How to SearchScene's charity counters work?

This is an article about SearchScene's charity counters, i.e. the number of trees planted, the number of polio vaccinations given, etc. If you're looking for an explanation of how the search counter works, then check out this article instead.

Trees planted

The number of trees planted is calculated by our tree-planting partner, Eden Reforestation Projects. Trees are planted in Ethiopia, Madagascar, Nepal, Haiti, Indonesia, Mozambique and Kenya, where the cost of planting is less, giving us more trees for less money. Planting trees also helps pay the wages of local farmers, helping to lift them and their families out of extreme poverty. Trees cost roughly 10c (USD) per tree. Our tree planting numbers are calculated by Eden Reforestation Projects based on our donations and we report them on our charitable donations page, along with proof of donations.

Other charity counters

All other charity counters are equivalent to our donation amounts and are representative of how our donations might have been spent, according to data provided on the charities' websites. So, for instance, a donation amount equivalent to 1,000 polio vaccines to UNICEF might instead have been spent on 232 measels vaccines or 543 tetanus vaccines, etc., or any combination of these. Similarly, a donation amount equivalent to 100 malaria treatments to UNHCR might instead have been spent on 1,855 mosquito nets, 49 emergency rescue kits, 746 jerry cans, etc.

We do not dictate to charities how they should spend our donations. Allowing our supported charities to spend our donations as they see fit, allows them to allocate funds to where they are needed most at any given time.

Presenting our donations as representative values of trees planted, water pumps bought, vaccinations given, etc., is a much more meaningful way of displaying the data than to simply state how much we donated in monetary terms. This way of displaying the data shows its impact on the ground and is much more emotive, encouraging more people to use SearchScene. If you want to see how much we donated in monetary terms, check out our donation receipts (just scroll down and click on the link "See proof of donations" below any set of donations).