What we look for in high-impacting organizations.

The organizations Auxylios recommend all have similar features, .After reviewing the research, inspecting the sheets, and studying the claims and counter-claims, we know that groups with these high standards are good at reducing poverty.

They’re really good.

1: A mission to reduce, or even end, poverty.

Wanting to sponsor a donkey rescue? That’s awesome. We love donkeys. But that’s not the type of organizations we choose to support.

Organizations recommended by Auxylios are primarily focused on reducing the scourge of poverty. They also demonstrate a willingness to use research and evidence to guide their activities.

There are charities and non-profits devoted to a host of other worthwhile activities, such as rescuing animals, promoting arts and culture, and conserving the environment. They’re good causes. But they aren’t our cause. Our cause is the eradication of poverty, and only organizations focused on this cause will be promoted here.

(We think it’s good to be clear about that.)

2: Organizational Excellence

Concerned that most of your money is going to a charity’s CEO, or its fundraisers?

So are we.

Let’s face it, too many bad eggs have lined their own pockets by claiming that they have a “charity”. We’re not ok with that. We understand that companies need to raise money, and that employees should be paid appropriately for the value they’re adding (after all, it’s not right to claim you’re fighting poverty while your employees can’t afford to pay their own bills). But there’s a line between compensation and corruption.

Organizations we recommend must achieve the high rating of 3 stars for Financial Health, Accountability, Transparency by Charity Navigator, an independent charity assessor. This means the organization is considered very good: they meet and exceed industry standards and outperform most charities in their field.

3: Engagers in evidence-backed, high-impact interventions.

Data. Glorious data. Not the kind that allows certain search companies to act downright creepy about the kind of detergent you like. But the kind that allows us all to know what is working, why it is working, and how it can be replicated so that more people can be helped.

From the research, we place the anti-poverty interventions in a quadrant according to two variables: impact per dollar (negligible to high-impact) and cost to implement (low cost to high cost). 

We then look for organizations who are using anti-poverty interventions in the upper-left quadrant: Low Cost and High Impact strategies. This is followed by those in the upper-right quadrant: High Cost and High Impact strategies. Organizations using strategies that fall in the lower quadrants (either left or right), which are Low Impact, are not usually supported.