Giving What We Can
Charity Elections
A charity election is a school-wide event in which high school students vote among three charities to decide which will receive up to $2,000 in sponsored funds.
In a charity election, high school students research, discuss, and reflect on three charities before voting to decide which will receive up to $2,000 in sponsored funds. The programme was designed to inspire meaningful discussions and empower young people to reflect on complex world issues and realise their potential to make a difference.
To aid the student decision-making process, teachers are provided with an easily implemented framework for research and discussion around giving effectively. Students are empowered to use reason and evidence as tools for informed decision making, ultimately casting a vote grounded in critical thinking, empathy, and reflection on multiple points of view.
What information does Giving What We Can have about the cost-effectiveness of charity elections?
We don't currently have further information about the cost-effectiveness of charity elections beyond it being work in a high-impact cause area and taking a reasonably promising approach.
Please note that GWWC does not evaluate individual charities. Our recommendations are based on the research of third-party, impact-focused charity evaluators our research team has found to be particularly well-suited to help donors do the most good per dollar, according to their recent evaluator investigations. Our other supported programs are those that align with our charitable purpose — they are working on a high-impact problem and take a reasonably promising approach (based on publicly-available information).
At Giving What We Can, we focus on the effectiveness of an organisation's work -- what the organisation is actually doing and whether their programs are making a big difference. Some others in the charity recommendation space focus instead on the ratio of admin costs to program spending, part of what we’ve termed the “overhead myth.” See why overhead isn’t the full story and learn more about our approach to charity evaluation.