Rethink Charity
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2016
- HeadquartersVancouver, Canada
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
Rethink Charity firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Rethink Charity
- Legal name
- Rethink Charity Foundation
- Website
- https://rtcharity.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2016
- Operating status
- Operating
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Rethink Charity industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Charitable Donation Platform
- NAICS
- Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Sponsors (BPAGAKAF), Federated Giving Organizations (e.g., United Way-type) (BPAGAKAG), Philanthropic & Charitable Trust Services (FSAAANAI)
Keywords
Where Rethink Charity is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Vancouver
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Rethink Charity business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- RC Forward Operations Allocation: RC Forward allocates 4% of all donations made through the platform to operations (with exceptions for certain partner charities registered in Canada)
- Fiscal Sponsorship Fees: Tiered fee structure for Model C fiscal sponsorship services, leveraging expertise developed through sponsorship of Rethink Priorities and others to help projects navigate early growth stages
- Grants and Donations: Funding from foundations including Open Philanthropy, EA Infrastructure Fund, and individual donors supporting operations and specific projects
- Private Regranting Services: Leveraging RC Forward infrastructure to offer private regranting services to eligible organizations
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | RC Forward 4% operations allocation |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
Rethink Charity product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Rethink Charity operates RC Forward, a Canadian donation platform that enables Canadian tax residents to donate to vetted high-impact charities in global health, animal welfare, climate change, and other cause areas, receiving Canadian tax receipts via an international regranting process. The organization also historically offered Model C fiscal sponsorship services for early-stage EA-aligned projects, though this program was being wound down in 2022.
Product overview
Rethink Charity is a Canadian registered charity that operates primarily as a fiscal sponsor and platform provider for high-impact giving initiatives. The organization's flagship product is RC Forward, a Canadian donation platform that empowers donors to direct funds to high-impact charities while providing tax benefits. Rethink Charity previously operated fiscal sponsorship services for promising effective altruism-aligned projects (now wound down in 2022), and previously managed EA Giving Tuesday (handed to Giving What We Can and One for the World in 2022). The organization functions as an incubator and administrative backbone for the effective altruism community.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- RC Forward: Canadian donation platform that empowers donors to support high-impact charitable projects in global health, animal welfare, climate change, and other cause areas.
Products and services
- RC Forward RC Forward is a Canadian donation platform that empowers donors to support high-impact charitable projects in global health, animal welfare, climate change, and other cause areas. It connects Canadian donors to effective charities globally through an international regranting process, providing Canadian tax receipts for donations.
- Fiscal Sponsorship Program (Model C) Tiered-fee fiscal sponsorship service that leveraged Rethink Charity's registered charity status to provide administrative and financial infrastructure for promising early-stage EA-aligned projects. Projects included Rethink Priorities (now an independent 501(c)(3)), Dao Foods, AI Safety Support, Nonlinear, and Tee Barnett Coaching. The program was being wound down in 2022 due to changes in the fiscal sponsorship landscape.
- EA Hub EA Hub is an online community platform for local effective altruism groups, hosted by Rethink Charity and supported by the Centre for Effective Altruism, consolidating resources and infrastructure for the broader EA community.
Quantifiable outcome
- RC Forward is 3-55x more cost-effective than donating directly to supported charities
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Rethink Charity
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Rethink Charity technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature3 records
Rethink Charity partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Charitable Impact Foundation (CHIMP)corePartnership with Vancouver-based CHIMP for donor-advised fund services that facilitate gifts to other registered charities, enabling cross-border donations and tax benefits for Canadians
- Priority FoundationcorePartnership enabling Canadian donors to support effective charities across the border through Priority Foundation's infrastructure
- RED AcademyminorVancouver-based design school that provided free website development for RC Forward through their nonprofit partnership program
- Giving What We CanminorTook over EA Giving Tuesday project in 2022 with One for the World; collaborative partner in effective giving ecosystem
- One for the WorldminorPartnered with Giving What We Can to run EA Giving Tuesday 2022; collaborative partner in effective giving ecosystem
- EA HubminorEA community platform hosted by Rethink Charity and supported by Centre for Effective Altruism, consolidating resources for local groups
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Rethink Charity competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- EA Funds: Regranting organization that pools and routes EA-aligned donations to high-impact charities. Operates a similar regranting/fund-routing model to RC Forward, though anchored in US rather than Canadian tax-advantaged giving.
