Best charities for happiness and wellbeing – 2024
Why donate to our recommended charities?
Make the world happier
Donating to our recommended charities is the most effective thing you can do to increase happiness in the world.
Backed by research
Our charity recommendations are based on extensive, peer-reviewed scientific research.
Multiply your impact
Our top charities are at least 5x more effective than the highest benchmarks.
Free to use
100% of your donation goes to the charity you choose. And you can access all our our research for free.
Transparent
We’re open about our levels of confidence, mistakes we’ve made, and areas where we need to improve.
Fair and unbiased
We don’t take any money from the charities we recommend. Our funding only comes from people who want to support our work directly.
Top recommended charities
These charities are extremely cost-effective and backed by strong evidence – especially when compared to most other charities.
StrongMinds
Treats people for depression by delivering group psychotherapy for free. Mental health services are severely underfunded in low-income countries like Uganda and Zambia.
More detail
Cause area and interventon
Mental health – Psychotherapy
Cost-effectiveness
40 WELLBYs per $1,000 donated (or $25 per WELLBY)
Quality of evidence
Moderate
Depth of our analysis
High
Funding need
StrongMinds is planning for rapid growth. In order to do this, it needs to raise a further $19 million over the next two years (i.e., 2023-2024).
Friendship Bench
Treats people with depression using counselling. It does this primarily in Zimbabwe, where there are very few mental health services.
More detail
Cause area and interventon
Mental health – Psychotherapy
Cost-effectiveness
48 WELLBYs per $1,000 donated (or $21 per WELLBY)
Quality of evidence
Low to moderate
Depth of our analysis
High
Promising charities
These charities are likely extremely cost-effective, but we need stronger evidence for them to qualify as a “Top recommended charity”. For now, we see these charities ‘higher-risk, but possibly higher-reward’.
Pure Earth
Lead poisoning nearly killed as many people as malaria and HIV / AIDS combined in 2021. Pure Earth takes actions that result in massively reduced cases of lead poisoning.
More detail
Cause area and interventon
Mental health – Psychotherapy
Cost-effectiveness
30 WELLBYs per $1,000
Quality of evidence
Moderate
Depth of our analysis
High
Funding need
StrongMinds is planning for rapid growth. In order to do this, it needs to raise a further $19 million over the next two years (i.e., 2023-2024).
Taimaka
Treats malnutrition in children, which causes severe and lasting physical and mental health issues.
More detail
Cause area and interventon
Mental health – Psychotherapy
Cost-effectiveness
30 WELLBYs per $1,000
Quality of evidence
Moderate
Depth of our analysis
High
Funding need
StrongMinds is planning for rapid growth. In order to do this, it needs to raise a further $19 million over the next two years (i.e., 2023-2024).
Reach Up (programme by icddr,b)
Provides education programmes to parents on optimal parenting strategies. These have been proven to significantly increase a child’s wellbeing in later life. The programme “Reach Up” is provided by the “International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh” (icddr,b).
More detail
Cause area and interventon
Mental health – Psychotherapy
Cost-effectiveness
30 WELLBYs per $1,000
Quality of evidence
Moderate
Depth of our analysis
High
Funding need
StrongMinds is planning for rapid growth. In order to do this, it needs to raise a further $19 million over the next two years (i.e., 2023-2024).
Network for Empowerment & Progressive Initiative (NEPI)
Reduces crime and anti-social behaviour by providing psychotherapy and cash to young men with violent or criminal backgrounds.
More detail
Cause area and interventon
Mental health – Psychotherapy
Cost-effectiveness
30 WELLBYs per $1,000
Quality of evidence
Moderate
Depth of our analysis
High
Funding need
StrongMinds is planning for rapid growth. In order to do this, it needs to raise a further $19 million over the next two years (i.e., 2023-2024).
Other great charities
Highly effective charities that we think are worth a mention
Happier Lives Institute
Maximises global happiness by researching and promoting the most cost-effective ways to help people become happier. Donating to HLI will help fund its operating expenses, so it can continue its work.
More detail
Cause area and interventon
Mental health – Psychotherapy
Cost-effectiveness
30 WELLBYs per $1,000
Quality of evidence
Moderate
Depth of our analysis
High
Funding need
StrongMinds is planning for rapid growth. In order to do this, it needs to raise a further $19 million over the next two years (i.e., 2023-2024).
Against Malaria Foundation
Prevents deaths from malaria by distributing bed nets to protect from mosquito bites. Malaria killed 627,000 people worldwide in 2020.
More detail
Cause area and interventon
Mental health – Psychotherapy
Cost-effectiveness
30 WELLBYs per $1,000
Quality of evidence
Moderate
Depth of our analysis
High
Funding need
StrongMinds is planning for rapid growth. In order to do this, it needs to raise a further $19 million over the next two years (i.e., 2023-2024).
Charities we don’t currently recommend
In our search for the best charities, inevitably some charities haven’t yet met our criteria for us to recommend them outright. We found these charities either aren’t highly cost-effective, or don’t have a current funding gap. However, they are likely still much more impactful than most other average charities.