21
Humanitarian

Save the Children USA

Improving children's lives through education, health, and emergency response worldwide

GiveWise Score
83
Strong
% to Programs
80%
Transparency
Impact Evidence
Strong
Admin Cost
9¢/$1

Our editorial assessment

Save the Children is one of the world's oldest and largest child-focused NGOs, with a reach that few organisations can match. Their programming spans emergency response, early childhood education, nutrition, and child protection across 100+ countries. The organisation's scale is both a strength and a complexity: their programme spending ratio of 80% is lower than some peers, reflecting the administrative costs of operating in fragile and conflict-affected settings. However, their emergency response capability — the ability to deploy immediately in crises from earthquakes to refugee emergencies — provides a critical service that smaller, more efficient organisations cannot replicate.

The problem they're solving

Children are disproportionately affected by every humanitarian crisis. Save the Children's century-long track record and global presence ensure that child-focused programming is delivered in the world's most challenging environments, from active conflict zones to remote rural communities.

About Save the Children USA

Save the Children works in 100+ countries, reaching 200M+ children with education, healthcare, and emergency response.

Where your dollar goes

$1 Donated →
80¢ Programs
11¢
ProgramsAdminFundraising

Third-party ratings

Charity Navigator 4-Star200M+ Children Reached

How this score was produced

The GiveWise score is our own editorial assessment, produced with a weighted rubric covering program spending, transparency and governance, evidence of impact, cost-effectiveness, and leadership. It draws on publicly available reports from independent evaluators such as GiveWell, Charity Navigator, and CharityWatch, but it is not a rating issued or endorsed by any of those organisations. Read the full methodology →

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