Our approach to maximising your impact

What do we mean by high impact and why does it matter?

‘Impact’ is a term frequently used but inconsistently defined. Non-profits interpret and measure impact in various ways, lacking common metrics for comparison. However, it is important to explain how Impactful Giving defines impact—for transparency, yes. But also to understand how it is measured if we want to ensure that we are able to do the greatest good possible with the resources. 

For Impactful Giving, a high-impact solution is one that is proven to be successful, based on evidence, and that can save or improve the highest number of lives per rupee—in other words, is cost-effective. 

How vastly do the impact of various solutions differ?

For those looking to give, the world presents countless problems and an array of solutions to support. For example, if one wants to focus on improving public health, there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of programs one might get behind, including boosting vaccinations, providing malaria bed nets, supporting people with non-communicable diseases, fighting malnutrition by distributing nutrients, and many more. 

Are these interventions all having similarly powerful effects or improving public health at the same rate? Is the impact of these interventions the same? 

In short: it’s not. 

A 2013 study examining global health interventions, using World Bank data, analysed 100 interventions in developing countries, including anti-malarial bed nets, vaccines, and various surgeries. The goal was to determine (as one possible metric) the years of healthy life these interventions produced per dollar invested. 

The findings were striking. The most cost-effective interventions were about 50 times more effective than the median, 23 times more effective than the average, and nearly 10,000 times more impactful than the least effective options. 

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The data also revealed a heavy-tailed distribution, aligning with the 80-20 rule (Pareto Principle)—i.e., implementing just the top 20% of interventions would do about 80% as much good as implementing all of them. 

Even accounting for potential measurement imperfections and with acknowledgement of the challenges of such analysis, the increased impact of choosing evidence-based interventions is conservatively estimated to be at least tenfold. 

It is surprising for most people to learn that solutions to the same problem can have drastically different success rates—sometimes by a factor of 10 to 100. By giving strategically to the most impactful solutions, you can make a much larger difference with your gifts.

Our goal at Impactful Giving is to help you achieve the greatest good possible by recommending programs which can save or improve the highest number of lives per rupee.