Giving What We Can
Giving What We Can is a nonprofit operating the 10% Pledge and a curated donation platform that helps high-income individuals in developed countries identify and fund evidence-based charities across global health, animal welfare, and existential risk.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersOxford, United Kingdom
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Giving What We Can does
Giving What We Can (GWWC) is a nonprofit charitable organization founded in 2009 by philosopher Toby Ord to promote evidence-based giving, anchored by its flagship 10% Pledge in which members commit to donating at least 10% of their lifetime income to high-impact charities. The organization curates and recommends charities across three cause areas, global health and wellbeing, animal welfare, and existential risk, drawing on the research of external evaluators including GiveWell, ACE (Animal Charity Evaluators), Founders Pledge, and EA Funds (whose donation platform GWWC acquired in 2020). GWWC also offers a Trial Pledge (1% for one year) and a Company Pledge for businesses and teams, broadening its on-ramp beyond lifetime commitments.
The platform is delivered through a web-based product surface built on Sanity.io (with Contentful also referenced in terms and conditions) for content management, Stripe for payment processing, and Auth0 for authentication, with analytics via Google Analytics, Hotjar, and Segment and error monitoring via Sentry. Functional components include the Pledge Dashboard (lifetime giving tracker), the 'How Rich Am I' income percentile calculator, customizable Fundraising Pages, a Bequest / legacy giving program, and a Major Gift advisory service for high-net-worth donors. Community engagement is supported through a Slack workspace, online and in-person events (giving games, pledge celebrations), a monthly newsletter, a YouTube channel, and social media presence across major platforms. GWWC's podcast, which explored effective giving topics, stopped producing new episodes in 2023.
GWWC operates through three affiliated legal entities: Giving What We Can USA Inc. (Delaware 501(c)(3), EIN 93-3629215), Giving What We Can UK (England and Wales charity, number 1207964, with Netherlands ANBI status), and Giving What We Can Canada (Ontario nonprofit, BN 758609556RC0001). The organization was merged into the Centre for Effective Altruism from 2016 to 2020 before regaining independence; since then it has scaled to 11,116+ lifetime pledgers and a community that has collectively moved $579 million through effective charities. GWWC does not charge fees for its core services and is funded by voluntary operational donations, major gifts, bequests, and fundraising campaigns such as its $2.5 million malaria prevention drive.
Giving What We Can firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Giving What We Can
- Legal name
- Giving What We Can USA Inc.
- Website
- https://givingwhatwecan.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- Giving What We Can is a nonprofit operating the 10% Pledge and a curated donation platform that helps high-income individuals in developed countries identify and fund evidence-based charities across global health, animal welfare, and existential risk.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Giving What We Can industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Charitable Giving and Effective Philanthropy Platform
- NAICS
- Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Social Services (8300)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Charitable Giving & Philanthropic Trust Advisory (FSAEAKAH), Philanthropic & Charitable Trust Services (FSAAANAI)
Keywords
Where Giving What We Can is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Oxford
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices4 records
Markets served
Giving What We Can business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Individual Donations: The organization receives donations from individuals who support GWWC's operations. These are separate from donations pledged to recommended charities. GWWC may allocate a small portion of original donations to cover its own bank transaction fees when making donations to supported programs.
- Major Gifts: Personalized donation advice and major gift program targeting high-net-worth individuals and families for significant contributions to GWWC or recommended charities.
- Bequests: Legacy giving program where donors leave gifts in their wills to effective charities through GWWC, providing long-term sustainable funding.
- Fundraising Campaigns: Time-limited fundraising campaigns for specific high-impact initiatives, such as the malaria prevention fundraiser ($2.5M goal). GWWC passes donations through to the charitable cause.
Go-to-market motion4 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels8 records
Giving What We Can product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Giving What We Can is a nonprofit philanthropic platform that promotes effective giving through its flagship 10% Pledge commitment, a public promise to donate at least 10% of lifetime income to highly effective charities. It operates an online donation platform that routes gifts to recommended charities across three cause areas (global health and wellbeing, animal welfare, and existential risk), supported by research-based charity evaluations, an income percentile calculator, and educational resources. Additional services include personalized major-gift advisory, payroll giving, fundraising pages, and a legacy bequest program.
