May news: Inspiration from Rutger Bregman on The Daily Show

This month, I wanted to share a fantastic segment from The Daily Show featuring 10% Pledger — and bestselling author and historian — Rutger Bregman!

Rutger has a way of sparking real self-reflection, both individually and societally. In this segment, he talks about why he wrote his new book, Moral Ambition, and announces the launch of The School for Moral Ambition, a new program designed to help people use their time and resources to work on solving the world’s biggest problems.

He defines “moral ambition” like this:

"It’s the idealism of an activist on the one hand, and the ambition of an entrepreneur. It’s the desire to stand on the right side of history before it is fashionable, and to really devote your career, your precious time on this earth, to make this world a much better place.” - Rutger Bregman on The Daily Show

Rutger shares that around 25% of people in the modern workforce think that their own job is socially meaningless. He wants to change that with his book, the proceeds of which will be poured into The School for Moral Ambition to help interested people translate their idealism into real, ambitious action.

Personally, I found the book to be a fantastic read, and I plan to gift it to many people in my life.

We’re also thrilled that The School for Moral Ambition shares our commitment to effective giving as one of the many morally ambitious paths people can take. In fact, it even invites people to take the 10% Pledge directly through its website!

🎥 If you haven’t yet seen Rutger’s thoughts on the Pledge, I’d encourage you to check out this short clip:

Lots more news below!

Motivations for Pledging

Here are some of our favourite responses from people who took a pledge last month:

News & Updates

GWWC

New blogs, announcements, & news from Giving What We Can

• We had some social media fame with this reel from our “You’re Richer Than You Realise” video picking up over 100k organic views on Instagram!
• We published a blog post aimed at reaching new audiences with the ideas of effective giving: How to stop buying things you don’t need.
• Our pledge booth at the EAGx Utrecht conference resulted in a 40% increase in the number of attendees who had an active giving pledge, with a total of 33 people deciding to take a pledge at the conference! (11 new 10% Pledges and 22 new Trial pledges!)
• We’ve launched a new “Chat to a Pledger” option where people who are considering pledging can connect with a vetted pledger to ask questions, talk through concerns, or just get to know each other! Choose from a directory or opt to be matched based on your interests and background.

Community

Highlights from our community & the wider effective giving ecosystem

• An Australian family who has chosen to give away 25% of their income published some inspiring blogs about why and how they give so much:
  • Visualising Spending & Impacts
  • How We Afford to Give
• 10% Pledger Holly Elmore co-authored a call to action for Americans on AI risk, since the newest budget reconciliation bill includes a 10-year ban on states passing AI regulation. The post urges Americans concerned about AI risk to call their Senators and ask them to oppose the provision.

Open Role Announcements

• Against Malaria Foundation is hiring a dynamic Country Director to grow AMF Korea into a leading force in domestic philanthropy. Apply here by May 31st. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
• LEEP is hiring a Chief of Staff to support the Program Director. This person will work with the Program Director across various projects, drive critical initiatives, and enhance operational excellence. The application deadline is June 1st!
• Open Philanthropy's Risks from Advanced AI giving area is hiring Program Associates and Senior Program Associates to support its work by researching grant opportunities, supporting new initiatives, and building relationships in the field. Apply by June 8 for full consideration.

Cause Area News

Highlights from the high-impact programs we list on our platform along with evaluators & grantmakers in the effective giving space

Animal Welfare

• The Humane League UK continues to put pressure on the Co-op to end its use of fast-growing chicken breeds, which face severe health & welfare issues. On May 17th, Chris Packham joined THL UK protestors at the Co-op Annual General Meeting, where the motion they submitted to end the use of Frankenchickens passed with 90% of members voting in favour. However, the Co-op ignored a similar motion passed two years ago, raising concerns about whether it will listen to the wishes of its members.
  • THL UK released a fabulous video covering the protest. Watch it here:

• Good Food Institute
  • is excited to share that its 2024 State of Alternative Proteins series is live! The series features cutting-edge insights across science, policy, and industry—including new reports, market data, and global snapshots to inform and empower the alt protein movement.
  • GFI Europe joined the UK House of Commons launch of Low Hanging Fruit, a new policy pathway co-authored with Green Alliance and the Food Foundation. The roadmap offers practical steps for the UK government to boost uptake of plant-rich diets.
• Wild Animal Initiative released its 2024 annual report, which includes info about its 2024 grant recipients, the research it published, a case study in cost-effectiveness, and much more!

