Our Approach
The science of impactful giving
We evaluate and compare giving opportunities using common questions, and common units where they exist, so that donors can give with confidence. India’s hardest problemsProblem. A specific issue within a cause area that reduces the well-being of a target population. aren’t hard in the same way: some have proven answers that need funding and scale, others have no playbook yet.
We match our method to the problem
01 / Complicated problems
Scaling what works
When the evidence is clear, the work is getting money to it. For challenges with established solutionsSolution. An approach or intervention: the general word when the rung does not matter. in sight, we conduct deep diligence to identify the most promising proven interventionsIntervention. A specific mechanism for change., and help donors provide the capital they need to scale.
02 / Complex problems
Pioneering new solutions
When answers are elusive, the work is finding them. For neglected, high-uncertainty challenges, we help donors make calculated bets that validate promising ideas, build nascent fields, and de-risk them for future funding.
How the work runs
Prioritising problems
Within each causeCause. A broad area of concern to donors. we compare problems on scale, neglect and tractability, quantified where the data allow, and weighed across worldviews rather than just our own. The output is a thesis per cause: where the leverage sits and where the next rupee goes furthest.
Read the essayIdentifying solutions
For each problem we map the candidate solutions and compare them on common questions: evidence quality, the causal chain and its weakest link, and cost per unit of outcome. Where the evidence is thin we make the uncertainty explicit instead of hiding it.
Read the essayMaximising impact
Research becomes a strategy, a portfolio and a set of grants: sized to the donor and structured through the right vehicle. This is where the analysis meets your giving.
Read the essayThe vocabulary this method uses: the research taxonomy.
Where this is applied
The same method runs through everything we do: one-to-one advisory for donors giving at scale, and funding circles where a group backs one problem together.