Happier Lives Institute Reveals 2024 Charity Recommendations to Maximize Happiness Impact

As the year comes to a close, many people face the challenge of selecting charities that will make the most meaningful difference. The Happier Lives Institute (HLI) addresses this dilemma by conducting extensive research to identify organizations that deliver the greatest happiness per pound donated and publishing annual recommendations for donors.

For 2024, HLI has chosen StrongMinds and Friendship Bench, two organizations transforming mental health care in the Global South through volunteer-led group therapy, offering vital support in underserved communities.

“These are the most impactful, strongly evidence-based charities we’ve identified so far,” says Dr. Michael Plant, Founder and Director of HLI.

“We find they are about 5 times more cost-effective, per pound, at improving wellbeing than cash transfers to families living in extreme poverty.”

“We all know today that mental health is a serious problem. But it wasn’t until we started comparing charities by their impact on happiness that we concluded that tackling mental health might be the best way we can help others through our giving”.

In addition to its top charities, HLI has identified several promising charities addressing urgent global challenges, including:

• Pure Earth: Reducing lead poisoning, a major and neglected health crisis.
• Taimaka: Treating child malnutrition with therapeutic foods and medical care.
• Reach Up: Supporting parenting education to improve child wellbeing.
• NEPI: Reducing youth crime through cash and therapy programs.

Promising charities generally have weaker evidence. They are ‘higher risk, possibly higher-rewards’ options.

A New Approach to Measuring Impact: WELLBYs

HLI uses a new, standardised metric called Wellbeing Life-Years (WELLBYs) to evaluate charity impact. WELLBYs measure changes in self-reported life satisfaction – e.g., “How satisfied are you with your life on a scale of 0-10?” – to quantify improvements in happiness. The WELLBY method was approved by the UK Treasury in 2021 as a way to evaluate policies beyond their impact on gross domestic product (GDP).

HLI estimates that a £20 donation to StrongMinds creates 1 WELLBY—the equivalent of increasing one person’s life satisfaction by one point for an entire year. By comparison, 2022 Treasury guidance valued 1 WELLBY at £13,000, indicating this charity is 650 times more cost-effective than UK Government spending.

Give the Gift of Happiness

Rather than focusing on material gifts this holiday season, HLI encourages donors to create meaningful change by supporting charities that improve global wellbeing.