- Effektiv Spenden: German EA-aligned giving organization and Rethink Charity's listed collaborative partner. Operates a comparable effective-giving platform and cause-routing infrastructure for European donors, paralleling RC Forward's Canadian model in a different geography.
- Giving What We Can: Effective altruism-aligned giving organization that promotes the 10% pledge and recently took over EA Giving Tuesday from Rethink Charity. Operates as a direct peer in the EA giving ecosystem, serving overlapping donor audiences with similar cause-effective framing.
- Founders Pledge: Global platform that encourages entrepreneurs to pledge a percentage of proceeds to high-impact charities, with regranting and evaluation infrastructure. Comparable to RC Forward in routing donor capital to vetted high-impact charities, though at higher donation scales and broader geography.
- Charity Science: EA-aligned nonprofit organization focused on evidence-based interventions; RC Forward inherited Charity Science's Donor-Advised Fund in 2017. Directly comparable in EA-aligned operating model and donor-advised fund mechanics.
- One for the World: EA-aligned giving organization that partners with Giving What We Can on EA Giving Tuesday and facilitates workplace and individual giving to high-impact charities. Directly comparable in mission and donor base to RC Forward's community.
Others
- Charitable Impact (CHIMP): Vancouver-based donor-advised fund sponsor and RC Forward's core technology partner for cross-border regranting. Comparable as a DAF sponsor operating in the Canadian tax-advantaged giving space, and directly enables RC Forward's international donation routing.
- Centre for Effective Altruism: EA community hub and funder (via EA Infrastructure Fund) that supports RC Forward and the broader EA giving ecosystem. Not a direct competitor but a closely intertwined ecosystem participant that provides both funding and community reach.
Broad incumbents
- GiveWell: Leading charity evaluator that identifies top-rated high-impact charities; the majority of RC Forward's initial regranting flow was directed to GiveWell-recommended charities. Functions as a complementary incumbent shaping the effective-giving ecosystem RC Forward serves.
- CanadaHelps: Canada's largest online donation platform serving thousands of Canadian charities. While broader in scope and not EA-aligned, it is the dominant Canadian donation infrastructure competitor for donor attention and tax-receipted giving flows.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Rethink Charity social profiles
Digital presenceRethink Charity compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
Rethink Charity financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Rethink Charity leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Rethink Charity funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Rethink Charity 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 Rethink Charity
What does Rethink Charity do?
Rethink Charity operates RC Forward, a Canadian donation platform that enables Canadian tax residents to donate to vetted high-impact charities in global health, animal welfare, climate change, and other cause areas, receiving Canadian tax receipts via an international regranting process. The organization also historically offered Model C fiscal sponsorship services for early-stage EA-aligned projects, though this program was being wound down in 2022.
Is Rethink Charity a public or private company?
Rethink Charity is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Rethink Charity founded?
Rethink Charity was founded in 2016.
Where is Rethink Charity based?
Rethink Charity is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Rethink Charity make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. RC Forward Operations Allocation is the primary driver. The others are fiscal Sponsorship Fees, grants and Donations and private Regranting Services.
Who are Rethink Charity's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are EA Funds, Effektiv Spenden, Giving What We Can, Founders Pledge, Charity Science and One for the World. Others are Charitable Impact (CHIMP) and Centre for Effective Altruism. Broad incumbents are GiveWell and CanadaHelps.
Does Rethink Charity have an API?
No public API is recorded for Rethink Charity.
What industry is Rethink Charity in?
Rethink Charity's product category is Charitable Donation Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAKAE, Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries, with a secondary code of BPAGAKAF, Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Sponsors. Its NAICS code is 81321.