Sightsavers donations received

This is an online portal with information on donations that were announced publicly (or have been shared with permission) that were of interest to Vipul Naik. The git repository with the code for this portal, as well as all the underlying data, is available on GitHub. All payment amounts are in current United States dollars (USD). The repository of donations is being seeded with an initial collation by Issa Rice as well as continued contributions from him (see his commits and the contract work page listing all financially compensated contributions to the site) but all responsibility for errors and inaccuracies belongs to Vipul Naik. Current data is preliminary and has not been completely vetted and normalized; if sharing a link to this site or any page on this site, please include the caveat that the data is preliminary (if you want to share without including caveats, please check with Vipul Naik). We expect to have completed the first round of development by the end of July 2024. See the about page for more details. Also of interest: pageview data on analytics.vipulnaik.com, tutorial in README, request for feedback to EA Forum.

Table of contents

Basic donee information

ItemValue
Country
Facebook page sightsaversUK
Websitehttp://www.sightsavers.org/
Twitter usernameSightsavers
Wikipedia pagehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sightsavers
Instagram usernamesightsavers

Donee donation statistics

Cause areaCountMedianMeanMinimum10th percentile 20th percentile 30th percentile 40th percentile 50th percentile 60th percentile 70th percentile 80th percentile 90th percentile Maximum
Overall 10 2,710,100 3,479,823 600,000 600,000 1,500,000 2,148,448 2,500,000 2,710,100 2,796,000 2,950,000 4,906,514 4,987,166 9,700,000
Global health 10 2,710,100 3,479,823 600,000 600,000 1,500,000 2,148,448 2,500,000 2,710,100 2,796,000 2,950,000 4,906,514 4,987,166 9,700,000

Donation amounts by donor and year for donee Sightsavers

Donor Total 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2014
Open Philanthropy (filter this donee) 15,206,100.00 2,796,000.00 2,710,100.00 9,700,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (filter this donee) 12,642,127.67 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,748,448.00 4,906,514.00 4,987,165.67
Good Ventures/GiveWell top and standout charities (filter this donee) 5,450,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2,500,000.00 2,950,000.00 0.00 0.00
GiveWell Maximum Impact Fund (filter this donee) 1,500,000.00 1,500,000.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Total 34,798,227.67 4,296,000.00 2,710,100.00 9,700,000.00 2,500,000.00 5,698,448.00 4,906,514.00 4,987,165.67

Full list of documents in reverse chronological order (8 documents)

