We fund only organisations that demonstrably do the best work in their field. Which ones those are emerges only from studies, cost calculations, independent assessments and a comparison across many organisations. That work is done by established research organisations that follow their field for years, publish their assessments and revisit them regularly.
There is a second reason: how much an additional donation achieves also depends on how much money already reaches an organisation. When an effective organisation receives more after a wave of attention than it can put to good use, the next euro does more elsewhere — and a largely solved problem needs none at all. Only someone watching a field continuously sees that.
So we do not pick the organisations ourselves: research teams that follow a field full time are far better equipped for that. For each of the five topics the fund pays into, we follow the research that is strongest in that field.
At the end of the year, our donors decide which of these assessed organisations receives their share of the payout. Those who would rather not choose have their share go to our default recommendation.