(Source: Charity:Water blog)
I believe that improving human life is important -- not just my life.
Everyone has the fundamental right to food, water, safety & basic health, regardless of where he or she is born.
Despite this belief, I'm not always the wisest at contributing to this goal.
I'm fickle and easily influenced. I give on impulse, rather than careful research.
If I have a friend riding a bike race for charity, I'll contribute.
If I see a sad documentary, exhibit or TED talk, I'll give some money to relieve my guilt.
If I get too obsessed with my finances, I'll decide to save, rather than give more away.
Toby Ord recently spoke at Google (check out his talk here) and challenged the audience reexamine how they give. Not all charities are the same. If your dollar can be used 1000x more effectively by one organization versus another, we should listen.
Luckily, Toby & his team have done a lot of the research for you through his site, Giving What We Can (look at their crazy smart bios if you need more convincing).
Based on their recommendations, I made a donation this week (which Google matched, yea!) to Deworm the World. Before Toby's Google talk, this charity would have never crossed my radar, but now I feel confident that it's a wise use of my giving dollars.
PS - I still plan on donating to my other favorite charities - Kiva.org & Charity:Water in addition to the "Giving What You Can" recommended charities
So great to hear that Toby's talk made an impression!
ReplyDeleteI can relate-- I used to feel like I was pretty "fickle and easily influenced" when it came to charity as well, giving a little here, a little there, with the best of intentions, but not sure how big a difference I could really make or how to weigh one appeal against another. These are still tough questions, but I can say that since pledging through GWWC to give at least 10% of what I earn to the most effective organizations I can find, it's become a lot more natural to take charity seriously, and I feel comfortable that I really can expect to save many lives this way. As you said, it's great to be able to draw on the research and expertise of so many brilliant people!
I'd add, too, that I haven't found the 10% pledge incompatible with the kind of social giving you mentioned, sponsoring my friends' charity runs or giving to public radio when the pledge drive rolls around. If anything, seeing myself as someone who gives regularly has made me more open-hearted about things like that. I just don't count those less-than-optimally-effective donations towards my 10%, but it never really feels like a sacrifice.
Thanks for your blog post, I really enjoyed reading it!
Thanks for sharing Elissa! I love that you "really can expect to save many lives this way" - that is incredible.
DeleteRight now, I'm toying around with how much I'm willing to pledge each year... but, definitely sold on making a regular, meaningful contribution.