family members) as part of your income or just your salary? Or, if you gave 8% one year and plan to give 12% the next to “make up” for the missing 2%, do you need to factor in inflation and actually give 

Our response to these types of inquiries is more or less a version of “it’s up to you.”

This isn’t because we don’t take the commitment aspect of the pledge seriously — rather, we believe that people’s circumstances differ enough that coming up with very complicated, specific guidelines that attempt to address every possible scenario is not a good use of our efforts and would increase barriers to pledging by making it overly confusing.

Instead, we encourage our members to follow the 

 of the 10% Pledge, which is to make a significant and sustainable commitment to give at minimum roughly 10% of what you consider your income (and we’ve offered 

a bit of guidance on pre-tax vs post-tax here

A benefit of this is that it encourages a lot of interesting and unique approaches to pledging. We wrote previously about 10% Pledger Philip Popien’s 

 where he decided to start at 10% of income and then gradually increased his percentage in line with changes in his salary, resulting in a 27.5% pledge seven years in.

Today, we’re spotlighting two other unique approaches to pledging — one that fits the pledge into the Financial Independence (FI) timeline and one that offers a way to transition from a Trial Pledge to a 10% Pledge simply by reinvesting tax benefits.

Pursuing FI & a Giving Pledge Simultaneously

, Odin Mühlenbein, who took the pledge in November 2024, reached out to share another way of gradually increasing donations: aligning the increases not with salary bumps but with milestones on the road to financial independence, a goal he is also pursuing.

“FI means that the income from your wealth can cover your living costs, which makes working for money optional,” explains Odin. “It’s a way to live in line with your values, because you’re not dependent on whatever company you happen to work for — you no longer need to worry about leaving an organization that behaves in ways that you don’t support.”

While many people pursue FI to make big changes in their life – such as switching to a job with purpose or having more time for family, hobbies, and volunteering – Odin stressed that his motivation is different. 

He’s not using FI as a path to early retirement; he believes that his work is impactful, and he finds it deeply satisfying, so he has no plans to stop working even when he no longer depends on the income. Instead, he sees FI as a way to make it easier to be morally ambitious, even in light of human weakness.

Odin plans to work up to donating at least 30% of income, as well as donating most of the accumulated wealth (with interest) when he dies.

In other words, while some might see FI and the pledge as opposing goals, he sees them as very much linked. He explains: “I accept that given societal norms and my socialization, donating large portions of wealth and income will be hard. I don't trust myself to do something hard over a very long period of time. With this approach, once I donate over 30% of my income and my ego starts feeling uncomfortable about it, financial independence provides a powerful response: ‘Breathe! We have enough to live in comforts and luxury that people in other parts of the world or 100 years ago could only dream of – forever and without ever having to work again. What more could we possibly want?!’

Here’s Odin’s approach to pledging while pursuing FI:

I link my donations to milestones on the road to financial independence. Based on a rule of thumb in the FI community, you reach financial independence when you have 25-30 times your yearly expenses (

). For example, if you spend $30,000 per year, you need $750,000 - $900,000 to sustain your lifestyle without ever having to work aga

Re-donating tax benefits to transform a 5% Pledge into a 10% Pledge

, takes another approach to gradually ramping up donations: re-donating the tax benefits received. While he’s yet to formally take a giving pledge, he reached out to share his idea, as he thought it could make it easier for people to donate a significant portion of their income. Here’s his proposed approach: 

 Each year, the donor contributes 5% of their net income (at least €1,000 in the first year).

 The tax deductions obtained from the initial donation are reinvested as an additional donation in the following year, amplifying the overall impact.

 Over the years, this process enables the total donated amount to approach or even exceed the goal of donating 10% of annual income, achieving a substantial philanthropic impact.

Granted, this approach may take shorter or longer depending on your country’s tax system and tax benefits. In Spain, where Jesus lives, donations to charitable organizations offer significant tax benefits: 

80% deduction on the first €250 donated

. This makes the tax system a key ally, and is useful for any donor:

“By reframing tax deductions as additional funds that should be reinvested, we reinforce the idea of a virtuous cycle in philanthropy. Each donor becomes a sort of social investor who, rather than seeking a financial return, gains a dividend of impact upon seeing their contribution grow within the NGO of their choice,” Jesus told us. 

Blog

February newsletter: US aid freeze – how to help & where to donate

Adapting the Pledge to Your Goals & Values

Trump's WHO Withdrawal - Head in the Sand, or Time to Act?

January newsletter: Some incredible projects we funded together

December news: Wrapping Up 2024

From ideals to impact: Jacob Bauer on how writing his book changed his approach to giving

Beyond the dichotomy: Perspectives on direct work and effective giving

Where are the GWWC team donating this year?

Why I took the 🔸10% Pledge before earning an income

How I moved from donating 3% to a 10% Pledge