Title (URL linked)Publication dateAuthorPublisherAffected donorsAffected doneesAffected influencersDocument scopeCause areaNotes
Recommendation to Open Philanthropy for Grants to Top Charities2019-11-26GiveWellOpen Philanthropy Malaria Consortium Helen Keller International Sightsavers Against Malaria Foundation The END Fund GiveDirectly Development Media International Dispenses for Safe Water Food Fortification Initiative Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition Georgetown University Initiative on Innovation, Development, and Evaluation Iodine Global Network Living Goods Project Healthy Children GiveWell Periodic donation list documentationGlobal health and developmentThe document details GiveWell's recommendation in 2019 for grants by Good Ventures (via the Open Philanthropy Project) to GiveWell top and standout charities. The overall amount of money recommended for allocation is $54.6 million, and the document explains that Open Phil's calculation that it may make sense to spend down more slowly was the reason for reducing the allocation from last year. It discusses the principles used for allocation: (1) Put significant weight on cost-effectiveness estimates, (2) Consider additional information not explicitly modeled about the organization, (3) Consider additional information not explicitly modeled about the funding gap, (4) Assess funding gaps at the margin, (5) Default to not imposing restrictions on charity spending, (6) Default to funding on a 3-year horizon, and (7) Ensure charities are incentivized to engage with the process. The three charities that get significant grants are Malaria Consortium for its SMC program ($33.9 million), Helen Keller International ($9.7 million), and Sightsavers ($2.7 million). Against Malaria Foundation, The END Fund, and GiveDirectly receive the minimum "incentive grant" amount of $2.5 million that all top charities should receive. The top charity Deworm the World Initiative is not given an incentive grant because it received a previous grant through GiveWell discretionary grant that more than covers the incentive grant amount. 8 standout charities get $100,000 each
Announcing our 2019 top charities2019-11-26Catherine Hollander GiveWellGiveWell Maximum Impact Fund Malaria Consortium Against Malaria Foundation Helen Keller International Deworm the World Initiative Sightsavers The END Fund GiveDirectly Schistosomiasis Control Initiative GiveWell Evaluator consolidated recommendation listGlobal health and developmentGiveWell annual top charrities list. As in previous years, GiveWell recomemnds that donors donate to GiveWell to regrant to top charities at its discretion, but also provides its current ranked list of top charities to help donors make an informed decision. Its ranked list (from best to worst) is: Malaria Consortium (seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) program), Against Malaria Foundation, Helen Keller International (vitamin A suppplementation), charities that treat parasitic worm infections (Evidence Action's Deworm the World Initiative, Sightsavers, The END Fund), and GiveDirectly. From the perspective of cause areas, the rank is: malaria > vitamin A supplementation > deworming > cash transfers. This is consistent with, and highly influenced by, the cost-effectiveness estimates that GiveWell uses. The post highlights Malaria Consortium as the charity to select for donors who want to give directly to a charity. The post links to a number of more in-depth write-ups explaining the charity ranking, as well as to https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities/2019/open-philanthropy-recommendation which describes the recommendation to Open Philanthropy Project (and indirectly, to Good Ventures) on how to allocate funding to the top charities in 2019
EA Giving Tuesday Donation Matching Initiative 2018 Retrospective (GW, IR)2019-01-06Avi Norowitz Effective Altruism ForumAvi Norowitz William Kiely Against Malaria Foundation Malaria Consortium GiveWell Effective Altruism Funds Alliance to Feed the Earth in Disasters Effective Animal Advocacy Fund The Humane League The Good Food Institute Animal Charity Evaluators Machine Intelligence Research Institute Faunalytics Wild-Aniaml Suffering Research GiveDirectly Center for Applied Rationality Effective Altruism Foundation Cool Earth Schistosomiasis Control Initiative New Harvest Evidence Action Centre for Effective Altruism Animal Equality Compassion in World Farming USA Innovations for Poverty Action Global Catastrophic Risk Institute Future of Life Institute Animal Charity Evaluators Recommended Charity Fund Sightsavers The Life You Can Save One Step for Animals Helen Keller International 80,000 Hours Berkeley Existential Risk Initiative Vegan Outreach Encompass Iodine Global Network Otwarte Klatki Charity Science Mercy For Animals Coalition for Rainforest Nations Fistula Foundation Sentience Institute Better Eating International Forethought Foundation for Global Priorities Research Raising for Effective Giving Clean Air Task Force The END Fund Miscellaneous commentaryThe blog post describes an effort by a number of donors coordinated at https://2018.eagivingtuesday.org/donations to donate through Facebook right after the start of donation matching on Giving Tuesday. Based on timestamps of donations and matches, donations were matched till 14 seconds after the start of matching. Despite the very short time window of matching, the post estimates that $469,000 (65%) of the donations made were matched
Our updated top charities for giving season 20182018-11-26Catherine Hollander GiveWellGiveWell Maximum Impact Fund Open Philanthropy GiveWell top charities Malaria Consortium Helen Keller International Against Malaria Foundation Deworm the World Initiative Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Sightsavers The END Fund GiveDirectly GiveWell Evaluator consolidated recommendation listGlobal health and developmentGiveWell annual top charities list. GiveWell recommends that donors donate to GiveWell to regrant to top charities at its discretion, but also provides details on the individual top charities so that people can make an informed decision. In addition, the amounts determined for GiveWell Maximum Impact Fund and for donation by Good Ventures are also included, though details of the amount recommended to Good Ventures are in a separate blog post https://blog.givewell.org/2018/11/26/our-recommendation-to-good-ventures/
Our recommendation to Good Ventures2018-11-26Andrew Martin Catherine Hollander Elie Hassenfeld James Snowden Josh Rosenberg GiveWellGood Ventures/GiveWell top and standout charities Malaria Consortium Helen Keller International Against Malaria Foundation Deworm the World Initiative Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Sightsavers The END Fund GiveDirectly GiveWell Periodic donation list documentationGlobal health and developmentThe document explains, along with a detailed rationale, the amounts that GiveWell is recommending to Good Ventures to grant to each of its top charities for the 2018 end-of-year giving season. The corresponding acknowledgement post from the Open Philanthropy Project was published on 2018-12-12 at https://www.openphilanthropy.org/blog/2018-allocation-givewell-top-charities
Our top charities for giving season 20172017-11-27Natalie Crispin GiveWellGiveWell Maximum Impact Fund Good Ventures/GiveWell top and standout charities GiveWell top charities Against Malaria Foundation Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Malaria Consortium Deworm the World Initiative Helen Keller International Sightsavers The END Fund No Lean Season GiveDirectly Development Media International Dispensers for Safe Water Food Fortification Initiative Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition Iodine Global Network Living Goods Project Healthy Children GiveWell Evaluator consolidated recommendation listGlobal health and developmentGiveWell annual top charity refresh, also announced amounts recommended for Good Ventures to donate to top charities. Added two new top charities
Good Ventures and Giving Now vs. Later (2016 Update)2016-12-28Holden Karnofsky Open PhilanthropyGood Ventures/GiveWell top and standout charities GiveWell top charities Against Malaria Foundation Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Deworm the World Initiative GiveDirectly Malaria Consortium Sightsavers The END Fund Development Media International Food Fortification Initiative Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition Iodine Global Network Living Goods Project Healthy Children GiveWell Reasoning supplementGlobal health and developmentExplanation of reasoning that led to $50 million allocation to GiveWell top charities
Our updated top charities for giving season 20162016-11-28Natalie Crispin GiveWellGood Ventures/GiveWell top and standout charities GiveWell top charities Against Malaria Foundation Schistosomiasis Control Initiative Deworm the World Initiative GiveDirectly Malaria Consortium Sightsavers The END Fund Development Media International Food Fortification Initiative Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition Iodine Global Network Living Goods Project Healthy Children GiveWell Evaluator consolidated recommendation listGlobal health and developmentGiveWell annual top charity refresh, also announced amounts recommended for Good Ventures to donate to top charities. Added three new top charities

