# Investing in Information for Greater Future Impact

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/givewell-conversations-7260294/investing-in-information-for-greater-future-impact
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/givewell-conversations-7260294/investing-in-information-for-greater-future-impact.md
Podcast: [GiveWell Conversations](https://stenobird.com/podcast/givewell-conversations-7260294)
Published: 2026-03-19T21:36:14+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/a823d8c1
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/a823d8c1/a011daf7.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/givewell-conversations-7260294/episodes/investing-in-information-for-greater-future-impact
Duration seconds: 2075

## Resource

GiveWell’s primary focus has always been researching, identifying, and directing donations to programs we believe will do the most good. When GiveWell first started, we approached this by looking for organizations that were already delivering highly cost-effective, evidence-backed programs and directing funding to those programs. Over time, we were able to focus further upstream by first identifying highly cost-effective programs and then supporting the development of organizations to deliver them. We’ve been able to take an even more expansive view as our research team doubled in size over the last several years. In addition to our core grantmaking, we’re now funding an increased number of grants designed to provide information that we think will help us direct more funding to highly cost-effective programs in the future. This includes things like generating research about program effectiveness, scoping new promising programs, and piloting program variations. GiveWell has long made some grants aimed at improving our knowledge base, but this work has now grown substantially and become more systematic. In 2025, GiveWell made 18 grants, totaling approximately $39 million, that were aimed specifically at getting more information to improve future funding decisions. In our latest podcast episode, GiveWell CEO and co-founder Elie Hassenfeld speaks with Program Director Julie Faller about these “value of information” grants. Elie and Julie discuss: Testing variations on cash transfers to improve cost-effectiveness: Following an initial scoping grant, GiveWell recently funded GiveDirectly to pilot three program variations aimed at increasing the economic impact of its flagship program, which provides unconditional cash transfers to very poor households. Each pilot tests a dif…

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## Transcript

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