I Dedicated My Birthday to the Against Malaria Foundation

For the past six years, I've been involved in the effective altruism community as an organizer of a local group in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Since 2015 I've been a Giving What We Can member and have donated 10% of my income to effective charities with the hopes of improving the world.

By organizing our local group, I have encouraged others to donate to effective charities and deepened my understanding of effective altruism. But I could only get my friends to join an event now and then, and struggled to engage them more deeply with "doing good better." Then it struck me: what if I dedicated my birthday to a highly recommended charity --- the Against Malaria Foundation (AMF)? Would that be a way to encourage my friends to donate?

My birthday proved to be a highly effective avenue for getting my friends involved. One week before my birthday, I started contacting friends. The message I sent highlighted the work being done by AMF and the impact that even a small contribution would have. Of course, my messages also genuinely asked how my friends were doing. This was not only a fundraiser, it was a way for me to connect to close friends and acquaintances whom I hadn't spoken to in a while.

Nearly everyone I contacted responded to my messages, and more than 70% donated to AMF! I offered to match each donation and the total amount raised was a mighty $2,875.

The best part of running a birthday fundraiser was that some of my friends really surprised me. One friend, whom I didn't see regularly and who had recently started as a junior doctor, made a $300 donation. And more than one friend asked me how to not only make a donation but how to make it a recurring one.

The birthday fundraiser was the best thing I have tried to encourage friends and family to donate. I think running a birthday fundraiser is also something you can do. If you're inspired, you can find some guidance on Giving What We Can's "How to Run a Birthday Fundraiser" page. The page even includes a tool to set a birthday reminder!

Next year, I will be doing another fundraiser for an effective charity. I might make it even more exciting by adding a challenge (for instance, I could run a mile for each donation). And --- who knows? --- maybe it will be an even more awesome birthday than the last one.