$43000

GiveDirectly "gives cash directly to people living in poverty."
They measure their impact in peer-reviewed randomized control trials. One of their studies claims an impact per $1000 transferred of: $270 increase in earnings, $430 increase in assets, $330 increase in annual nutrition spend, 0% effect on alcohol or tobacco spend.

See summaries and links to their papers here.

I have not studied their methodology directly. The key (anec)data that drive my donations are excerpts from interviews with transfer recipients. They describe using the money for things like water-resistant roofing, schooling for children, and building wells. 

Here I optimize jointly for the probability that my donation improves some specific person's lives and the expected value of the magnitude of improvement.

$23000

"Ought is a research lab that develops mechanisms for delegating open-ended thinking to advanced machine learning systems. We study this delegation problem using experiments with human participants."

Here is a technical summary of their latest batch of experiments. 

I read their published research program in depth, and I find the directions promising.

I aim to eventually transition to direct technical work on problems that require theoretical contributions from individuals thinking deeply for a long time. With this work I'm aiming to support the efforts of agents that are similar to future-me. 

$16000

"BEAM asks itself, 'what do most scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and programmers do growing up?' and then, 'how can we bring those same opportunities to underserved students?' 

BEAM then creates a series of experiences for students in grades 6-12: a 6th grade summer program in Los Angeles and New York City; a 7th grade residential summer program on college campuses; advising from 8th-12th grade to help students attend great high schools, pass algebra in 8th grade, access other enrichment programs, and ultimately go to a great college.  Students declaring STEM majors even get support during college.  Through our work, BEAM helps to diversify other enrichment programs and gives students a realistic chance at the career of their dreams."

I worked at BEAM as a counselor in their residential summer program for 7th graders.  

I consider this in part a "local" donation to people that live near me (the students in general) and people that I know personally (students I've worked with and staffpeople that are my close friends).

$7000

"Canada/USA Mathcamp is an intensive 5-week-long summer program for mathematically talented high school students, designed to expose these students to the beauty of advanced mathematical ideas and to new ways of thinking.

More than just a summer camp, Mathcamp is a vibrant community, made up of a wide variety of people who share a common love of learning and passion for mathematics."

$5000