Product overview
Giving What We Can operates as a philanthropic platform centered on the 10% Pledge—the flagship commitment to donate at least 10% of lifetime income to effective charities. The core offering includes a Donation Platform enabling direct giving to recommended charities, supported by research services (Best Charities Recommendations, Charity Evaluations) that assess cost-effectiveness across cause areas including Global Health, Animal Welfare, and Existential Risk. The portfolio extends to multiple pledge variants (Trial Pledge at 1%, Company Pledge for teams), interactive tools (How Rich Am I? income calculator, Birth Lottery), and community engagement features (Slack workspace, Events, Blog, Newsletter, Podcast). Additional services include Major Gift advisory, Fundraising Pages, Bequest planning, and educational content through Effective Giving 101. The platform integrates Stripe for payment processing and Auth0 for authentication, with Contentful powering the content management system.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- 10% Pledge A public, lifetime commitment by individuals to donate at least 10% of their lifetime income to highly effective charities, used to inspire others and create accountability within the community.
- Trial Pledge A one-year commitment to donate 1% of income, designed as an entry point for individuals not yet ready to make a full 10% lifetime pledge.
- Company Pledge A collective giving commitment for businesses and teams to pledge a percentage of income or profits to highly effective charities.
- Donation Platform Online platform enabling users to donate to recommended effective charities, with support for recurring donations, fund allocation, and tracking of giving progress against pledges.
- Major Gift Program Personalized donation advice and support for individuals considering major gifts or long-term giving plans to highly effective charities.
- Bequest Program Legacy giving program enabling donors to leave money from their estate to effective charities through wills.
- Best Charities Recommendations Research-based top charity recommendations for donors, evaluated based on cost-effectiveness and impact across global health, animal welfare, and existential risk cause areas.
- Charity Evaluations In-depth research and analysis of charities across cost-effectiveness, room for more funding, and expected impact, used to inform donation recommendations.
- How Rich Am I? Interactive income percentile calculator that compares a user's household income against global income distribution to highlight their position in global wealth inequality and giving potential.
- Pledge Dashboard Personal dashboard for pledgers to track their donations, view progress toward their lifetime pledge commitment, and report giving activity.
- Fundraising Pages Custom fundraising pages that allow users to raise money for high-impact charities among friends, family, or colleagues.
- Malaria Prevention Campaign Time-limited fundraising campaign focused on funding highly effective malaria prevention interventions, with a goal of $2.5 million.
Quantifiable outcome
- $490+ million donated by the GWWC community to effective charities
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Giving What We Can
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Giving What We Can technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration12 records
Feature4 records
Giving What We Can partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- The School for Moral AmbitionminorRutger Bregman's organization partnered with GWWC to offer the 10% Pledge through their community. The School for Moral Ambition shares GWWC's commitment to effective giving and now allows members to take the pledge through a dedicated partnership page.
- 80,000 HoursminorCareer guidance organization recommended by GWWC for individuals interested in using their career to do good. GWWC resources are suggested alongside 80,000 Hours guidance on high-impact careers.
- Probably GoodminorCareer guidance platform recommended by GWWC for practical guidance on aligning work with doing the most good. GWWC suggests their resources alongside effective giving education.
- GiveWellcoreCharity evaluator whose recommendations inform GWWC's charity listings. GWWC's recommendations are influenced by GiveWell's research on cost-effective global health interventions.
- ACE (Animal Charity Evaluators)coreCharity evaluator focusing on animal welfare whose recommendations inform GWWC's animal welfare cause area recommendations and charity listings.
- Founders PledgecoreCharity evaluator informing GWWC's recommendations, particularly for the long-term future and existential risk cause area. Their research guides recommendations for 'safeguarding the long-term future'.
- EA FundscoreDonation platform and evaluator formerly integrated with GWWC. GWWC acquired EA Funds' donation platform in 2020. Their evaluations inform GWWC's recommendations for effective giving.
- StripecorePayment processing partner used for donation transactions. Required cookie/technology for core functionality.
