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Sonia Albrecht

Sonia shares why she started giving effectively and what she looks for when choosing a charity.

Member Profile: Sonia Albrecht

We recently spoke with Sonia Albrecht from Davis, California. She shared with us her effective giving story, including her journey to effective giving, what motivates her to give, her experience with a disability, and how she approaches effective giving as a Christian.

Due to a disability, I spent most of my adult life living below the American poverty line without much hope of getting out. Eventually, I recovered enough to go to college, and I now plan to use my career in computer hardware design to help people who cannot access the treatment that saved my life.

We have a perspective in much of the USA that the richest 1% of Americans should give a lot more to charity, but the richest 1% of humanity shouldn’t. Many people don’t realize that they are part of the richest 1% in the world, but 

, a single American with no children making $58,000 or more per year is.

As a student, I thought I wasn’t making enough to donate a lot more, but I discovered during the chaos of the 2020 presidential election that donating large amounts can be a far more rejuvenating use of money than anything else, even for Americans making much less than the richest 1% of humanity does. However, I later learned that the organizations I’d donated to weren’t particularly effective. I started googling charity effectiveness and stumbled upon the charity evaluator GiveWell and the wider effective giving community. It was so exciting to see such complicated problems addressed with so much scientific rigour, so I’ve been donating to GiveWell recommended charities ever since.

I’m teaching myself to live more frugally without compromising my productivity the way I did when I was poor, so that I can donate more. More importantly, I’m working harder at school so that I can maximize my future income. After graduation, this will enable me to donate most of my income to charity. I also hope to make a difference directly with my career by contributing technological solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. I’m living on less and working harder, but I feel like I’m living on more. My life is more full of meaning, and I am free from comparing my income primarily to other rich-world people.

For me as a Christian, effective giving is fundamentally about the call to see everyone as equal in the eyes of God. This means being one of the few rich-world people who donate to international charities. According to the 2023 

 report, only 6% of American donations went to international affairs organisations in 2022. To me, this suggests that people living far away from us aren't given the same value as those living close to us. If you consider that many international charities do more than 

 than typical rich-world ones, the importance of treating every human being as equally valuable becomes even more clear.

I am tremendously grateful for the help I’ve received from comparatively ineffective charities such as American soup kitchens. However, my experience makes me empathize more, not less, with people who have none of these rich-world options. Even when I lived at half the American poverty line, 

. When rich world people shun international charities, we demand that people even poorer than I was shoulder the burden of providing these services to the poorest members of our human family instead. In a perfect world, all charities that do more good than harm would be funded more. However, I can make a far bigger difference by donating to charities where the funding crisis is most severe.

Unfortunately, we understand so little about faraway circumstances that international charities are susceptible to being ineffective. However, 

 have identified international charities that rise above this problem. After looking into these studies and seeing the dedication to constant open-minded self-improvement in the effective giving community, I came to have even more confidence in the international charities recommended by Giving What We Can than in local charities. Local charities are less likely to be underpinned by high-quality academic studies, and our personal experiences with the few people we know well are very limited compared to the thousands of experiences summarized in even one study.

Maybe my donations will enable enough children to fulfil their full potential, that if their children face a disability such as mine, their country will be able to provide them with the healthcare that mine has.

" series which profiles a selection of the Giving What We Can community. The Giving What We Can is a community of people from all walks of life, with different perspectives and motivations for giving – all united by their desire to make a significant commitment to use their income to effectively helping others. Read more 

 to help inspire others to give more, and more effectively.

For more information about Giving What We Can we recommend you check out our 

Luke Freeman

EA Funds donation platform is moving to Giving What We Can

Since late 2021 Effective Altruism Funds (EA Funds) and Giving What We Can (GWWC) have been going through a restructure. EA Funds has moved towards focussing primarily on grantmaking and GWWC has taken over the management of the donation platform.