Full list of donations in reverse chronological order (10 donations)

Graph of top 10 donors (for donations with known year of donation) by amount, showing the timeframe of donations

Graph of donations and their timeframes
DonorAmount (current USD)Amount rank (out of 10)Donation dateCause areaURLInfluencerNotes
GiveWell Maximum Impact Fund1,500,000.0092021-06Global health/nutrition/vitamin A supplementationhttps://www.givewell.org/maximum-impact-fundGiveWell Donation process: https://www.givewell.org/maximum-impact-fund/allocation-q1-2021#How_did_we_arrive_at_our_allocation explains the seven principles followed in deciding the allocation: "Principle 1: Put significant weight on our cost-effectiveness estimates. Principle 2: Consider additional information that we have not explicitly modeled about an organization. Principle 3: Consider additional information that we have not explicitly modeled about a funding gap. Principle 4: Assess charities' funding gaps at the margin, i.e., how they would spend additional funding, where possible. Principle 5: Default to not imposing restrictions on charities' spending. Principle 6: Default to funding on a three-year horizon, modifying to preserve our options for the future where doing so is low-cost. Principle 7: Ensure charities are incentivized to engage with our process." There are more details in the document.

Intended use of funds (category): Direct project expenses

Intended use of funds: Grant "to partially fund deworming MDA in 2022-2024 in six regions of Chad that it has classified as "Priority 1" regions."

