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Luke Freeman

October 2020 Newsletter

This edition of our newsletter includes information about our November meetups; updates from Giving What We Can; relevant updates for effective giving; a selection of interesting articles; upcoming events you can join; and some ways you can help!

This is the online edition of our October 2020 email newsletter (

Next weekend (November 7-8) we invite you to meet up with people in the Giving What We Can community from around the world, hear what's going on, and discuss a range of topics.


Special Guest: Catherine Low, Centre for Effective Altruism


Special Guest: Arden Koehler, 80,000 Hours

Want to advocate for effective giving but don’t know how? Sign up and we’ll email you with an action you can take each day to make a difference this giving season!

We have soft-launched our Company Pledge with four companies including Australian trade services provider 

, and Australian technology research & venture builder 

. These companies will donate at least 10% of their profits to effective charities.

Hey you. Yes, you. You can make a difference.

“It is common to think that our ability to help the needy is inadequate when we compare ourselves to the ultra-rich, especially when we consider issues that seem too big to solve… Thankfully, that isn’t the case. Let me show you the how, and then the why.”

“I like the idea that people will give together. I hope the pledge will start to build that social norm toward redistribution, specifically for basic needs and effective charities… I appreciate that there's this mechanism that facilitates the giving process really easily. It makes me feel more whole — less divided — as an individual because it aligns my values with my actions.”

Do you have a burning question about effective giving, pledging to give, Giving What We Can, or effective altruism? Want to make a suggestion or discuss an idea? Just keen to meet others interested in effective giving? Join us for Giving What We Can's Open Forum hosted on the third Thursday/Wednesday of each month.

released updates from their Movement Grants recipients

five new EA charities with high potential for impact

, thousands of applications considered, and a two-month intensive 

recommended a $198,320 grant to the Centre for Pesticide Suicide Prevention

psychedelic-assisted mental health treatment

disbursed $23.3 million in flexible funding to their top charities this year and recently granted $15.3 million to the Against Malaria Foundation

 recently with a total value of $7,004,000.

 to effective altruism. You give to any charity that is important to you and to a highly effective charity—and Giving Multiplier adds to both of your donations.

 is back with donor-matching this December 1st. Facebook’s $7 million Giving Tuesday donation matching opportunity has been announced! 

 for updates and instructions on how to maximize the chance of getting your donations doubled.

 has launched an initiative to connect professionals who leverage employer donor-matching opportunities towards effective charities. 

The Life You Can Save audiobook is available for free on 

 Giving What We Can is featured in Chapter 5 (read by Stephen Fry).

What actually is the argument for effective altruism?

 show the 10 products that could have the greatest impact for animals in the U.S. if they were replaced with plant-based or cultivated alternatives.

cash transfers help recipients more than job training

COVID vaccine human trials may be held in the UK (

Pneumonia vaccine price has dropped by 43%

, expanding the protection. against one of the world’s deadliest diseases for millions of children.

Factory farms are an ideal breeding ground for the next pandemic

 – one researcher says we are “playing Russian roulette.”

the value of building alliances between social movements

, in particular how the animal advocacy and environmental movements could work concurrently toward their shared goals.

Which countries have experimented with basic income

Tens of thousands of women die and hundreds of thousands of babies are stillborn due to malaria

 and will start including cost-effectiveness in their ratings – 

read further discussion about the announcement

The giving system’s broken, we helped break it.

' explaining their move to focus more on effectiveness and impact, even if it's 'unsexy' and harder to market.

The case for taking AI seriously as a threat to humanity

. A very accessible article about AI risks.

Science has been in a “replication crisis” for a decade. Have we learned anything?

 Bad papers are still published, but some other things might be getting better.

How factory farms are making the antibiotics we use less effective against disease

. Two scientists explain the public health risks posed by factory farms — and how we might solve the problem.

Getting money out of politics and into charity

: an idea to match donations to opposing political campaigns and send the money to charities instead.

Human Compatible by Stuart Russell has been 

using social norms messaging effectively for advocacy

 shows how we regressed on many of the sustainable development goals for the first time.

an interactive overview of greenhouse gas emissions

 – they also joined up with YouTube channel 

Kurzgesagt to make a video about climate change

whether we are living at the 'hinge of history'

How much computational power does it take to match the human brain?

Looking for a job with a social impact? First stop is the 

Want to help spread the word about effective giving?

Consider helping us spread the word by (a) writing something about Giving What We Can; or (b) linking to us in your sidebar or footer (e.g. 

What are the best charities to donate to?

Feel like sharing your effective giving story?

telling the story of your experience, and why you give

 to suggest a topic you’d like to write about, or ask us for ideas.

Do you want to run an effective giving event within your workplace, school, or community group?

