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Alana Horowitz Friedman

80-year-old Bob Layne thought others should know about effective giving. So he made it happen.

, the learning center of his retirement community.

15, I heard a podcast with Will MacAskill discussing his newly published book Doing Good Better. I bought it immediately and after reading it I found it was a book that truly changed my life. It introduced me to a way of thinking about charitable giving that was logical, enlightening and motivational...I wanted for others to have a similar experience.”


Those are the words of Bob Layne, an 80-year-old retired professor who lives with his wife in a retirement community in Florida, one with a learning facility that presents courses and lectures for residents. After learning about effective giving, he decided others should know about it, and that he could help. He’s now giving talks on effective giving at the learning center of the 10,000+ member retirement community where he lives.


We were so moved to hear about Bob’s initiative that we asked him to write a short piece on it for our blog. Here’s what he wro

by Bob Layne

My presentation

nks so much  to Bob for his incredible initiative, and for sharing it with us! We're certainly inspired, and we think our readers will be too. 


80-year-old Bob Layne thought others should know about effective giving. So he made it happen.  

Grace Adams

Hello and welcome to our March newsletter!

This month, I wanted to feature an update from one of our recommended charities: 

When we’re donating to organisations working far away, it can be easy to forget just how much of an impact our money is having. So I found 

 in Nigeria particularly inspiring. The story follows two members of a mobile vaccination team, Idris and Abubakar, who are trying to reach the babies who have missed their last round of vaccines or haven’t yet presented to the clinic for vaccinations. I encourage you to 

And for a bit more context about New Incentives: In January 2024, New Incentives had 11,130 mobile vaccination teams go out across the nine states where they work. They have enrolled close to 3 million infants in the program since their inception.

We’re proud to recommend New Incentives as one of 

, and they are also a GiveWell top-rated charity. 

 that in 2022, $5000 USD donated to New Incentives would have prevented a child’s death.


We’re grateful to Idris, Abubakar and all the New Incentives staff and partners on the ground, across Nigeria.

There is lots more great news below. Right at the bottom is our new video “

”, which many people have told me they think is the perfect video to send to your families to explain effective giving!

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

What motivated you to take a pledge with Giving What We Can?

“What counts as a little for me can go a lot further for others, and I feel an obligation to uplift people with what resources I have available to me.” 

“I pledged to myself some time ago. I was inspired to pledge on Giving What We Can to help spread the word and increase the impact.” 

“Because I believe this is the best way to help others, and that charity begins where we can help the most.” 

All the events that we list are open to anyone interested in effective giving!

Think like a consultant: How to maximise your ROI on charitable impact

 of Effektiv Spenden as the keynote speaker. The event will be particularly relevant for aspiring and current consultants who want to consider how to maximise their charitable impact within their future careers.

Despite being both preventable and treatable, malaria still kills about half a million children every year. WMD aims to raise awareness about this devastating disease and inspire commitments to take action against it. Want to observe WMD? Consider donating to Malaria Consortium (seasonal malaria chemoprevention) and the Against Malaria Foundation (bed nets to prevent malaria), two of our top-rated charities working on malaria prevention and treatment

We just published what might be one of the best introductions to effective giving we have ever produced! In our new mini-documentary-style video “

” we hit the streets to speak with Londoners about their views on charity, giving back, and where they thought they stood on the global income scale. Please help us share this video far and wide to spread awareness about income inequality and charity effectiveness – comments and social media shares are especially appreciated :)

The GWWC pledge, effective giving, and Chris's new book Infectious Generosity are all featured in this interview with TED’s Chris Anderson for the podcast 

, where they discuss how we can make generosity and kindness go viral. Both Liv and Chris are pledgers!

founder, ATP tennis pro and GWWC pledger Marcus Daniell is upping his giving game by donating 50% of all his prize money from his final year on tour. HIA is inviting everyone to donate alongside Marcus in their campaign 

 has launched with the aim of growing the effective giving community in Belgium! You can connect with Effectief Geven and donate in Belgium on their 

GWWC pledger Jo Duyvestyn has donated €35,617 since taking the pledge 10 years ago. To help her celebrate 10 years of giving, she’s running a fundraiser to raise 10% of her 10% – and it’s running for a few more days ❤️

, signed by renowned TV Naturalist and Co-op member Chris Packham and over 2000 other members, to encourage Co-op to embrace the full 

 (BCC). Co-op refused to accept the letter, but THL UK has continued to apply pressure on them to adopt the full BCC through other actions, such as a recent advert in The Guardian and a 

The Hidden Cost of Cheap Meat exposed by Peter Singer

’, in which Singer impresses upon viewers the problematic nature of our factory food systems and the underlying psychology that fuels them, and shares a path towards more ethical eating.

 documenting how it helps vaccinate hard-to-reach infants in rural Nigeria. Digital platform 

 about their program, dubbing it "cashvocacy".

celebrated a major milestone: they have moved over $100m to their recommended effective charities! They have also appointed new leadership to further strengthen the organisation’s mission and have updated their 

 to focus more intensively on the complexities of poverty.

The Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP)

. This person will be responsible for managing the successful delivery of the paint program in Pakistan, as well as developing and implementing new programs on spices and cosmetics.

. These positions are an opportunity to have a significant impact on 

Announced its upcoming bootcamp in Nairobi from June 3 to 14, aimed at empowering program implementers across Africa. 

 on April 4, focusing on the impact and spread of TaRL models in Sub-Saharan Africa. TaRL also shared that its team has been participating in CIES events and recently presented evidence at SALEX 2024, “Harvesting the Power of Evidence for Schools”, highlighting the organisation’s commitment to improving education across the continent.

 on promoting vaccinations through SMS text message reminders and Immunization Ambassadors who share information about vaccines in local communities.

Suvita also made their first foray into expanding SMS message reminders to additional states in India by visiting the state of Rajasthan to understand the routine immunisation context and explore potential partnerships.

The Next Black Death (or worse) | Most Pressing Problems

 to help illustrate how you can use your career to effectively aid this cause.

International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science

 (IBBIS) in the run-up to the Munich Security Conference. This first-of-its-kind organisation is dedicated to strengthening international biosecurity governance – including through providing tools, such as the 

, that will allow technological innovation to flourish safely and responsibly. You can read about the IBBIS launch and upcoming projects in 

explaining its grantmaking scope, and in particular, how and why it grants beyond the top charities list that it is best known for.

Is hiring for several positions, including newly posted 

Ambitious Impact (formerly Charity Entrepreneurship) 

. In 2023, Giving Green moved $11.2 million USD to high-impact climate initiatives, resulting in an impact multiplier of 19x.

 from Effective Ventures to become an independent organisation. This is one of its largest-ever hiring bursts, and the person in this role will play a key part in ensuring the organisation attracts the talent it needs to be successful.

You're richer than you realise

Have any feedback on our newsletter or communications? 

March Newsletter 2024

Explore your global income rank & the power of charity in our eye-opening video. Discover impactful giving & redefine wealth on a worldwide scale. 

Discover How "Rich" You Really Are: A Glimpse into Global Income and Charity

Recently, I hit the bustling streets of London to engage with everyday people about their views on charity, giving back, and where they thought they stood on the global income scale. The results were ... surprising! And the reactions? Even better. 

The experience was eye-opening, not just for the participants, but for me as well.  It was an opportunity to explore an often overlooked aspect of our lives — our income in relation to the rest of the world.  

Many of us live within our own bubbles, rarely pausing to consider our financial standing on a global scale. Yet when we begin to peel back the layers of our perceived economic positions, comparing them to the reality of global income distribution, perspectives shift and casual conversations turn profound. 

One particularly striking moment was when passersby found out what percentile of income earners they actually fell into (after first being asked to guess!) When people realised that someone with a seemingly modest income in London could be in the top 1.5% of income earners worldwide, they were nothing short of amazed — with some even thinking the calculator was malfunctioning! 

And this journey wasn't just about numbers or statistics. It was about understanding that even everyday people have the capacity to contribute to global well-being — a realisation that many found both incredible and empowering. 


As part of this pop doc, I also interviewed experts like Julian Jamison, a health economist, who helped us navigate the complexities of income distribution and its implications for charitable giving, and individuals like Habiba Banu, who has committed a significant part of her income to charity, based in part on similar realisations. 

Our discussions revealed a common thread: the misconception that our individual contributions are too small to make a difference.  Indeed, the video sheds light on how even modest donations can have a profound effect in low and middle-income countries, challenging us to rethink the way we view our ability to help.

As I reflect on the conversations and the lessons learned, it's clear that understanding our place in the global income scale isn't just an exercise in humility — it's a call to action. It's about recognising our shared responsibility to support those less fortunate and making informed decisions about how and where to donate.

This video is an invitation to join me in this ongoing conversation about income, charity, and the role each of us can play in making the world a better place. It's not about feeling guilty for what we have but about feeling empowered to use our resources wisely. 

Thank you for taking the time to engage with these ideas. I hope you'll watch "You're richer than you realise" and share your thoughts and experiences with us. Together, we can begin to bridge the gap between our perceptions and the reality of global income distribution, one informed decision at a time.

Transcript for "You're richer than you realise"

(Due to the vox pop style of this video, we'd recommend watching it rather than reading the transcript. Captions are available on YouTube.)

Do you think that people who are well off should be giving to charity?