Donor reason for selecting the donee: https://www.givewell.org/maximum-impact-fund/allocation-q1-2021#Sightsavers has a "Case for the grant" section that estimates the cost-effectiveness of the grant as 14x cash. It includes more details, and also talks about Priority 2 regions that were ultimately not funded by the grant.

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): The amount only partially funds the programs it funds; it covers $1.5 million out of $13.5 million available for granting. The exact reasons for allocating this particular amount to this grantee are not described.
Percentage of total donor spend in the corresponding batch of donations: 11.11%

Donor reason for donating at this time (rather than earlier or later): This discretionary regrant is done for each quarter, usually within 2 to 3 months of the end of the quarter. This particular grant is for Q1 2021 (January to March) and would therefore be expected to be in Q2 2021, which it is.
Intended funding timeframe in months: 36

Other notes: Affected countries: Chad; announced: 2021-08-31.
Open Philanthropy2,796,000.0052021-02Global health/deworminghttps://www.openphilanthropy.org/focus/global-health-and-development/miscellaneous/sightsavers-deworming-2021GiveWell Donation process: The grant is based on GiveWell's recommendation. GiveWell made the recommendations as part of its end-of-year recommendations to Open Philanthropy, along with allocations to other GiveWell top and standout charities. The total budget of $100 million is set by Open Philanthropy, but GiveWell decided to allocate only $70 million in end-of-year grantmaking and defers the remaining $30 million to early 2021. GiveWell explains the process in detail at https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities/2020/open-philanthropy-recommendation (published February 2021).

Intended use of funds (category): Direct project expenses

Intended use of funds: https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities/2020/open-philanthropy-recommendation#Sightsavers-_deworming_program says the grant is "to continue, through 2022, Sightsavers' deworming programs that have previously been funded by GiveWell-directed funding. This includes deworming programs in several states in Nigeria ($1.5 million, 30x cash), Cameroon ($1.2 million, 15x cash), and DRC ($200,000, 2x cash)."

Donor reason for selecting the donee: https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities/2020/open-philanthropy-recommendation#Our_recommended_allocation_to_Open_Philanthropy puts the grant in the bucket of "Limited support to programs that we have funded in the past that are less cost-effective than the needs we're prioritizing." It further says: "Many of these programs are only slightly less cost-effective than the programs we recommend on the margin (the programs that we model as more than 10x cash, listed in the next bullet). We may want to fund these programs in the future if available funding for our top charities outpaces new giving opportunities or if new information increases our estimate of their cost-effectiveness. We also think this funding could be justified on the basis of being responsible funders—i.e., not making large changes in our funding each year, which may help charities in their ability to plan."

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): The amount is the total amount that falls under the bucket of "Limited support to programs that we have funded in the past that are less cost-effective than the needs we're prioritizing." https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities/2020/open-philanthropy-recommendation#Sightsavers-_deworming_program has details on programs the amount will fund. It also lists funding gaps not being filled right now, for different reasons for the different gaps: desire to get Sightsavers to agree to more thorough data collection, as well as a low estimate of or high skepticism about cost-effectiveness.
Percentage of total donor spend in the corresponding batch of donations: 3.99%

Donor reason for donating at this time (rather than earlier or later): Part of GiveWell's end-of-year recommendations for Open Philanthropy, so the timing is determined by the timing of end-of-year recommendations (which is usually the week after Thanksgiving in the United States). The grant is made by Open Philanthropy shortly after the recommendations.
Intended funding timeframe in months: 24

Donor thoughts on making further donations to the donee: https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities/2020/open-philanthropy-recommendation#Sightsavers-_deworming_program lists unfuded opportunities of sizes $5.4 million (Chad), $1.3 million (Senegal), and $300,000 (Nigeria). For the first two, GiveWell plans to discuss more with Sightsavers and possibly recommend grants in the future.

