
Collaborative Charity - zeedotme
http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2009/06/collaborative-charity.html
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BvS
Evaluating charities can be very tough and many people tend to be blinded by
nice pictures or compelling but simplifying stories (eg Kivas effect on the
poor is far less straight forward than it sounds after spending 5 minutes on
their website).

After working in development aid for a couple of years I'm very reluctant when
it comes to having a vote on what is the best charity. Sounds to me a little
like voting on the most efficient code by the general public...

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paul
That's why I'm looking for commentary from knowledgeable people, not just
simple vote counts (which reflect enthusiasm, but not effectiveness).

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colins_pride
I just did a totally typical thing (for me): wrote half of this, deleted it
because I thought it sucked, went away for a while. But this time it really
stayed inside me, so here it is.

The problem is not a financial one. Money is not the constraint. There are
people with access to (for our purposes) unlimited sums, with good intentions,
and a good track record at getting difficult things done, who have not made a
meaningful dent in the problem.

The answer must lie in an approach nobody tries, which immediately eliminates
throwing money at problems. It also means that it doesn't make sense to give
money to an existing organization.

The problem is inherently informational. How many thousands of small villages
have wells, but no access to clean water because some small, inexpensive part
is broken? I've travelled extensively in the third world, and this is the
situation in all too many places. The key is in knowing what is needed where,
and what equipment and knowledge is required to redress the problem.

The right answer is some sort of mega-clearinghouse of such information;
matching people who know what is needed where with people who are headed in
that direction and can bring equipment and acquire the knowledge required to
successfully deploy the equipment before they go.

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paul
Yes, that's roughly my thinking. Everyone has some part of the puzzle, but
nobody has been able to put it together. My goal is to find a way to combine
all the parts of the puzzle.

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jackchristopher
Thanks Paul.

I added the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation). Vote here:
[http://moderator.appspot.com/#15/e=90c6a&t=90c6b](http://moderator.appspot.com/#15/e=90c6a&t=90c6b)

