Charity evaluation (or charity assessment) is the investigation of charities to determine whether they should receive funding. It often includes a mixture of quantitative cost-effectiveness calculations and other considerations, such as the strength of the charity's team, their theory of change, and their room for more funding.

Charity evaluators are organisations that have as one of their core activities conducting charity evaluations. Examples include GiveWell, Animal Charity Evaluators, The Life You Can Save, Giving Green, and Founders Pledge. But charity evaluation can also be done by other organisations with less focus on that or by individuals, either as part of their own donation choice or to help inform other people's donation choices.

There are also other types of funding opportunities that can be evaluated in similar ways, such as individuals, for-profits, academic institutes, think tanks, or other projects or organisations that are not formally registered as charities.^[1]

Related entries

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Khan, Anu & Rachel Baxter (2021) Why we say ‘funding opportunity’ instead of ‘charity’, Founders Pledge, February 22.

[ Question ]

How can one evaluate a charity's capacity to utilize funds beyond its annual budget?

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