Hundreds of ideasresearched, thousands of applications considered, and a two-month intensiveIncubation Programculminated in five new charities being founded. Each of these charities has the potential to have a large impact on the world and to become one of the most cost-effective in their field.
We’re delighted to announce the five new charities who have just launched through our 2020 Incubation Program:
Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP) - advocating for lead paint regulation to reduce lead poisoning and improve the health, well-being, and potential of children worldwide.
Animal Ask - maximizing farmed animal asks through dedicated research.
Family Empowerment Media (FEM) - enabling informed family planning and birth spacing decisions through clear, compelling, and accurate radio-based communication.
Giving Green - directing dollars towards evidence-backed projects that combat the climate crisis.
Canopie - bridging the mental health care gap for pre- and postpartum women through cost-effective, scalable, and evidence-based solutions.
LEAD EXPOSURE ELIMINATION PROJECT (LEEP)
Co-founders:Lucia Coulter, Jack Rafferty
Website:leadelimination.org
Contact:contact@leadelimination.org
CE Incubation Grant:$60,000
Room for more funding:$25,000
Donation page:leadelimination.org/donate/
Description of the intervention:
LEEP advocates for lead paint regulation to reduce lead poisoning and improve the health, well-being, and potential of children worldwide.
Background of the intervention:
One in three children has dangerous levels of lead in their bloodstream. This lead acts as a powerful toxin that causes irreversible harm to their brains and vital organs. It results in reduced intelligence, lower educational attainment, behavioral disorders, increased tendencies for violent crime, cardiovascular disease, and reduced lifetime earnings.
The impact on cognitive developmentis responsible for an estimated$1 trillion of income loss per yearin LMICs alone, while thehealth effects cause 1 million deathsand22 million DALYs per year, accounting for 1% of the global burden of disease. A primary cause of lead exposure is lead paint, which is widespread and unregulated in over 100 countries.
LEEP advocates for regulation of lead paint in countries with large and growing burdens of lead poisoning from paint, where no-one else is working on the issue. Their approach is to identify these countries, create incentives through awareness, and support governments to develop and introduce lead paint laws.
For more details on LEEP, read theirintroductory poston the EA forum. To hear about their progress,sign up for their newsletter.
Near-term plans:
LEEP’s first priority is country selection to ensure they target tractable, high-burden, and neglected countries. They have so far identified Malawi as their most promising country on this basis. Over the next two months, LEEP will be testing the levels of lead in new paints on the market in Malawi and building relationships with stakeholders and decision-makers. Depending on findings and progress from this stage, they will either pilot their advocacy campaign in Malawi to introduce lead paint regulation, or pivot to another promising country.
ANIMAL ASK
Co-founders:George Bridgwater, Amy Odene
Website:www.animalask.org
Contact:info@animalask.org
CE Incubation Grant:$100,000
Room for more funding:In early 2021 when we have evaluated our organizational worth to the movement, we may seek additional funding.
Description of the intervention:
Animal Ask was founded with the express aim to assist animal advocacy organizations in their efforts to reduce farmed animal suffering by providing research to help optimize and prioritize futureasks.
Background of the intervention:
Billions of animals suffer on factory farms every year. The animal advocacy movement has so far done great work to help alleviate animal suffering, building up expertise in both public and corporate campaigns and spending a significant amount of resources on these methods. The foundation of these campaigns is what is referred to as anask. This is thespecific request for industry, food companies, or government to improve the welfare of animals in their care.These animal welfare asks are implemented over a set period of time and if successful, can change the lives of millions of animals.
There are a huge number of potential asks we could make with a large range in the effect on animal welfare, price increase, and probability of success.
There is currently limited capacity and resources for this specialized work. Therefore, Animal Ask will be uniquely placed as the only research organization entirely committed to the comparison and formation of impactful farmed animal asks.
Charity Entrepreneurship estimates that the difference in value between the best and worst ask, already being reasonably considered, could be as great as three times as much impact. If Animal Ask’s research supports organizations to determine this optimal ask they would have a huge counterfactual impact.
Near-term plans:
Animal Ask’s short-term focus is to establish high-priority relationships with mission-aligned organizations, supporting them with their current strategic agendas and priorities and conducting research to assist with their most pressing considerations.
They are currently in their pilot phase and are now focusing on developing proof of concept for the organization. They are looking to support an organization in their decision-making considerations for an upcoming ask. This will help to increase the impact of the ask that is ultimately used while simultaneously helping test their model. They will use the findings to iterate on their research process and integrate any feedback from the organization into their future plans. Any organization wishing to utilize this additional research resource should get in touch for more information.
They are also currently looking for advisory board members to support them in their mission and would welcome individuals with an interest in their work to get in touch.
They will publicly launch their charity in November, and would love you to engage with their work and share their various platforms amongst your networks to ensure that Animal Ask has the greatest overall impact for animals.
