Top Giving Recommendations
For CEARCH’s own independent research on the most impactful causes & charities worth funding, please see our Top Giving Recommendations.
Commissioned Research
Beyond our own independent research, we have historically also accepted commissions from other grantmakers & philanthropists, to research specific areas they are interested in. Some areas we have researched for partners include advanced market commitments, childhood vaccinations, salt reduction policy, mental health, the EA meta funding landscape, sleep apnea, and female genital mutilation.
Some onotable research we have done for other grantmakers & philanthropists, and which we have permission to publish, are shared below.
Mental Health: CEARCH was commissioned by the Flourishing Minds Fund to research mental health as a cause area (report). Our key findings are that:
- Cost is generally the most important variable in assessing mental health interventions, and it can vary widely.
- Interpersonal group therapy is a promising way of improving mental health provision in poor countries, although the scale of the effect of psychotherapy is unclear. Technology may allow psychotherapy to be delivered more cheaply and at scale.
- Tackling risk factors can prevent mental illness. Policy advocacy could be a good lever for doing this.
- Suicide prevention appears to be highly neglected in poor countries.
- Mental illness will increase in relative importance over time, so we should place a premium on any work that increases our understanding of how to mitigate it.
We also have deeper dives on specific issues such as perinatal mental health (report) and suicide prevention (report).
“I commissioned a piece of reporting from CEARCH two years ago. I was blown away by the final product, and they are now my go-to organization when I need anything from a quick deep dive to broad cause prioritization research.”
Will Troy
Founder of Coppice Philanthropy
Board Member of the Charles Engelhard Foundation
EA Meta Funding Landscape: CEARCH was commissioned by the leadership of the Meta Charity Funders to research the EA meta funding landscape (report). Broadly, this report covers:
- The aggregate amount of EA meta funding from 2021-2023, and how that breaks down by cause, intervention, grantmaker and geography.
- Qualitative insights from CEARCH and other experts on optimal prioritization between meta & direct, between different causes, and between intervention types; on the priorities of major grantmakers like Open Philanthropy and EA Funds, and concerns about their existing approach; and on key trends and uncertainties shaping the funding landscape.
Other Notable Research
Violence Against Women & Girls in Indonesia: CEARCH finds that edutainment interventions have the highest impact per dollar out of the various interventions investigated, though the evidence base is weaker, and in any case the cost-effectiveness of such edutainment interventions is still significantly worse than GiveWell top charities (report).
