Why I’ve signed up to Giving What We Can
Since you are reading this, you can probably afford to donate some of your income. Doing so will benefit many people — including yourself.
Do you donate to charities? It can be hard to decide which organisations to give to and how much.
I’m on a sabbatical at the moment (very much recommended), so I had some time to think about my own giving. Based on the good work of the Effective Altruism community, I have realised three things:
1. There are organisations that excel at doing good.
There is much suffering in this world. Many people are victims of disasters, wars and injustice. Animals are suffering as well, especially farmed animals. Additionally, we threaten the well-being of future generations through actions that lead to climate change and extinction.
This should not overwhelm us. It means there are numerous opportunities for doing good. And every little thing we do counts. You can make a difference today. One of the ways you can do so is through donations.
Maybe you are hesitant about donating, because you have read negative news about charity work not reaching the poor or even about downright fraud. Of course, these things happen. (And that is why charities have to live up to high standards of scrutiny.)
However, occasional negative news should not make us blind to the huge amount of good that many charities are doing. I think division of labour is a great human achievement and it also works in this case. More specifically, this means that you can rely on other people in two types of organisations:
- Charities that are effective at doing good
- Charity evaluators that help you find those effective charities
There are different types of charity evaluators. Historically, these organisations have focused on integrity, transparency, and efficiency. Examples include Charity Navigator (US) and DZI (Germany). A good rating from these organisations tells you that charities are well run and your donation actually ends up in charitable activities rather than in red tape. However, it does not say much about whether those activities have a positive outcome.
This is where impact assessment comes in. More recently, a new breed of charity evaluators has been established on the wake of books such as How to be Great at Doing Good and The Life You Can Save.
Examples of such evaluators are ImpactMatters (which is now being integrated into Charity Navigator as part of their new Encompass rating system) and GiveWell in the US, SoGive in the UK, and effektiv-spenden in Germany. (Disclosure: I currently work as a volunteer analyst with SoGive.)
My conclusion is that there are ample options for effective donations. But can we afford to donate? And how much?
2. Many people can do an amazing amount of good by donating.
If you read this, then chances are high that you are rich. Maybe it does not feel that way because you are surrounded by people who are also relatively well off.
I live in Hong Kong. The median salary here is 220,800 HKD annually (around 23,500 Euro). This is already more than 11 times the global median. Donating 10% of such an income can save one life every 18 months. (You can check your own salary and what you could achieve with this calculator.)
This is wonderful news. Millions of affluent people can afford to donate significant amounts of money and stop tremendous suffering, especially in the poorer regions of the world.
The Giving What We Can community has a clear suggestion: Donate 10% or more of your income to effective charities. For me, this suggestion makes sense because it is bold enough to make a significant difference, but still achievable without a radical life change.
This is why I have signed the Giving What We Can Pledge, which says that I will continue to give 10% or more to effective charities until I retire. The pledge provides me with a straightforward guideline and makes my decision official so I keep doing good.
It feels comforting to be part of a community of more than 6,000 like-minded folks. They answer many common questions, some of which might be on your mind now.
Whatever the amount, there is another compelling reason to donate.
3. Giving makes us happy.
It can be argued that because we have the opportunity to save lives, we have a moral obligation to do so. And I think this is true. However, at a practical level, it might not be so helpful.
I think it is better to view giving as a wonderful opportunity. I’m never happier than when I’m helping others. When we lend a hand to family members and friends, this is obvious. And people in other places of the world are not different. Living in multicultural Hong Kong has helped me recognise this. I’m also a Buddhist and compassion meditation — or tonglen in Tibetan — is a powerful technique that helps us to be less self-centred and widen the circle of beings that we feel connected to.
Money has a diminishing return on our happiness. When we have reached a certain level of comfort, our money can make other people much happier than ourselves. When I read about the activities of my chosen charities and visualise the results of my giving, I feel happy.
I have found deliberately planning how much I want to give and to whom has made a big difference.
I always found it difficult to decide when I’m singled out by a campaigner on the street. Or when I get a letter with photos of children in need. Whether I decided to donate or not, this often left me doubtful and insecure. Once I got organised, giving became a joyful experience.
In this way, our donations benefit many sentient beings.
Even ourselves.