FAMILY EMPOWERMENT MEDIA (FEM)
Co-founders:Ken Scheffler, Anna Christina Thorsheim
Website:familyempowermentmedia.org
Contact:contact form or contact@familyempowermentmedia.org
CE Incubation Grant:$75,000
Room for more funding: $35,000
Donation page:https://www.familyempowermentmedia.org/donate
Short description of intervention:
Family Empowerment Media (FEM) is an evidence-based nonprofit that aims to enable informed family planning and birth spacing decisions through clear, compelling, and accurate radio-based communication. FEM will produce and distribute public service announcements and interactive programs to increase awareness and knowledge of modern forms of contraception.
Landscape:
Currently, 270 million sexually active women want to avoid pregnancies but are not using contraception. The reason is often not lack of availability of contraceptives. Rather, lack of awareness and misplaced fears about side effects are frequently the main barriers.
In countries with developing health systems, unintended pregnancies can have severe health consequences. Unintended pregnancies lead to an estimated 96 thousand deaths per year due to unsafe abortions and other complications. Obstetric fistula, anemia, and depression are just a few of the other health burdens resulting from unintended pregnancies. On the other hand, access to contraception has been shown to improve maternal health and employment prospects, and help girls and women stay in school longer.
Radio can be an especially powerful tool in disseminating information about family planning. In many countries, radio is the most widely trusted and consumed form of media, reaching communities with high need. Studies have demonstrated that information provided through radio campaigns can be highly cost-effective in helping families realize their family planning intentions.
Near term plans:
FEM has started to launch in Nigeria, one of the most dangerous countries in the world to give birth. Over the next few months, FEM will hire a local Research and Communications Manager, conduct formative research, and establish partnerships with a media production agency and radio stations. By August 2021, FEM will have completed a one-week proof of concept with one radio station and a three-month pilot with two radio stations, reaching hundreds of thousands of individuals and couples with our messages.
GIVING GREEN
Co-founders: Dan Stein, Nicholas Parker
Website:idinsight.org/givinggreen
Contact:nicholas.parker@idinsight.org
CE Incubation Grant:$60,000
Room for more funding: Currently looking to fundraise $1 million over the next 12 months.
Donations: contact Nicholas Parker atnicholas.parker@idinsight.org
Description of the intervention:
Giving Greenis a new initiative atIDinsightincubated by Charity Entrepreneurship that aims to direct dollars towards evidence-backed projects that combat the climate crisis.
Background of the intervention:
We are in a climate crisis. Public and private actors are investing billions of dollars in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Unfortunately, the evidence on whether these projects are effective is limited, unclear, or inaccessible. Millions of people around the world want to fight climate change, but they do not know where to start. Who should they donate to? Where should they volunteer? What can they realistically do to fight climate change?
Giving Green wants to answer these questions. The organization is producing an actionable and dynamically updated set of recommendations for how to support projects that are demonstrably reducing atmospheric GHG. Their product is a public good that is uniquely scientific, transparent, and independent. Their site launched late last year and is very much in beta/proof of concept mode but it has been generating excitement with their recommendations being picked up byVoxand theNew York Times. Follow their founders on Twitter to see recommendations as they come out in real time:@DanStein_econand@nickwolfparker.
Near-term plans:
Giving Green will be launching a new website with much more research and new recommendations in November. They are currently focused on several research workstreams and doing due diligence on some of their likely recommendations.
CANOPIE
Co-founders: Ann Don Bosco, Anne Wanlund
Website:www.canopie.org
Contact:awanlund@canopie.org
CE Incubation Grant:$50,000
Room for more funding:$76,000
Donations:https://give.cornerstone.cc/canopie
Description of the intervention:
Meeting a highly neglected and widespread gap within the global burden of disease, Canopie is addressing mental health for pre- and postpartum women through guided cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Guided CBT is cost-effective, scalable, and evidence-based. We are developing and testing a program to treat pregnancy-related mental health issues in the United States and plan to scale to a low or middle income country in 2022.
Background of the intervention:
Combined, depression and anxiety are the largest contributor to the global burden of disease. Pregnancy-related mood disorders are extremely common, affecting up to 35 million new mothers globally every year, yet most cases go undiagnosed and untreated. Anxiety and depression have long-term consequences for mothers, who frequently go on to experience chronic depression. Children of untreated mothers are more likely to have behavioral issues, lower educational attainment, and are at greater risk of malnutrition.
In the U.S., most health-care providers feel ill-equipped to address mental health issues in their patients. There are very few evidence-based, scalable solutions that exist as resources for providers to screen, care for, and refer patients – particularly new mothers. Yet, guided CBT can be delivered in a way that does not burden existing providers, and is as effective as face-to-face treatment.
We will be integrating guided CBT with existing health services to ensure women have access to critical support.
Near-term plans:
By December 2020, we plan to test our solution through a partner that serves at-risk postpartum women. To this end, we have been working with medical doctors and clinical psychologists to design our program, which we plan to finalize by mid-November 2020.
The early stages of a nonprofit is a crucial time for its future success. Please consider whether you can give these charities support through your advice, time, or donations.