Global Health and Wellbeing

• New Incentives shared a vivid photo blog capturing a day of immunisations at a clinic in Kebbi, Nigeria. The blog highlights the triumphs and challenges faced by clinic staff and caregivers alike.
• Malaria Consortium published two new blog posts:
  • A post about how severe flooding can make it difficult to distribute preventative medication to protect children from malaria, and Malaria Consortium’s response to this challenge. Read: Reaching the hardest to reach: Maintaining seasonal malaria chemoprevention in flood-affected areas.
  • A summary of key learnings from the SMC Alliance Annual Meeting, in light of the newly-released SMC Alliance Annual Meeting Report. Read: Advancing seasonal malaria chemoprevention: Key learnings from the SMC Alliance Annual Meeting.
• GiveDirectly published an op-ed in the Washington Post, arguing for the benefits of cash transfers on maternal & child health. You can also read the op-ed on GiveDirectly’s blog.

Global Catastrophic Risk Reduction

• The newest budget reconciliation bill on its way to the US Senate includes a 10-year ban on states passing AI regulation. Holly Elmore and Felix De Simone published a forum post urging Americans to call their Senators and ask them to oppose the provision.
• Updates on NTI’s biosecurity program are included in NTI’s 2024 impact report, which was recently released!
• NTI I bio convened (with Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) a forum for life science research funders to discuss and share perspectives on how best to integrate safety and security considerations into life science research funding decisions. The forum aims to “equip funders with tools, strategies, and resources to foster responsible innovation while protecting public health and security.” Read more here.

Evaluators, grantmakers and incubators

• GiveWell
  • is considering funding programs that increase access to modern contraception in low- and middle-income countries and published a page outlining its current approach to evaluating the cost-effectiveness of contraception.
  • recently released two new episodes in its ongoing podcast series:
    • May 15th’s episode: GiveWell CEO and co-founder Elie Hassenfeld speak with Program Officer Dan Brown about recent grants to create technical support units in six African countries that are navigating substantial funding gaps due to cuts in US government aid.
    • April 23rd’s episode: Elie is joined by Director of Research Teryn Mattox to discuss the current challenges of making grants while long-term funding is uncertain.

Subscribe to the podcast for the latest updates, or read a summary of key takeaways from the podcast episodes on the GiveWell blog.

• Giving Green
  • Released its annual impact report, which shares: “In 2024, Giving Green’s research and recommendations influenced $17.0 million to high-impact climate nonprofits — our strongest year yet.”
  • Announced $880K in strategic response grants — a proactive effort to meet urgent climate needs under a rapidly shifting U.S. political landscape.
• Ambitious Impact is seeking people with technical and entrepreneurial backgrounds who want to launch a high growth, impactful company for the next cohort of the Founding to Give program. Learn more about the program and apply here.
• Rethink Priorities
  • Launched a substack focused on delivering strategic insights on animal welfare in an accessible format! Check out the RP Strategic Animal Insights substack and their first post, farmed animal numbers in 2033.
  • Published:
    • A strategic assessment of the EU political landscape and its implications for advancing farmed animal welfare policy.
    • An exploration of health systems strengthening as a potential new cause area.
• EA Funds & CEA announced that they are merging.
  

An uplifting story we didn't want you to miss:

Bill Gates has announced he's giving away "virtually all" of his wealth over the next twenty years. He's also calling on other wealthy individuals to follow suit:

"I hope other wealthy people consider how much they can accelerate progress for the world’s poorest if they increased the pace and scale of their giving, because it is such a profoundly impactful way to give back to society." - Bill Gates, May 2025

Of course, at Giving What We Can, we don't think it has to be ONLY the wealthy who can impact lives. But we're very happy to see Gates calling out how much can be done through the power of giving. Read his post here.

This month's featured social post

We recently covered a story on our social media about how New Incentives' mobile teams are helping reach children who might not otherwise be able to get vaccinated. Check out the post to see more about what their work is like on the ground!

Tag us on LinkedIn, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok and stay connected with us for more news and updates.

This month's featured resource

🎉 Chat to a Pledger! 🎉

Thinking about taking a giving pledge? If you’ve got questions about what it’s like to give more, and how a pledge might fit into your life, you can now sign up to speak to someone who has taken a pledge themselves — it’s a 30-minute, no-pressure conversation, and you can ask anything you’d like!

Chat to a Pledger

Do you have any feedback on our newsletter or communications? Share your thoughts here.

Useful Links

• Review our giving recommendations.
• Report your donations with your pledge dashboard.
• Share our ideas to help grow our community and multiply your impact.
• Join other members in the Giving What We Can Community Slack.
• Find more ways to get involved with Giving What We Can and effective giving.

Do you have questions about the pledge, Giving What We Can, or effective giving in general? Check out our FAQ page, or contact us directly.