As the only organisation looking to apply wellbeing science to improve happiness globally, we’ve been analysing the recent announcement of USAID funding withdrawal to understand what it means for donors who trust us to guide their giving towards having maximum impact.
Understanding the Impact of Closing USAID
The United States has historically been the world’s largest aid provider, funding programmes that improve lives across the globe. While we’ve always championed more effective approaches to giving and to international aid — finding evidence-based ways to maximise wellbeing per pound or dollar spent—what we’re seeing now isn’t about making aid more effective. It’s about a dramatic reduction in support for people who need it most.
How USAID Closing Affects Charities
Because the Happier Lives Institute advises donors on which charities make the biggest difference, we have been thinking whether the news about USAID should change our charity recommendations.
Currently, we don’t think it alters our charity recommendations. In our work to evaluate interventions, we haven’t seen anything that we think would be a top intervention if governments didn’t already fund it.
As an example, we think providing scalable mental health solutions are extremely cost-effective, but is consistently underfunded. In our 2021 cause report into mental health, we noted that 94% of people with depression did not receive ‘minimally adequate treatment’ and that only 0.3% of international development aid was spent on ‘mental, neurological and substance abuse disorders’ (‘MNS’) combined. It is a similar story for the other causes we recommend to donors.
We’re actively engaging with our recommended charities to assess how these changes will affect their work. We understand that StrongMinds and NEPI received USAID funding before and/or expected to in future. We’ll report back when we know more so we can direct your giving where it can have the greatest impact.
How You Can Help
As governments step back from their commitments, we need to step up and show we care. Your thoughtful donations will help alleviate misery and create joy around the world. Here’s how you can help:
- Become a monthly donor to provide sustained support where it’s needed most – or increase your donations if you already give each month.
- Talk to your friends and family about our researched recommendations. Explain how they can do more good at no extra cost.
- Support HLI directly to help us continue our research and outreach so we can get more people giving to more impactful charities.
We hope there’s a silver lining: that, eventually, aid funding will increase and there will be conversation about aid effectiveness. If this happens, we will be ready to contribute to that conversation and show how taking happiness seriously would lead to more impactful decisions.
Join Us in Creating Lasting Change
At HLI, we remain committed to transforming lives by maximising the impact of every dollar, pound or otherwise given. We empower donors like you to create meaningful change where it matters most, guided by our research and a deep understanding of what truly improves wellbeing and happiness globally.
Ready to maximise your impact? Join our community of donors who use happiness science to transform lives where it matters most.