Our approach

Doing more good with less

Resources are limited and needs are great, so ACSI asks one question of every choice we make: how do we do the most good with what we have? Our approach draws on the principles of effective altruism a practical, evidence-based way of deciding where time and money help the most people.

Four principles that guide us

What this means for ACSI

Scope — reach and depth matter

We count how many people benefit and how deeply, and favour work that helps more people more.

Fairness — those most in need come first

We target by need and burden, using data, rather than by where we are most familiar.

Honest learning — find out, not prove

We monitor to learn what works, and we share what we learn, including what did not work.

Clear choices — every shilling counts

A shilling spent on one thing cannot be spent on another, so we compare options and say what we will not do.

How we choose where to work

Three simple questions, asked before every new programme

Before starting new joint programmes, our members score priority problems on three simple questions.

Importance

How much good would solving this problem do?

Neglectedness

How little is already being done about it?

Tractability

How much would extra resources actually solve?

The three scores are multiplied, so a problem that is huge but has no workable solution does not outrank one where progress is realistic. We then ask whether ACSI members are well placed to act present, trusted and with a way to deliver. The screen guides our discussion; communities and members still decide.

How we show value

Making the cost of every result visible

Every result paired with its cost

For example, the cost per child immunised or per young person supported into work.

Honest comparisons

We ask what would have happened without us, and we do not claim credit for change that was already happening.

Budgets in layers

A secure base that delivers a complete result, plus ready-to-fund extensions that partners can support when resources allow.

Our guardrails

Numbers guide us but never replace people

We keep community voice at the centre, work through government systems wherever possible, value hard-to-measure work such as advocacy and stigma reduction, and treat rights and equity as non-negotiable.