The New York Times

NEW YORK, NY, Dec. 20, 2007 — Two young hedge fund veterans are shaking up the philanthropic world, according to an article by Stephanie Strom, who covers charities for The New York Times.

"Holden Karnofsky and Elie Hassenfeld made six figure incomes deciding which companies to invest in," Ms. Strom writes. "Now they are doing the same thing with charities for a lot less money."

The two 26-year-olds have founded GiveWell, which studies charities and ranks them for their effectiveness. In their first two analyses, they studied and rated organizations working on job training for disadvantaged adults in the New York City area, and charities devoted to saving lives in Africa.

GiveWell named PSI as the top-ranked non-profit organization in the U.S., finding that PSI saves a life for every $250-$1,000 it spends, “roughly 3-4 times as good as other strong charities.”

Says GiveWell: “PSI has the most strategic, systematic, well-documented approach of any of our finalists, and its programs are among the most cost-effective. We recommend it above the others.”

“PSI simultaneously runs programs that appear as cost-effective and well-monitored as anyone else's, and impresses us most as an organization - in terms of its rigorous self-documentation, commitment to transparency, and coherent overall strategy.”

“We estimate that it costs PSI $150-$2,000 to prevent a case of HIV/AIDS and $500-$2,500 to prevent a death from malaria; across the organization, we estimate that it costs PSI about $250-$1,000 to save a life. These estimates do not include other benefits of PSI's activities, such as preventing unwanted pregnancies and reducing non-fatal malaria infections.”

Read Ms. Strom's article.