Christian Campaign for Effective Charity - Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some frequently asked questions about our Christian Effective Charity Campaign. You can also check out the FAQ page at One for the World for additional information. For donors using the Community Fund platform at Charityvest, there is another FAQ on that page as well.

Are my contributions tax-deductible?

Yes. For U.S. taxpayers who itemize deductions, the legal entity receiving the donations is One for the World, EIN: 84-2124550, a 501(c)(3) organization. All of those donations are forwarded (net of credit card processing fees) to the selected charities. In the U.K., the campaign can also accept tax-favored contributions which are eligible for gift aid. Just select “U.S.” or “U.K.” as appropriate in the contribution form. 

Contributions outside the U.S. and U.K. may be possible as well. Contact One for the World directly (rasool@1fortheworld.org) for more details.

Note, for donors going through the campaign’s Community Fund at Charityvest instead, that platform is presently tax deductible only in the U.S. See more information here.

Can the campaign process gifts made by means other than credit or debit card?

Yes. For transactions up to about $1,000, we encourage the use of credit or debit cards because it simplifies operations and reduces costs as compared to manual processing. For larger gifts, however, we would encourage alternative methods (check, wire, etc.) as the processing fees (as of this writing, 4.2%) scale up with transaction size while the manual effort does not. For very large gifts, there may be other methods (giving appreciated securities, or even cryptocurrency, for example) that are even more efficient when taxes are considered. Contact One for the World directly (rasool@1fortheworld.org) for more details.

Why are only global poverty charities included?

To be clear, EA for Christians supports a broad view of our call to be charitable. Christian EAs care about a wide range of cause areas, including things like animal welfare, long-term risk mitigation, and evangelism. Many Christian EAs also feel special duties to support their local churches, e.g. as a kind of extended family. We don’t all agree amongst ourselves about how to prioritize our giving, nor do we see cash giving as the only component of a charitable life.

Having said that, global poverty is a unique cause area for two reasons. First, the existence of GiveWell as an experienced research leader in this area since 2007 (making them an early pioneer of effective altruism) makes charity evaluation in this cause area much more objective and evidence-based than in other cause areas, where more subjectivity (and more room for differences in values) is at play. Second, global poverty is a very popular cause area among  Christians in EA, which is not surprising given how important the alleviation of poverty and sickness are as biblical themes.

For these reasons, EA for Christians believes that a Christian Effective Charity Campaign focused on global poverty is a good way to improve giving on a meaningful scale at the present time. We don’t rule out doing something broader that involves other cause areas in the future.

Why aren’t any Christian charities presently on the top charities list?

Many charities (including most Christian charities) run a wide variety of programs or provide several kinds of services to poor communities in a holistic manner. GiveWell’s methodology looks at the marginal impact a donation will have on particular programs, so it tends to prefer organizations that either focus on a single highly effective program or can clearly segment funding sources in a way that allows GiveWell to confidently tie donations to impact.

Furthermore, many Christian charities incorporate an evangelism or discipleship component into their programs. It would be difficult - not just for a secular organization like GiveWell, but even for a Christian organization such as ourselves - to evaluate and rank these in a rigorous way, especially since Christians have different views on some topics of doctrine or practice. While EA for Christians, as an ecumenical organization, does not weigh in on such differences, we respect and welcome members of our community who choose to do so in a manner consistent with their own beliefs.

Having said that, GiveWell does not discriminate against Christian organizations, and there have been a few Christian charities that have been considered in GiveWell’s search for top charity candidates, although none to date have earned that distinction. We would encourage Christian charities to do empirical evaluations of their own health & development programs, where feasible, and to engage with GiveWell’s review process. We would be delighted to see any of them succeed in that process.

Note, the campaign’s Community Fund at Charityvest supports a slightly different charity mix than the one accessible through the One For The World platform. See more information here.

How does EA for Christians review the top charities that GiveWell selects?

We do not vet the work that GiveWell does on each charity as regards the empirical effectiveness of the programs themselves or the organizational due diligence, nor do we rate charities ourselves on that basis. We do not have the staff levels to do that, and are relying on GiveWell’s reputation for excellence in these areas.

We do, however, review each charity to uncover any potentially controversial aspects of its work, in light of any Christian doctrines that any significant subset of our community would hold. Our community includes Catholics, Evangelicals, Progressives, Orthodox, Charismatics, Mere Christians, and others. Our team has a working familiarity with potential points of controversy. Anything worth noting is incorporated in our guidance document, which as of this writing flags just one charity included in the Entire OFTW Portfolio giving option.

None of the charities in the OFTW Top Picks have any problematic issues to note from a faith perspective, so we believe that a Christian donor could comfortably contribute to this group of charities without any faith-based reservations.