. Over the coming months the donation specific functionality of funds.effectivealtruism.org will be retired and redirected to GWWC's version of the donation platform (the pages related to the four EA Funds and grantmaking will continue on funds.effectivealtruism.org and the homepage will become more grantee focused). A new GWWC website is currently under development which will include a fully integrated donation experience (as well as improving our pledge dashboard and signup process).

As well as the donation platform, GWWC will continue to support the donor lottery, EffectiveCrypto.org and any of the other formerly EA Funds activities relating to fundraising while maintaining our existing work promoting effective giving (e.g. pledge, community, guides, talks, marketing campaigns and research).

EA Funds will continue to manage the grantmaking activities of their four Funds and will at some point post an update about their plans moving forward and this includes some of the reasoning for this restructure decision. GWWC has also recently posted an 

 which is very relevant to this decision.

We will be consulting with donors, stakeholders and the broader community about the future of the donation platform and how we can best support effective giving within the community.

Please don't hesitate to get in touch with any feedback, suggestions, requests, or concerns.

We look forward to this next chapter and are excited to continue our mission to create a world where giving effectively and significantly is a cultural norm!

Alana Horowitz Friedman

Can one person really make a difference? If we combine our inherent desire to make a difference with the careful thinking needed to make it happen, it turns out there are easy, concrete steps we can take to positively impact many lives over the course of our lifetime.

Can one person really make a difference?

Did you grow up believing you could change the world? I did. Whether this was due to my parents’ particular brand of hippy idealism or simply a mark of my generation, I was sure one person could make a difference. I even chose a college based partly on their marketing slogan: “Think one person can change the world? So do we.”

But upon arriving at college, I quickly lost faith in that belief. The “make a difference” opportunities available to me were largely limited to “raising awareness” about various issues by sitting at a table in a public place and accosting passersby.

I think my story is fairly common. How many of us are raised with “youthful idealism” only to be rudely awakened to the “reality” that comes with growing up? At least that’s the story we are often told — that “making a difference” is just a naive pipe dream. But is it?

Of course, history shows us a handful of exceptions. Norman Borlaug, who pioneered high-yield and disease-resistant wheat, is credited with preventing mass famine, 

. Another, lesser-known example is Viktor Zhdanov, who proposed and successfully lobbied for a global campaign to eradicate smallpox, 

a disease that was then taking around 2 million lives per year

. Then there are high-profile pioneers like Martin Luther King Jr and Mohandas Gandhi, both of whom are very well-known for bringing about substantial — even revolutionary — societal change.

But these were exceptional individuals, of course. To truly make a difference, do we need to tackle the world’s biggest problems with the courage of Gandhi, the intelligence of Borlaug, the determination of Zhdanov, and the luck of being in the right place at the right time?

In other words, can ordinary people like you and me really have much of an impact?

It turns out we can. And it doesn’t have to involve risking our lives, overthrowing a political regime, or curing a deadly virus epidemic. All we need is the desire to make a difference and the foresight to think carefully about it.

If you are reading this, you probably know that you’d like to make a difference. But many of us are unaware of our extraordinary power to do so.

The philosopher Peter Singer’s now famous “drowning child” thought experiment gets at this disconnect between desire and action:

Imagine you are walking by a pond on your way to work or school, and you see a drowning child. You can jump in and rescue the child, but you would ruin your clothes in the process. Do you save the child?

The answer, for most of us, is a resounding yes! Of course we would rescue the child, even if we were wearing an expensive suit or designer shoes. And we would feel pretty great about it too. After all, saving a life is not a bad way to spend a morning.

Singer then points out that there are “drowning children” all over the world, and although we aren’t literally walking by them, we 

A staggering number of children die every day from causes like diarrhea and malaria

. Cheap and effective interventions exist to prevent these deaths, and we can help fund them.

In other words, we can be the difference between people receiving treatment or going unaided. And we can do so with sums that most would consider to be far less than the value of a human life.

At this point, you may be raising a series of practical objections: Can my actions be anything more than a drop in the bucket given the scale of the problem? Will my actions really matter if others do nothing?

