Donate Effectively
Donating money to evidence-backed, effective, and underfunded charities is a straightforward and highly impactful way to multiply your social impact. Learn more here.
How can I get started?
01. Identify the most effective charity of your choice at GiveWell.org. It is the most rigorous charity evaluator and will show you how to get the best return on investment for your money. If you care about animal suffering, you can also check out the Animal Charity Evaluator.
02. Consider the Effective Altruism Funds if you feel comfortable having experts manage your donation.
03. Ask HR about donation matching. Some firms have generous schemes. Even if yours doesn't, it's still worth a quick email to find out.
04. Boost your impact by giving regularly and join the Giving What We Can community, whose members use donations to jointly tackle the most pressing challenges.
05. Be proud that you invested in a better future.
Why should I give?
01. It is incredibly cheap and easy to save a life - For example, it costs only about $4000 to save a life (in expected value) by distributing long lasting insecticide-treated bednets. There are several great and scalable solutions out there whose only bottleneck is funding. Get an overview of the best NGOs in global health and development on GiveWell.org, a charity evaluator founded by two hedge fund analysts. GiveWell also provides general advice on how to do the most good with your money.
02. You are a perfect fit for supporting effective charities as you are likely to have an above-average income. Chances are that you are in the richest 3% of the world's population, even though you might not feel like it. If you're interested, you can find out how rich you are on GivingWhatWeCan.
03. Money is sometimes the only bottleneck for already existing highly efficient and effective solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems.
04. Donating has potentially more impact than working in a typical NGO. Depending on your position and personal fit for different career options, you could probably do more good by working in consulting and donating 10% of your income than working for a typical charity. That said, you may be able to do even more good by working for an exceptional charity. Find inspiration on how to increase the impact of your direct work here.
How will I benefit from donating to GiveWell recommended charities?
01. You are doing the most good possible in global health with your money and you will send a strong signal to your community.
02. Donating will most likely give you a deeper sense of purpose, and increase your happiness and satisfaction in life. One study found that the best predictor of personal satisfaction three months after bonus season was not the total amount of bonus received but how much of it was donated.
Check out Felix' giving story!
Felix took the Giving What We Can Pledge and donates more than 10% of his salary to effective charities. If you want to join the community of more than 6,000 pledgers or find out how Felix approaches his investment in a better world, check out his blog post.