Looking back on several decades of impact evaluations, we can see that good intentions and passion alone aren't enough. Rather, we need a strategic approach that makes use of data where it is available, or seeks to gather data where it is not. It's not that we should only focus on already proven interventions; rather, we should focus on implementing the best interventions we know given the evidence, or searching for new interventions that might be effective and testing them out.
Our solution is our framework for assessing causes, which helps you to evaluate which areas to focus on. We also think it's important to stay flexible about which causes to support, because new information is always coming to light about the most effective interventions.
Focusing on the right cause could boost your impact more than ten times, enabling you to achieve more in a few years than you might normally be able to achieve in a lifetime.