This is all well and good for the ultra-wealthy. But I’m just an ordinary person earning a modest salary! How much difference could I really make?

Let’s address that last question first, because its answer explains what gives many of us such extraordinary power to help others.

If you’re like me, you likely don’t think of yourself as rich. But because of the vast differences between wealthy and lower-income countries, those of us earning a modest income in wealthy countries usually fall within the top 1.5% of income earners worldwide. You can see exactly how you stack up 

Additionally, Will McAskill, a co-founder of Giving What We Can and author of the book 

, explains that these drastic income discrepancies allow our money to go as much as 100x further when sent to lower-income countries.

What about those other practical objections?

 aren’t, especially given the scale of the world’s problems. With so much suffering in the world, are your individual actions likely to make a difference? To address these objections, let’s return to the drowning child thought experiment.

 people are witnessing the drowning child and most are just walking past the pond, not doing anything to help. Does this affect your decision to rescue the child? If you’re like the people Singer asked, it probably doesn’t.

Now let’s imagine that there are many children drowning and you can only save one. Would you still do it? If you would, chances are you agree that your action would make a difference. Otherwise, wouldn’t you just walk by the pond, ignoring the children? (If you’re not convinced, imagine that someone has saved 

 child from drowning. Would you think that they made a difference?)

Of course, by combining the power of comparative wealth with effective giving, our impact can potentially be much greater. But for now, I want to recognize that saving even one life is a pretty significant accomplishment. After all, that’s someone’s daughter, or mother, or father, or grandparent.

So the truth that we can’t help everyone everywhere doesn’t lessen our ability to help those we can. In fact, by putting our money where it has the greatest impact, we can make a very significant difference.

. Let’s discuss the second part of the equation: 

the foresight to think carefully about it

While we’re used to applying rigorous analysis to decisions like where to invest, whether to buy or rent, or which brand of appliance to purchase, charitable giving often gets lumped into a vague “hope this is doing something!” bucket.

If we want to make a difference, though, it stands to reason that we should think carefully about the causes and organisations we support. In fact, our impact can vary substantially based on where we choose to donate. Just like some investments offer greater returns than others, a highly-effective charity can be 

This means that depending on where we donate, we can accomplish with just one donation what it might otherwise take 100 equally-sized donations to achieve.

Combine these extraordinary giving opportunities with the comparative wealth we discussed earlier and it’s clear that 

one person can make an incredible difference in the lives of others

 estimates that $4,500 donated to one of their top charities would result in a life being saved.

To know where to donate, we don’t necessarily have to do the countless hours of research required to measure an organization’s impact. Places like 

, and of course — our team here at Giving What We Can — put out yearly lists of 

 based on stringent research that assesses the 

In addition to our extraordinary power to make a difference as individuals, we can also leverage the power of giving publicly to maximize our impact. By publicly donating to highly-effective charities, we can help bring about a systemic shift in the way people in wealthy countries think about their power to help others.

To see how this could play out, let’s return to the pond with the drowning child, and the numerous people who are just walking by. This time, though, when you jump in and take the child out, one of these passersby sees you do it. And they realize they can do it too.

Changing the culture of giving — making it commonplace for ordinary people living in wealthy countries to donate some portion of their income to highly effective charities — would be a significant societal shift. And by giving publicly, you can be part of that systemic change. If that sounds overly idealistic, consider this: Even if your actions only motivate one other person, you could double your (already significant) impact. That’s nothing to scoff at!

Evidence-backed global poverty interventions — while incredibly effective at saving both child and adult lives — are far from the only avenue to make a difference. Check out this 

 that we think offer outstanding giving opportunities along with this 

 by the organization 80,000 Hours, which explores how to make a difference with your career.

So let’s go back to the belief that one person can make a difference. It’s true that this 

 end up being a pipe dream. But if we combine our inherent desire to make a difference with the careful thinking needed to make it happen, it turns out there are 

 we can take to positively impact many lives over the course of our lifetime — merging our vision of an ideal world with the realistic, evidence-based actions that could help get us there.