Donor retrospective of the donation: A followup grant from the GiveWell Maximum Impact Fund for the program in Chad in 2021 (see https://www.givewell.org/maximum-impact-fund/allocation-q1-2021 for details) suggests continued satisfaction with the grantee. Sightsavers' deworming program would continue to remain a GiveWell top charity in 2021.

Other notes: See https://www.givewell.org/charities/sightsavers/November-2020-version for GiveWell's review of Sightsavers at the time of the grant recommendation. Affected countries: Nigeria|Cameroon|Demoocratic Republic of the Congo.
Open Philanthropy2,710,100.0062020-01Global health/deworminghttps://www.openphilanthropy.org/focus/global-health-and-development/miscellaneous/sightsavers-deworming-january-2020GiveWell Donation process: The grant is based on GiveWell's recommendation. GiveWell made the recommendations as part of its end-of-year recommendations to Open Philanthropy, along with allocations to other GiveWell top and standout charities. The total budget is based on guidelines set by Open Philanthropy. GiveWell explains the process in detail at https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities/2019/open-philanthropy-recommendation (published November 2019).

Intended use of funds (category): Direct project expenses

Intended use of funds: https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities/2019/open-philanthropy-recommendation#Sightsavers-_deworming_program gives the breakdown of expected spending for the Sightsavers deworming program: "(1) $0.3 million to extend deworming in Yobe State, Nigeria through 2022. We estimate that Sightsavers' average cost-effectiveness is 9x cash (2) $1.3 million to expand its program in Cameroon to new regions, with funding to cover 2020-2022. We estimate that Sightsavers' average cost-effectiveness is 9x cash. (3) $1.1 million to expand its program in DRC to a new province, with funding to cover 2020-2022. We estimate that Sightsavers' average cost-effectiveness is 9x cash."

Donor reason for selecting the donee: The Sightsavers deworming program is a GiveWell top charity, and therefore receives the $2.5 million incentive grant that all top charities receive, per https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities/2019/open-philanthropy-recommendation#Principles_we_followed Principle 7: "To this end, since 2016, we have recommended that Open Philanthropy provide a minimum “incentive grant” to top charities ($2.5 million) and standout charities ($100,000)."

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities/2019/open-philanthropy-recommendation#Sightsavers-_deworming_program says: "After receiving an incentive grant of $2.5 million, Sightsavers would have a small funding gap for two programs. We are recommending a grant of $2.7 million total in order to fill that gap."

Donor reason for donating at this time (rather than earlier or later): Part of GiveWell's end-of-year recommendations for Open Philanthropy, so the timing is determined by the timing of end-of-year recommendations (which is usually the week after Thanksgiving in the United States). The grant is made by Open Philanthropy shortly after the recommendations.
Intended funding timeframe in months: 36

Donor retrospective of the donation: Helen Keller International would continue to retain GiveWell top charity status in the coming years and continue receiving annual grants from Open Philanthropy at GiveWell's recommendation.

Other notes: See https://www.givewell.org/charities/sightsavers/November-2019-version for GiveWell's review of Sightsavers at the time of the grant recommendation. Affected countries: Nigeria|Cameroon|Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Open Philanthropy9,700,000.0012019-01Global health/deworminghttps://www.openphilanthropy.org/focus/global-health-and-development/miscellaneous/sightsavers-deworming-2019GiveWell Donation process: The grant is based on GiveWell's recommendation. GiveWell made the recommendations as part of its end-of-year recommendations to Open Philanthropy, along with allocations to other GiveWell top and standout charities. The total budget is based on guidelines set by Open Philanthropy. GiveWell explains the process in detail at https://blog.givewell.org/2018/11/26/our-recommendation-to-good-ventures/ Charity status updates in 2018 are at https://www.givewell.org/charities/top-charities/updates-in-november-2018#Sightsavers-_deworming_program

Intended use of funds (category): Direct project expenses

Intended use of funds: Grant to support deworming programs, which have GiveWell top charity status; see https://www.givewell.org/charities/sightsavers More specifically, these programs include advocating for, funding, and monitoring programs that treat schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH) (deworming)