Report your donations with your pledge dashboard

 with Giving What We Can and effective altruism

Do you have questions about the pledge, Giving What We Can, or effective altruism in general?

Introducing our 'Open Forum' online events

Do you have a burning question about effective giving, pledging to give, Giving What We Can, or effective altruism? Want to make a suggestion or discuss an idea? Just keen to meet others interested in effective giving?

Join us for Giving What We Can's Open Forum hosted on the third Thursday/Wednesday of each month by Luke Freeman from Giving What We Can. We will be alternating timezones to help make these more accessible.

People who have recently started giving effectively or made a giving pledge

People considering giving more effectively or pledging to give

People making a donation decision and want feedback

People who want to advocate for effective giving

People looking for inspiration from others

People looking to meet others who give effectively and hear their experiences

People who enjoy discussing effective giving and effective altruism more broadly

Don't feel any pressure to have a good question or idea, if you just want to say hello we'll have space for introductions and some discussion questions always on hand.

Interested in more events? We have regular meetups and speaker events listed on our 

Julian Hazell

You, yes you, can make a difference. It’s more achievable than you might think to change the lives of thousands of people in your lifetime. 

You can make a difference (yes, you!)

If I told you to imagine a member of the top 1 percent in your head, what would they look like?

Perhaps you’d think of a famous movie star decked out in a fancy dress or tuxedo on the red carpet. Maybe you’d picture your favourite athlete who just signed a lucrative contract. Or, for those readers who prefer specifics, maybe you’d think of a famous billionaire like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, or Elon Musk.

But, in the midst of our thought experiment, did you ever think of yourself?

That’s right. If you’re reading this right now, I reckon there is a decent chance that you’re in the top 1% — especially if you live in the United States and work a full-time job.

if you earn more than $58,000 per year after tax, you'd be in the top 1 percent globally

. Even if you cut that by half to just $29,000 per year (about $14 per hour), you’d still find yourself in the 

You might find this shocking. You almost certainly don’t feel as rich as Bezos and his contemporaries. Unfortunately, I’m not here to tell you that you’re actually a billionaire. I am here to tell you, however, that whether or not you feel rich, you are rich — at least 

 speaking. This statistical reality is due to the stark income gap between rich and poor countries. In fact, 

 — more than twice the population of the US — earn less than $1.90 per day (adjusted for purchasing power).

In making this point, I don’t intend to sneer at you or claim that you are oblivious to your 

. Rather, I’m trying to illuminate how 

 others around the world have. And, as I will show, this has interesting implications. It means that you — 

yes you, the individual reading this right now

 — can make a tremendous impact on the lives of the less fortunate, even if you aren’t Jeff Bezos.

I think that is an exciting opportunity, and I hope by the end of this article you will feel the same way.

Charity is not just for the ultra-wealthy

It is common to think that our ability to help the needy is inadequate when we compare ourselves to the ultra-rich, especially when we consider issues that seem too big to solve — like global health challenges, stagnant economic development, and insufficient access to education. It is easy to think that real charitable impact is solely reserved for the kinds of people who go to fancy fundraisers, buy avant-garde artwork, and have university buildings named in their honour.

Thankfully, that isn’t the case. Let me show you the how, and then the why.

The impact created by regular people can be tremendous, so long as we donate to the most effective charities, not ones that are merely good. I say tremendous without hyperbole because 

the very best charities are often much better than average ones

 and thus give a much higher return on investment with every dollar donated.

We can extend this idea by considering charities that operate outside of our local communities, cities, and countries. Due to the fact that a dollar goes much further in developing countries — for example, Burundi, which had a 

 in 2019 — than in developed ones, our potential for impact can be monumental.

, explains this idea brilliantly. It goes as follows:

Imagine a happy hour where you could either buy yourself a beer for five dollars or buy someone else a beer for five cents. If that were the case, we’d probably be pretty generous—next round’s on me!

Will goes on to call this idea the “100x Multiplier”, where those of us who live in rich countries can expect to do at least one hundred times as much to benefit others in developing countries as we can do to ourselves with each dollar we spend. That $58,000 salary I mentioned earlier ends up closer to $5 million when we consider our ability to help the poorest, so long as we donate it to the right places.

Let’s say you’ve found everything I’ve mentioned thus far to be convincing. A question might still linger: Why should we do anything about it? Billionaires and governments have a much greater potential for impact than we do, and we already pay taxes that go to foreign aid. That is a logical and mathematical reality that I will not attempt to refute.

But the fact remains that it is important for us to think about what we can do regardless of what others do. We can’t wait for billionaires to solve the 

, nor should we. Even if they decide to donate, we should not allow them to monopolize charity. We can lead by example and take action to show governments and the ultra-wealthy what our values are.