Grace Adams

April 2022 Newsletter

Hello and welcome to our April Newsletter!

A few weeks ago the Giving What We Can team attended the Effective Altruism Global conference in London, and we were so thrilled to meet with many of our members in person. We also recently interviewed some exciting guests about effective giving, so stay tuned for the release of those videos through our

If you didn't get the chance to connect with us but would like to share your effective giving story, please click this

Our team also held a week-long workshop, where amongst other things, we discussed redesigning and improving our website so we can help more people learn to give effectively and provide better resources for our community members like you! We're excited to get building and share the results with you soon.

Top row, left to right: Luke (Executive Director), Grace (Head of Marketing), Fabio (Full Stack Engineer). Bottom row, left to right: Michael (Researcher), Alex (UX Designer), Julian (Content and Research Associate)

Julian Hazell & the rest of the Giving What We Can team.

Thank you for your continued commitment and advocacy, Michael!

Reviewing our work: please contact our researcher 

Joining our team (we're hiring!): we are currently seeking expressions of interest for a 

This month we are focusing on Effective Altruism (EA) around the world. We are joined by group leaders from a range of countries and cultures to help us shape a discussion around global EA communities - what are some specific challenges faced in different locations and cultures, or things that might be shared experiences between us all. Lets celebrate the diversity within EA and discuss ways that we can further promote a welcoming atmosphere in our community! Come along to hear a broad range of perspectives and to share your own insights with us.

 (New York: Sat 6:00 pm, Sydney: Sun 8:00 am)

 (London: Sun 10:30 am, Mumbai: Sun 3:00 pm, Singapore: Sun 5:30 pm)

Our open forum is an event where you can come along with questions about effective giving or just come along to meet others interested in effective giving. Alternates between different timezones each month.

 (London: 8:00 pm, New York 3:00 pm, San Francisco 12:00pm)

My experience with imposter syndrome --- and how to (partly) overcome it

Mid-career people: strongly consider switching to EA work

Sam Bankman-Fried on taking a high-risk approach to crypto and doing good

Release of Existential Risk Research database

 about a major update to its views on the promisingness of water treatment as a possible area for funding.

GiveWell's CEO, Elie Hassenfeld, and its managing director, Buddy Shah, were interviewed on the 

GiveWell is also still looking for excellent candidates for its open

Our thinking on the importance of organizational culture

Charity Entrepreneurship is looking for 3 new team members: 

Gene editing could upend the future of factory farming --- for better or worse

Forecasts estimate limited cultured meat production through 2050 --- Rethink Priorities

Agriculture is at a climate crossroads. Alternative proteins are a global solution

 - Madeline Cohen, Sheila Voss, and Shira Fischer, The Good Food Institute.

Planting Seeds: The Impact Of Diet & Different Animal Advocacy Tactics

Happiness for the whole family: An update to our previous analysis to incorporate household spillover effects for cash transfers and psychotherapy

 - Joel McGuire and Samuel Dupret, Happier Lives Institute.

Snakebites kill 100,000 people every year, here's what you should know

They warned about pandemics before Covid-19. Now they have a $100 billion plan to stop the next one

Forecasting Nuclear Risk and why EA should fund scalable non-profits

https://twitter.com/givingwhatwecan/status/1518353436588269570

You can now support Giving What We Can's operations using EA Funds

This funding helps us to inspire donations to high impact charities

 with Giving What We Can and effective altruism.

Discuss effective giving and effective altruism on the 

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

Blog

Member Profile: Sonia Albrecht

EA Funds donation platform is moving to Giving What We Can

Can one person really make a difference?

April 2022 Newsletter

Is the world getting worse or better?

Why philanthropy isn’t just for billionaires

Member Profile: Martin Skadal

March 2022 Newsletter

Announcing our 2022 strategy and how you can help (and we're hiring!)

It's perfectly okay to be an imperfect effective altruist