Laurie Santos, a Yale psychologist known for her work on happiness, and Elie Hassenfeld, co-founder of GiveWell, delve into the joy and science behind charitable giving. They reveal how spending money on others boosts personal happiness. The conversation uncovers misconceptions about donations and discusses effective charities that maximize impact. Listeners learn about the challenges of giving, the importance of trust in charitable organizations, and how a data-driven approach can transform philanthropy for global health and poverty alleviation.

Elie Hassenfeld, Co-founder and CEO of GiveWell, dives into the transformative power of charitable giving. He discusses how spending on others often brings more happiness than spending on oneself. The conversation highlights effective charities and the importance of transparency in philanthropy. They explore the psychological barriers to giving and the evolving landscape of charitable contributions. Hassenfeld shares insights on empowering individuals through targeted donations, showcasing how strategic giving can make a real difference.

GiveWell is one of the world's best-known charity evaluators, with the goal of "searching for the charities that save or improve lives the most per dollar." It mostly recommends projects that help the world's poorest people avoid easily prevented diseases, like intestinal worms or vitamin A deficiency.But should GiveWell, as some critics argue, take a totally different approach to its search, focusing instead on directly increasing subjective wellbeing, or alternatively, raising economic growth?Today's guest — cofounder and CEO of GiveWell, Elie Hassenfeld — is proud of how much GiveWell has grown in the last five years. Its 'money moved' has quadrupled to around $600 million a year.Its research team has also more than doubled, enabling them to investigate a far broader range of interventions that could plausibly help people an enormous amount for each dollar spent. That work has led GiveWell to support dozens of new organisations, such as Kangaroo Mother Care, MiracleFeet, and Dispensers for Safe Water.But some other researchers focused on figuring out the best ways to help the world's poorest people say GiveWell shouldn't just do more of the same thing, but rather ought to look at the problem differently.Links to learn more, summary and full transcript.Currently, GiveWell uses a range of metrics to track the impact of the organisations it considers recommending — such as 'lives saved,' 'household incomes doubled,' and for health improvements, the 'quality-adjusted life year.' The Happier Lives Institute (HLI) has argued that instead, GiveWell should try to cash out the impact of all interventions in terms of improvements in subjective wellbeing. This philosophy has led HLI to be more sceptical of interventions that have been demonstrated to improve health, but whose impact on wellbeing has not been measured, and to give a high priority to improving lives relative to extending them.An alternative high-level critique is that really all that matters in the long run is getting the economies of poor countries to grow. On this view, GiveWell should focus on figuring out what causes some countries to experience explosive economic growth while others fail to, or even go backwards. Even modest improvements in the chances of such a 'growth miracle' will likely offer a bigger bang-for-buck than funding the incremental delivery of deworming tablets or vitamin A supplements, or anything else.Elie sees where both of these critiques are coming from, and notes that they've influenced GiveWell's work in some ways. But as he explains, he thinks they underestimate the practical difficulty of successfully pulling off either approach and finding better opportunities than what GiveWell funds today. In today's in-depth conversation, Elie and host Rob Wiblin cover the above, as well as:Why GiveWell flipped from not recommending chlorine dispensers as an intervention for safe drinking water to spending tens of millions of dollars on themWhat transferable lessons GiveWell learned from investigating different kinds of interventionsWhy the best treatment for premature babies in low-resource settings may involve less rather than more medicine.Severe malnourishment among children and what can be done about it.How to deal with hidden and non-obvious costs of a programmeSome cheap early treatments that can prevent kids from developing lifelong disabilitiesThe various roles GiveWell is currently hiring for, and what's distinctive about their organisational cultureAnd much more.Chapters:Rob’s intro (00:00:00)The interview begins (00:03:14)GiveWell over the last couple of years (00:04:33)Dispensers for Safe Water (00:11:52)Syphilis diagnosis for pregnant women via technical assistance (00:30:39)Kangaroo Mother Care (00:48:47)Multiples of cash (01:01:20)Hidden costs (01:05:41)MiracleFeet (01:09:45)Serious malnourishment among young children (01:22:46)Vitamin A deficiency and supplementation (01:40:42)The subjective wellbeing approach in contrast with GiveWell's approach (01:46:31)The value of saving a life when that life is going to be very difficult (02:09:09)Whether economic policy is what really matters overwhelmingly (02:20:00)Careers at GiveWell (02:39:10)Donations (02:48:58)Parenthood (02:50:29)Rob’s outro (02:55:05)Producer: Keiran HarrisAudio mastering: Simon Monsour and Ben CordellTranscriptions: Katy Moore

Laurie Santos, a Yale psychologist and host of The Happiness Lab, and Elie Hassenfeld, co-founder of GiveWell, dive into the transformative power of giving. They reveal that spending on others often brings more happiness than spending on ourselves. Listeners learn about impactful charities that use donations effectively, and how simplifying the act of giving can make it a habit. The conversation also touches on the psychology behind altruism and the ethical considerations in philanthropy, encouraging a thoughtful approach to charitable contributions.

Dr. Laurie Santos, a Yale psychologist and host of The Happiness Lab, teams up with Elie Hassenfeld, CEO of GiveWell, to explore the joy of giving. They discuss how spending on others boosts happiness and reveal the most impactful charities identified by research. Listeners learn the psychology behind altruism and how acts of kindness not only help communities but also enhance personal well-being. Engaging anecdotes connect poker strategies to generosity, making the conversation both insightful and entertaining.