Instructions for GiveWell Advance Donation

The GiveWell Advance Donation is a way of committing funds to GiveWell's future recommended charities.

You donate to a fund held by GiveWell through the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program. Your donation is tax deductible for the year in which you make it; you will receive a receipt from the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program.
Funds will be held in a money market pool.
When GiveWell completes its next round of research and recommendations (research agenda here), we will present our top charities along with the pros and cons of each.
You will indicate your preferred charity from this set. GiveWell will recommend a grant to this charity from the fund you gave to before (for example, if you donated $1000, GiveWell will recommend a grant of $1000, adjusted for investment returns and fees in the intervening time).
If GiveWell does not produce a report with at least five top-rated charities by June 2009, you may indicate any public charity and GiveWell will recommend a grant to it.
Legal control of the funds belongs to the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program. Authority to recommend grants belongs to the Chairman and Treasurer of GiveWell's Board of Directors. GiveWell will recommend a grant based on your preference.

The minimum size for a GiveWell Advance Donation is $1,000.

Your donation will not be under GiveWell's legal control at any point.
Your donation can be regranted only to another public charity (not including GiveWell / The Clear Fund).
You will be able to indicate your preferred charity (from GiveWell's list of top charities), rather than relying only on GiveWell to choose the recipient.

Pros:

You get your tax deduction in the year you make the donation. This means you can get a tax deduction in 2008 while holding out for the recommendations we make in 2009.
You help GiveWell demonstrate demand for our research. Showing this demand is necessary in order to continue (and expand) our project, as well as to show charities that sharing information is worth their while.

Cons:

You are committing to give to one of GiveWell's top-rated charities. Funds will be legally controlled by the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program. GiveWell will recommend a grant based on your preference, but only to a top-rated charity.
Fees. Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program charges a total of 0.81% per year on assets held on the fund (0.57% administrative fees and 0.24% for the Money Market pool in which assets are held - details here). So over the 6 months between your donation and the point where our recommendations become available, approximately 41 cents of every $100 you donate will go to fees.
Paperwork and minimums. See directly below.

GiveWell Advance Donations must be at least $1,000 in size.

Fill out the Additional Gift Agreement Form, linked here (PDF).
- Section 1: enter Program Account Number 881598 and "GiveWell" for the name of the program account.
- Section 2: Check the "Individuals" box and fill out your contact information immediately below.
- Section 3: Select "Money Market Pool" on the upper right.
- Section 4: Check the "Check" box and enter the amount directly to the right.
- Section 5: Read and sign the statement.
- Ignore sections 6 and 7. The form should be sent to GiveWell, as detailed below.
Make our a check to the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program and put "GiveWell" in the memo.
Send the check and the form to our mailing address: 320 7th Avenue #232 / Brooklyn, NY 11215. (If your donation is $5,000 or more you may send it directly to Vanguard. If it is between $1,000 and $5,000, GiveWell needs to package it with other donations in order to meet Vanguard's minimum. GiveWell Advance Donations must be at least $1,000.)
GiveWell will package your check with other donors' checks to meet the $5,000 minimum-donation requirement and mail the checks to Vanguard, which will receipt you for your donation. As long as your check is dated in 2008, the donation is deductible for 2008.
GiveWell will keep you updated on the status of our research, and when we have produced our recommendations we will ask your preferred charity.

The Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program's policies and guidelines are available here (PDF).