Donor reason for selecting the donee: GiveWell recommends the Sightsavers deworming program for the following reasons: (1) Strong track record and excellent cost-effectiveness. (2) Moderately strong monitoring process. (3) Standout transparency. (4) Room for more funding. The full GiveWell review is at https://www.givewell.org/charities/sightsavers and the top charity selection is at https://blog.givewell.org/2018/11/26/our-updated-top-charities-for-giving-season-2018/

Donor reason for donating that amount (rather than a bigger or smaller amount): GiveWell explains the principles affecting its decision of how much money to allocate to each charity in https://blog.givewell.org/2018/11/26/our-recommendation-to-good-ventures/ (1) Put significant weight on our cost-effectiveness estimates. (2) Consider additional information about an organization that we have not explicitly modeled. (3) Assess charities’ funding gaps at the margin, i.e., where they would spend additional funding, where possible. (4) Default towards not imposing restrictions on charity spending. (5) Fund on a three-year horizon, unless we are particularly uncertain whether we will want to continue recommending a program in the future. (6) Ensure charities are incentivized to engage with our process. Ultimately, GiveWell decides to allocate $6-10 million two of its deworming charities and to Helen Keller International; Sightsavers ends up getting $9.7 million

Donor reason for donating at this time (rather than earlier or later): Part of GiveWell's end-of-year recommendations for Open Philanthropy, so the timing is determined by the timing of end-of-year recommendations (which is usually the week after Thanksgiving in the United States). The grant is made by Open Philanthropy shortly after the recommendations

Other notes: Even accounting for this grant, GiveWell identifies a remaining funding gap of $1.6 million for Sightsavers deworming programs.
Good Ventures/GiveWell top and standout charities2,500,000.0072018-01Global health/deworminghttp://www.goodventures.org/our-portfolio/grants/sightsavers-deworming-programs-january-2018GiveWell Grant restricted to the deworming program. It is the $2.5 million minimum for being a top charity. Grant announced on 2017-11-27 at https://blog.givewell.org/2017/11/27/our-top-charities-for-giving-season-2017/ along with GiveWell top and standout charities list.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation2,148,448.0082017-11-13Global health/infectious disease controlhttps://iatiregistry.org/publisher/bmgf-- to develop the technical and operational bases for conducting onchocerciasis elimination mapping in low transmission settings in Africa; Aid type: Project-type interventions. Affected regions: South of Sahara.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation600,000.00102017-11-06Global health/infectious disease controlhttps://iatiregistry.org/publisher/bmgf-- to support the World Health Organization’s 2020 Roadmap on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and the London Declaration on NTDs, with coordination, communication, reporting, advocacy, and logistical support to key stakeholder groups who are committed to ; Aid type: Project-type interventions. Affected regions: Developing countries, unspecified.
Good Ventures/GiveWell top and standout charities2,950,000.0042017-01Global health/deworminghttp://www.goodventures.org/our-portfolio/grants/sightsavers-dewormingGiveWell Grant for deworming program, a 2016 GiveWell top charity program. Grant announced on 2016-11-28 at https://blog.givewell.org/2016/11/28/updated-top-charities-giving-season-2016/#Sec3a along with GiveWell top and standout charities list.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation4,906,514.0032016-10-21Global health/infectious disease controlhttps://iatiregistry.org/publisher/bmgf-- to develop advocacy capacity and resource mobilization efforts toward achieving the London Declaration goals for Neglected Tropical Diseases and the WHO 2020 Roadmap; Aid type: Project-type interventions. Affected regions: Developing countries, unspecified.
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation4,987,165.6722014-11-06Global health/infectious disease controlhttps://iatiregistry.org/publisher/bmgf-- to support the World Health Organization’s 2020 Roadmap on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and the London Declaration on NTDs, with coordination, communication, reporting, advocacy, and logistical support to key stakeholder groups who are committed to ; Aid type: Project-type interventions. Affected regions: Developing countries, unspecified.