About GiveWell UK (original) (raw)

GiveWell UK is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) and the official UK partner of GiveWell, a US 501(c)(3) organization that identifies outstanding giving opportunities by conducting in-depth research to determine how effectively given programs can save and improve lives per dollar spent. GiveWell UK is dedicated to helping donors in the United Kingdom find and support these outstanding giving opportunities through tax deductible donations.

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Donating to GiveWell UK

You can make a donation to GiveWell UK in the following ways:

  1. Through our donation processing partner Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) via:
    • Credit/debit card (recurring or one-time)
    • PayPal
    • CAF account
  2. Bank/wire transfer
  3. Stock or securities

See below for more details about each donation method. We are not able to accept physical cheques at this time.

Whatever donation method you choose, we encourage you to make your donation plans early if you need to meet a deadline for tax purposes. If you have other questions about donating, please review our FAQ here or contact us at UKdonations@givewell.org.

GiveWell UK is a UK Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) with registered charity number #1196392. Eligible UK taxpayers are able to take tax deductions for donations to GiveWell UK to the extent permitted by UK tax laws. GiveWell UK can claim Gift Aid for eligible donations. Please note that donations to GiveWell UK are irrevocable and donor requests to grant donations to our recommended charities are subject to our approval (more details on GiveWell UK's approval process here).

Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)

You can make a donation through CAF via credit card, PayPal, or a CAF account:

Please note that donations through CAF are capped at £9,999. CAF charges GiveWell UK a fee of 4.0% of your total donation (including Gift Aid) for one-time donations, and 2% of your gross donation for recurring donations. As of July 1, 2024, there is a minimum charge of 20p per recurring donation, and there is no longer a cap on fees for recurring donations. To maximize the impact of your gift to GiveWell UK, we suggest using CAF for donations of £1,000 or less, and using a wire transfer for larger amounts.

CAF may contact you to verify your identity, source of wealth, and source of funds in order to comply with the UK Money Laundering Regulations. More information on this screening can be found in the GiveWell UK FAQ page.

Bank wire/transfer

You can make a donation via wire transfer directly to GiveWell UK by filling out this form and sending a wire to the account listed below. Doing so will:

Donations received without an accompanying donation form submission or identifying information in the wire memo will be treated as anonymous donations to our All Grants Fund, which we will use to support our full range of grantmaking. After completing this form, please use GiveWell’s bank account information below to complete your transfer:

UK Wire Account Information:
Account: 23181745
Sort Code: 502116
IBAN: GB48NWBK50211623181745
BIC: NWBKGB2L
Branch address: PO Box 281, 156 Fleet Street, London, EC4A 2DX

Please note that donations to GiveWell are irrevocable in most cases and donor requests to grant donations to our recommended charities are subject to the GiveWell UK trustees’ approval (more details on our approval process here). If you have any questions about how to donate via wire transfer, please email us at ukdonations@givewell.org before making your donation.

We do not charge fees for donations made by wire transfer; however, due to administrative costs, we recommend only using wire transfer for donations of £1,000 or more.

Stock/securities or the proceeds of stock/securities

Due to the fees and administrative requirements for processing donations of stock, we ask that donors donate stock only if the value of the stock at the time of transfer is estimated at £10,000 or more. If you are interested in donating stocks or securities, please complete our UK securities donation form.

We understand it is not always possible to transfer shares from a UK brokerage account to another brokerage account that’s not in the same name. We therefore support an alternative workflow in which shares can be signed over to GiveWell UK via a Gift of Shares letter. The donor can then sell the shares in their brokerage account on GiveWell’s behalf and transfer the proceeds to GiveWell. We would be happy to explain further details to donors who would find this workflow useful for their situation.

List of trustees

Official records

UK government approvals

Policies and governing documents