- Auth0coreAuthentication service used for user account management. Required cookie/technology for core functionality.
- ContentfulcoreContent management system provider for the GWWC Sites. Mentioned in Terms and Conditions as the Content Management Provider.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Giving What We Can competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- 80,000 Hours: 80,000 Hours is the EA-aligned career guidance organization recommended by GWWC for high-impact careers. It serves the same donor/community audience and is mutually promoted via referral channels.
- Centre for Effective Altruism: CEA is the parent organization GWWC spun out of in 2020 and remains the central community-building body for effective altruists. It targets the same donor and member base with overlapping programs (events, community, research) and directly competes for engagement and donations.
- Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE): ACE evaluates animal welfare charities and informs GWWC's animal welfare cause area. It targets a subset of the same evidence-driven donor base and competes for animal-cause donations.
- Founders Pledge: Founders Pledge operates a charitable giving community for founders and high-net-worth individuals, including charity evaluation and a donation platform. It directly competes for major-gift donors and shares the long-term-future/existential-risk cause area with GWWC.
- EA Funds: EA Funds operates donor-advised fund-style giving within the EA ecosystem. GWWC acquired EA Funds' donation platform in 2020, and the two organizations remain tightly linked in donor recommendations and giving infrastructure.
- GiveWell: GiveWell is the leading global health charity evaluator whose recommendations GWWC surfaces to its pledgers. The two organizations serve the same high-income, evidence-driven donor segment and jointly shape effective giving decisions.
- The Life You Can Save: The Life You Can Save is an effective giving nonprofit promoting evidence-based donations to global poverty charities. It targets a similar high-income donor segment with comparable pledge/donation recommendations, overlapping with GWWC's global health recommendations.
Emerging players
- GiveDirectly: GiveDirectly is a top-rated cash-transfer charity often surfaced by GWWC, GiveWell, and other evaluators. It is not a direct competitor but operates in the same effective-giving ecosystem and benefits from GWWC's donor traffic.
Broad incumbents
- Open Philanthropy: Open Philanthropy is a large EA-aligned foundation making major grants across global health and existential risk. While not a public donor-facing platform, it shapes the same charity ecosystem GWWC relies on and is a comparable effective-giving brand.
Others
- Malaria Consortium: Malaria Consortium is a top-rated malaria prevention charity and the subject of GWWC's $2.5M malaria fundraising campaign. It is a beneficiary partner rather than competitor, but is comparable as a downstream recipient of effective-giving donor flows.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Giving What We Can social profiles
Digital presenceGiving What We Can financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Giving What We Can leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Giving What We Can subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Giving What We Can funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Giving What We Can M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Giving What We Can
What does Giving What We Can do?
Giving What We Can is a nonprofit philanthropic platform that promotes effective giving through its flagship 10% Pledge commitment, a public promise to donate at least 10% of lifetime income to highly effective charities. It operates an online donation platform that routes gifts to recommended charities across three cause areas (global health and wellbeing, animal welfare, and existential risk), supported by research-based charity evaluations, an income percentile calculator, and educational resources. Additional services include personalized major-gift advisory, payroll giving, fundraising pages, and a legacy bequest program.
Is Giving What We Can a public or private company?
Giving What We Can is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Giving What We Can founded?
Giving What We Can was founded in 2009. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is Giving What We Can based?
Giving What We Can is headquartered in Oxford, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Giving What We Can make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Individual Donations are the primary driver. The others are major Gifts, bequests and fundraising Campaigns.
Who are Giving What We Can's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are 80,000 Hours, Centre for Effective Altruism, Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE), Founders Pledge, EA Funds, GiveWell and The Life You Can Save. GiveDirectly is listed as an emerging player. Open Philanthropy is listed as a broad incumbent. Malaria Consortium is listed as an others.
Does Giving What We Can have an API?
No public API is recorded for Giving What We Can.
What industry is Giving What We Can in?
Giving What We Can's product category is Charitable Giving and Effective Philanthropy Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAKAE, Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries, with a secondary code of FSAEAKAH, Charitable Giving & Philanthropic Trust Advisory. Its NAICS code is 81321 and its SIC code is 8600.