Everyone could. I probably could more than I do, which is not very much

Is. So the top 30% should be giving to charity. Do you have a sense of how well off you might be compared to the rest of the world?

Yeah the whole world. No, don't Google it. Just give me a guess. And then, because we're about to look it up.

Okay, well let's find out. We want to check your income there.

And then just press calculate. All right. Tilly,

Today we are on the streets of London trying to interview some people about their giving, about charity and about how rich they really are compared to the rest of the world. Do you give to charity?

People had a lot of different reasons for giving.

I'm Muslim, so we do believe that is one of our moral obligations that we do have to give back

I tend to do a lot of my giving in my local community,

Build something that I can actually take back over to where I'm from.

Most people agreed that the well off should give.

But exactly what proportion of people should give was debated.

I would like to say the top like 30%. I mean, I'm a primary school teacher. I'm a fairly low earner, but I am giving to charity every month.

I don't think there's any one standard to say, okay, you come here, this is when you have to do

It. And people were pretty unsure about where they stacked up.

What percentage I've fallen into. Yeah, the majority, which is not rich.

Do we think maybe top 20%, something like that?

But here's the counterintuitive thing. On a global scale, most of us are much richer than we think

You are in the richest 1.5% of the global population.

And that's mental. You're in the top richest 1%. You're still in the top 20%. At least the top 20%. You're in the richest. I'm

Top 15% richest people in the world. You're in the top richest 1.5% of the world. How do you feel about that?

Giving What We Can

In our February 2024 newsletter, we share the history behind the pledge and how we're leveraging the power of community to continue building a global movement of effective givers.

February 2024 Newsletter

Hello and welcome to our February newsletter!

I’ve got an ask for you today, but first some context…

In the spirit of Infectious Generosity, (yes, that’s a reference to Head of TED Chris Anderson’s 

!) our team at GWWC has been thinking about how we can make effective giving more infectious, especially using the power of our community.

 (an oldie but a goodie!) you know we created the Giving What We Can pledge to help change the norms around charitable giving — making it much more common for people in high-income countries to give what they can to help others so that together, we can better tackle some of the severe inequality and suffering in the world. And if you’ve taken the pledge yourself, maybe you’ve seen firsthand how your action has inspired friends and family in their own giving choices.



How does change happen? The power of social proof in behaviour change & successful movement growth

We often say it, but I find it incredible to reflect on just how powerful your voice and actions can be: inspiring just one other friend or family member to donate effectively, or pledge, could double the positive impact that you have. Imagine if you sparked 10 people to pledge – that is more than I could ever afford to give!

: I’d love to hear from you about any way you feel you could contribute to spreading the word, what might be blocking you from doing so, and how we can empower you to continue helping us on our mission of making giving effectively and significantly a cultural norm. Feel free to 

And for anyone who wants to share their story…

We’d also love to feature more stories from our community on our blog and on our social media! We often hear from people that personal stories helped them feel confident in taking a public giving pledge and/or finding a standard of giving that felt right to them, and we’d love to celebrate our community across the globe by sharing your story. 

Tell us a bit about why you took the GWWC Pledge, and your journey with effective giving

We are grateful and excited to have you co-creating a better world with us – for all of its inhabitants, now and in the future.


With gratitude,
– Grace Adams & the Giving What We Can team

P.S. Thank you to our community members who spoke about their pledge or donations in the last month, we've featured a few of you at the end of this email - check them out for inspiration on how you can talk about donating yourself!

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

“I'm in a position of great privilege relative to most others in the world, and feel an obligation to help others and donate in a way that does the most good possible.”

“I believe I should share what I have because it's sheer luck that I have privilege and nothing else. I want my children to know that sharing with others is important.”

“Weil ich durch den „Verzicht“ auf einen Teil meines Gehaltes das Leben von vielen Menschen verbessern kann, und das ohne, dass ich merkbar schlechter gestellt bin. Ein klassisches Win-Win.” 

 “Because by “foregoing” part of my salary, I can improve the lives of many people without being noticeably worse off. A classic win-win.”

Cohen Quadrangle B&B, Exeter College, Walton Street, Oxford, UK

Raise Oxford and EA Oxford are hosting a talk 

Blog

80-year-old Bob Layne thought others should know about effective giving. So he made it happen.

March Newsletter 2024

Discover How "Rich" You Really Are: A Glimpse into Global Income and Charity

February Newsletter 2024

January 2024 Newsletter

Head of TED Chris Anderson signs new “Wealth Pledge” to give 2.5% of wealth to high-impact charities each year

Where are the GWWC team donating in 2023?

Giving What We Can is spinning out of the Effective Ventures Foundations

GWWC Operational Funding Match 2023

How I feel about my GWWC Pledge