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PhilGoetz comments on So you say you're an altruist... - Less Wrong
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I hold the "wound-healing" theory of charity, which I by coincidence made up earlier today.
Suppose you have a nasty wound on your leg. Suppose your body isn't very smart, and you have to direct the platelets yourself to begin healing it. Judging from how we go about international aid, most people would direct them to the center of the wound. That wouldn't work. The platelets would die and shed, and the wound would never heal.
You heal a wound from the outside in. You begin healing the parts that just border the healthy, solid parts, and gradually work your way to the center.
Likewise, if you want to help people, you shouldn't throw money into the most unstable, unproductive, screwed-up part of the world. You should find a population that is barely self-sufficient, and help them be more self-sufficient.
You throw money where it makes the biggest difference. This is not going to be the neediest person in the world, but I'm not sure exactly how bad they'll be.
Judge the charities on a case-by-case basis, and see what works best. Once you do that, you will spot patterns, and you can work from there. Don't assume it works the same as healing a wound.
I dont know much about charity, but I dont contest that this was made up in a day.
"Never fix the worst problem first, because thats the way skin heals"
You can't fix the worse problem first. You'll get nowhere if you look at this as a collection of individual problems. You won't find a country that has a high standard of living, high employment, and a good educational system, but can't get mosquito nets for their beds.
You can't even begin to think about the issue unless you understand some complex-system domain, preferably economics or ecology. As a crude analogy, an economy is like the framework of a large and complicated tent. If the tent has fallen, you can't pick up individual pieces and put them back in place. It will fall down again as soon as you let go.
Trying to "fix the worst problem first" is the philosopher's solution. A philosopher looks for the biggest questions, tackles them directly, and never solves them. A scientist looks for questions that are solvable. Science also proceeds at its edges.
Bootstrapping, in other words. Starting with what works and amplifying it, rather than going straight to what's not working and trying to fix it.