Help me celebrate the 10 year anniversary of my Giving What We Can pledge!
10 years ago, I was the 431st person to take a pledge to donate 10% of my income to high impact charities. And I was the only person in my city I knew who had ever heard of this. There are now 8,700 people who have taken this pledge. And there were 13 global conferences held worldwide in 2023 full of other people who share similar values of doing good better!
Honestly, I made this commitment without too much thought. I was motivated by first learning I was in the top 4% richest people in the world (immediately after graduating), and second by learning how much good my money could do when donated effectively. But not once has this not felt like the right thing to be doing. In fact now its just part of my life; I barely think about it at all. And, I barely talk about it anymore.
But I want to acknowledge what this 10 years has achieved. €35,617.
- Enough to have saved about 8 lives (8 families whose parent or child or sibling is alive!)
- Or, to cover a month's worth of living expenses for around 500 households living in extreme poverty (that's 41 years worth of months!!!)
- Or, to purchase about 20,000 bed nets (each of which protects an average of two people for two years!)
And I want to talk about it again! Because most people I know probably still don’t realise that a median income in a western country makes you richer than 95% of the world (Or realise they probably earn more than the median income!).
So - Can we raise 10% of my 10%!?!
Since taking the GWWC Pledge in March 2014, I have become deeply involved in the Effective Altruism community. I have had the opportunity to start or help run local groups, in Perth, Melbourne and Leiden. I have stopped eating meat. I have volunteered with the GWWC events team. I have attended inspiring EA Global conferences and motivating Unconferences, accidentally networked my way into a research role in Boston, met countless new friends and made life-long relationships. Reflecting on these 10 years has made me feel incredibly grateful to have all of this in my life!
Global Health and Wellbeing Fund
The Global Health and Wellbeing Fund directs funding to highly effective organisations working to improve human wellbeing. Currently, the research team consults with GiveWell when determining where to allocate funds. See this fund's past grant rounds.