Some Easy Actions Anyone Can Take

How to Encourage Effective Giving This Season

Supporting the best charities can often do 100x more good per dollar. If we care about helping those around us and making progress on the world’s problems, it makes sense to seek out these donation opportunities where our money goes farthest. But one other way you can multiply your impact (and help us get closer to a world free from suffering) is to share these concepts with others.Effective giving is still a relatively small part of the overall philanthropic landscape; many people lump all charities into one “doing good” bucket or think the differences between giving opportunities are substantially smaller than they are. At Giving What We Can, we are trying to change these norms through education and outreach about how your donation decisions can lead to drastic differences in impact. We’d love your help raising awareness about effective giving this giving season.

This guide provides some sample social media posts about effective charities and GWWC pledges, as well as email signature templates you can use for the holidays (or year round!) You can copy and paste directly or customise to your liking! We also have a year-round list of ways to link to us or help let others know about GWWC via social media; this guide has some additional ideas, like writing blog posts.

Some of us might feel worried about talking about our giving because it is not the norm - but generally, we see that when people talk about their giving or their pledge, it’s really warmly received. One of the largest sources of new pledges is through personal interactions where a friend or family member introduced the concept to them, so your advocacy really can make a difference!

A couple of other ways to advocate for effective charities this giving season…

  • Start a fundraising page instead of asking for presents over the holidays

You can request to set up a GWWC fundraising page for up to 3 of our supported charities. If you’re not interested in receiving gifts, consider asking for donations instead — not only does this raise funds, it raises awareness of highly effective charities.

Create a fundraising page with GWWC

  • Ask us to host a talk for your group, workplace, social club, etc.

We’re excited to givetalks about effective giving to groups of more than 20 people online or in-person (in locations that are feasible for us). We can also connect you with other organisations or speakers.

Fill out this form to let us know you’re interested

Changes you may like to make:

  • You are welcome to adapt or tailor the suggested content to your tone of voice - and feel free to run anything by Grace (grace@givingwhatwecan.org) if you’d like any support in writing or reviewing
  • Feel free to sub in a specific holiday for “giving season” if that makes sense for your network

Sample social posts about effective charities:

  • This Giving Season, here’s your reminder that you might be in the top 1% of global income earners, you can do 100x more good by donating to the best charities. I use @givingwhatwecan’s recommendations to help me find where to donate for impact. givingwhatwecan.org/best-charities
  • I’m keeping these insights from @givingwhatwecan in mind this Giving Season. Finding the best charities means making 100x more impact for every $ I donate.
  • This year, make sure your donations are making the biggest impact possible. Your donation can go 100x further with the best charities. Find them at givingwhatwecan.org/best-charities
  • Take meaningful action on some of the world’s biggest problems by donating to effective charities this holiday season. Find where to donate to make a real impact at givingwhatwecan.org/best-charities
  • Did you know your donation can be 100x more impactful? 🌍 Discover Giving What We Can's recommended charities and maximize your impact this Giving Season. givingwhatwecan.org/best-charities

Sample social posts about GWWC’s pledges:

We’d strongly suggest writing your own version of something like the below, if you’d like to talk about our pledges. Your unique voice and perspective is really powerful!

  • For so long I wanted to give back but never knew how. Now, I’ve pledged to give away 10% of my lifetime income to highly effective charities and know that each year I’m making a meaningful impact with @givingwhatwecan
  • If you’re looking for a new year’s resolution to do more good - why not consider a giving pledge with @givingwhatwecan? I’ve pledged to give 10% of my income to highly effective charities and it’s been one of the best commitments I’ve made
  • For 2024, why not commit to give a portion of your income to the world’s best charities? I took a pledge back in 20XX and it’s been one of the most meaningful things I’ve done.

Consider an image of you holding your pledge certificate, a printed donation or something else related to your giving.

Email signature ideas

Consider adding one of the options below to your email signature, as in the example:

Best wishes,
Grace Adams
I donate to some of the world’s best charities via Giving What We Can - check out their 2024 recommendations!

Donation focused

Pledge focused

Final Notes

  • Always include relevant hashtags and tag @givingwhatwecan where applicable (we’re @giving_what_we_can on Instagram).
  • Please ensure that all words and images used are respectful, inclusive, and align with GWWC's values.