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Leave a legacy for Global Health & Poverty
Proven programs like malaria prevention and vitamin A supplements save a life for a few thousand dollars, among the most cost-effective giving ever measured.
Why it matters
Malaria killed an estimated 610,000 people in 2024. Ninety-five percent of those deaths were in Africa, where about three in four were children under five. Bed nets and seasonal preventive medicine are cheap and proven.
The independent evaluator GiveWell estimates that its four top charities save a life for roughly $3,500 to $5,500 in donations. Few uses of money anywhere can be measured that precisely.
Sources:
Where an extra dollar goes furthest
These are the kinds of programs our research looks at first in this cause. With a research-guided gift, specific organizations are chosen when your gift arrives, so it can go to what works best then.
Malaria prevention
Insecticide-treated bed nets and seasonal preventive medicine for young children.
Vitamin A and vaccines
Low-cost supplements and small incentives that raise childhood vaccination rates.
Cash transfers
Direct payments to families in extreme poverty, who decide what they need most.
Health systems research
Finding the next program that can be delivered at scale for pennies per person.
Three ways to give to global health
Recommended
Research-guided gift
Your will dedicates the gift to global health and asks your executor to choose the most effective organizations working on it when the time comes, guided by published research.
A charity you name
Leave your gift to a specific organization you already know and trust.
Your own named fund
Start a fund in your name or a loved one's that gives to global health every year. How it works
Sample wording for your will
Our builder fills this in for you. If you already have a will, share this wording with your attorney.
I give ____ percent (____%) of my residuary estate to one or more charitable organizations described in Sections 170(c) and 2055(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, selected by my Executor, to be used for improving health and reducing extreme poverty, especially in low-income countries. I ask that my Executor consider the research and recommendations published by MyLastWill.org at the time of my death.
Sample language for discussion with your attorney. Not legal advice.
Questions about giving to global health
Can a bequest really save lives?
Yes. Evaluators estimate that the most effective global health charities save a life for a few thousand dollars, so even a modest bequest can save several. With the research-guided option, your will asks your executor to choose programs with strong evidence and transparent costs.
Why give abroad when there is need at home?
You don't have to choose. Many people split their legacy between local and global causes. We include this option because the cost of saving a life is far lower in low-income countries, so each dollar goes further.
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