To add to this, many of us still feel an urge to be altruistic beyond the money we pay in taxes each year. This is especially true for Americans, who 

. That number — which is roughly equal to 

 that same year — is enough to make Bezos blush. For readers who contributed to that $400 billion figure, ask yourself where you’ve historically donated, and if you are aware of the impact your donations have made. If you have no idea what your donations have actually done, or you’ve primarily donated to those around you, there’s a good chance your donations can go much further, and that you can significantly improve the lives of thousands of people in other parts of the world.

If you take one thing away from this article, I hope it is a sense of excitement at how much potential you have to make a tangible and widespread impact. While it is exceedingly unlikely you’ll have a library named after you, you can still change the lives of thousands of people globally over the course of your life. And if you were to ask me, I’d say having a library named after you is overrated in comparison.

 in the US puts someone in the top 1% globally

Our ability to help the poorest people in the world is tremendous, and that is a very exciting prospect

, so we should be more mindful as to where we donate

Donating to charities in poorer countries can magnify our impact even further

Charity should not be reserved solely for the mega-rich or for the government

If you’re someone who already donates regularly, it might be a good idea to take some time to evaluate the effectiveness of the charities you donate to

Over the course of our lives, we can impact the lives of thousands of others around the world

Take a pledge to give more, and more effectively

See how your donation can change someone's life

Get involved with the Giving What We Can community

Companies pledge at least 10% of profits to effective charities

Companies pledge to give at least ten percent of their profits to effective charities, following the lead of the Giving What We Can community.

The following article is reprinted from the 

press release announcing Giving What We Can's Company Pledge

Giving What We Can, a community of people who have pledged to give a significant portion of their income to improving the lives of others, today announced the founding members of its Company Pledge. These companies have each pledged to give at least 10% of profits to effective charities.

There are four companies who have taken the Company Pledge: Australian trade services provider 

“It seems a simple concept, but the results are undeniable,” says Calvin Baker, co-founder of Give Industries. “By pledging our company profits in support of evidence-based global top performers in promoting human and animal well-being, we're enabling an amount of good that would be otherwise unachievable by a small business. This purpose has helped us to grow a passionate and motivated workforce.”

“Our mission is to use the power of capitalism as an engine for good,” adds Ida Josefiina of Studio-1X. “We’re advocating for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) business community to use their resources and platforms to drive social impact both in terms of awareness, and financial contributions.”

These companies are joining over 5,000 individuals from more than 80 countries who are all united by a commitment to helping others. Together the members of Giving What We Can have donated at least $195 million, and have pledged a further $1.8 billion.

According to Giving What We Can co-founder, Dr. Toby Ord, “Research shows that the 

 can have at least ten times the social impact of the typical charity, and hundreds of times as much as less effective charities. By finding outstanding giving opportunities we can make a significant difference to many more lives than we otherwise would.”

“It's about living a better life in the world and this requires that one be integrated with society in a way that produces good effects not just for oneself and one's family and friends but for people one may never meet. I want to help inspire other businesses to do the same. There's no question that discussing these things in public can help inspire others to rethink their relationship to money and to give more of it to the worthy causes.” Sam Harris, founder of the Waking Up meditation app

Josefiina emphasises that there is a lot of opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises to make an impact: “SMEs make up roughly 90% of the global business economy. Activating this segment to participate in solving global problems would have a major impact in the world, and therefore should be seen as a priority.”

These businesses are pushing for change beyond just donating. Give Industries, which is donating 100% of their profits, states: “We’re pretty serious about creating change, both globally and right under our noses. We’re committed to making sure our business is carbon neutral, gender equitable, and employs people often overlooked by the job market.”

"Our aim is to apply advanced technology to important social problems. To maximise our impact, and ensure that no matter what we’re working on we can make a difference, we will be donating to effective charities from day one. We hope to show others that donating even at an early-stage can be commercially viable,." says Casey Lickfold, co-founder of ISOLABS.

Giving What We Can seeks to normalise giving more and giving more effectively – to inspire a culture of generosity and a world full of flourishing.

The Company Pledge is still in its infancy, if your company would like to pledge and you would like to be involved in shaping this please 

 which is aimed at the founders of high growth startups who anticipate a liquidity event. Founders Pledge is an excellent organisation and they provide a pledge which we still enthusiastically recommend for founders for whom the pledge is suitable.

Blog

October 2020 Newsletter

Introducing our 'Open Forum' online events

You can make a difference (yes, you!)

Companies pledge at least 10% of profits to effective charities

Member Profile: Catherine Thomas

September 2020 Newsletter

5,000 people have pledged to give at least 10% of their lifetime incomes to effective charities

Member Profile: Pablo Ollier

5,000 Member Milestone Celebration Events

Online Meetups: 5th or 6th September, 2020