What are the different giving pledge options?

Giving What We Can Pledge (or “The Pledge”)

We’re best known for The Giving What We Can Pledge to give at least 10% of lifetime income to the most effective charities. 8,514 people have taken The Pledge.

We think that The Pledge is the best option for a typical person living in a high-income country (such as the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Australia).

Trial Pledge

We also offer a Trial Pledge which is a scaled-down version of The Pledge. You still commit to giving a percentage of your income, but you can choose how much, and how long you want to give for.

You’ll be able to use the Pledge Dashboard to record your giving and to see how close you are to meeting your target. When it comes to an end, you can:

• Extend your trial pledge;
• Increase the amount you give; or
• Take The Pledge if you are ready

A Trial Pledge is an excellent way to keep yourself on-track and motivated, and will give you a feel for what it's like to take The Pledge.

Further Pledge

Some of our members wish to go beyond the standard 10% of The Pledge and take The Further Pledge. Here they nominate an annual amount they believe can provide for them and pledge to give everything above that to charities they believe will do the most good. This is in addition to The Pledge, and is entirely voluntary. We do not attempt to push our members into taking The Further Pledge: It is simply another way to give that some people prefer.

Our co-founder Toby Ord is most well-known for taking The Further Pledge when he co-founded Giving What We Can.

Other giving pledges offered elsewhere

Since the founding of Giving What We Can many other organisations in the effective altruism community have initiated other pledges that are targeted to specific groups of people. You may also want to consider:

• One For The World’s one percent pledge to GiveWell’s Top Charities
• The Life You Can Save’s variable pledge amount is designed to feel like a ‘barely noticeable amount’ for a year.
• The Founders Pledge for equity holders to donate at least 5 percent of equity upon a liquidity event
• The Generation Pledge for wealth inheritors to give at least 10 percent of inheritance within 5 years of inheriting
• The High Impact Athletes pledge for athletes to give at least 2 percent of their annual winnings