How do you choose the charities you support?

We recommend charities that have the following traits: 
Evidence Based
To figure out which charities work, we use the most reliable form of experiment known - randomized-controlled trials (RCTs). These trials allow us to get past anecdotes and see whether a charity actually makes a difference or whether the improvement would have happened regardless of their actions. We also require multiple studies because one study could be a fluke or heavily biased.  Our methodology leads us to find charities that are as close to proven as we can get. ​
 Have Room for More Funding
In contrast to what most charities will tell you, many of them don’t need any more money. In fact, any additional funds will just go into savings or be spent on a program that you don’t want to support. This is why it’s critical to ask a charity you're that considering donating to what your gift will fund on margin.
Cost-Effective
If you can find a charity that will save lives for half the price of your previous pick, that’s a great deal. And indeed, some interventions can help many more people for the same price. For example, you can save many more lives by preventing malaria in the first place than you can by treating people who are already infected. The exciting thing about this is that if you think about cost-effectiveness when you give, you can help more people than a billionaire philanthropist who doesn’t consider his donations.
Transparent
A charity could have all of the above features yet not tell you what they’re actually doing with your money. If so, its many advantages are all for nothing. It’s also hard to trust a charity that keeps this sort of information under wraps. This is why it's so critical that a charity be public about its finances, projects, and general activities.

Legal Information


Charity Science is a Canadian registered charitable foundation, under the legal name “Charity Science Foundation of Canada”. Our charity number is 80963 6236 RR0001. Our full information can be found at the Canada Revenue Agency's website. 
​
We are an outreach charity. We choose our proven charities based on research done by GiveWell, a rigorous charity evaluator.

Frequently Asked Questions

​How does money donated to Charity Science get to proven charities? 
Charity Science accepts donations for proven charities and then grants them out in large sums throughout the year. We do not keep a reserve or endowment, and grant out the money as soon as possible.
How does the match work?
​There are some donors who want to support Charity Science by providing a match for donations made to evidence-based charities. We send these donors reports based on gifts made to Charity Science and to our events, then they donate to the proven charities directly. They send Charity Science their tax receipts so we can confirm that every dollar gets matched. Thanks to these supporters, we are currently able to match any donation made to our proven charities through our website.
How does tax deductibility work?
Charity Science is registered and tax deductible in Canada. Charity Science coordinates with international foundations to allow Canadians to donate to a wide range of effective charities while still getting tax deductions. This works through a system similar to what Tides Canada uses. We send out tax receipts once a month (for one-off donations, or at the start of each year for monthly donations).  We generally suggest that international donors give through GiveWell or contact us for other options.
What fees are involved with donating?
There's a standard PayPal processing fee (2.2%) for all online donations. Cheques avoid this fee. Because of this we suggest making larger donations by cheque. ​
How much of my donation goes to the charities?
We don’t take any cut from donations for the charities - we pass on 100% of the money we receive.
How do you get paid?
We get paid by independent donors who support what we do. We don't get paid a single penny by the charities we support. We don't recommend these charities because we're paid to; we recommend them because they're the best. ​
WILL Charity Science charge any fees or use any money donated for outreach?
No, unless it is donated specifically for that purpose. If an unrestricted donation is made, it will be given to one or more of our proven charities based on their current needs.
What is Charity Science’s yearly budget?
We publish full details on our spending. You can see the spreadsheet of our 2015 budget here. Our budget for 2015 is a little over $35,000, as of April 2015. It has been even less for 2016 and 2017. Our costs are very low due to our staff voluntarily working for low wages as a donation to the organisation.
What about my privacy?
When you visit some pages on this website, your computer may be issued with a small file (a “cookie”) for the purposes of managing and improving the services on the website. Some of these cookies are essential for parts of the website to operate. You can set your browser to refuse cookies or warn you before accepting them. However, if you use your browser setting to block all cookies you may not be able to access all or part of this website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies as soon as you visit the website. No cookie will be issued for a period longer than twelve months, and most will be for shorter periods. Details about what cookies are active can usually be found through your browser.
 
We are not in the business of selling information about you and your information is password-protected however no data transmissions over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. Consequently, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us.
What is Charity Science's mailing address?
Charity Science
BSMT - 644 Claremont Street
Coquitlam, BC  V3J 3T4  Canada
I want more information
If you want more legal information you can email contact@charityscience.com .
If you have any questions about top charities, check out our Proven Charities page.
If you any have questions about Charity Science’s budget, future plans, board meetings or operations details, check out our blog for more info. We work hard to be as transparent as possible.