Allan Saldanha

I have always been keen on matched fundraising. Not only does it increase the amount of money raised, but it also involves collaborating with other people and makes people feel better about the money they donate. This is why I set up a fundraising page for SCI, quadrupling donations this Christmas.

I always used to look for donation matching appeals to increase the impact of my donation. However, after reading about effective altruism, I learnt how some charities are many times more effective than others - to a degree that can dwarf the impact of donation matching to less effective charities. I 

 Giving What We Can in 2014 and have since tried to use donation matching to fundraise for the most effective charities.

It’s obviously important to try to publicise effective altruism and the most effective charities to as wide an audience as possible. Matched fundraising has allowed me to reach out to my friends, family and colleagues – hopefully leading them to donate more to effective charities and eventually to more people joining Giving What We Can.

My own personal experience was that I only became a Giving What We Can member after a matching appeal.

I first heard of Giving What We Can from an article about Toby Ord in 2010. I was very impressed with the idea of donating 10% of your income to effective charities, but it seemed like too big a commitment at the time and I forgot all about it.

In 2013, while looking for matched fundraising on the internet, I came across 

- a matched fundraising campaign for the 

 (AMF). This led me to read about AMF, and I was astonished to learn that 

a life was saved for every £2,000 donated to AMF

. I was delighted to make a matched donation to such an effective charity, and was then contacted by Rob Gledhill from Giving What We Can. After discussions with Rob and some deliberation, I decided I would make the pledge once I got back to work. I started a new job in May 2014 and took the pledge then.

Last Christmas I took advantage of generous donation matching offered by 

 to offer quadruple matching for donations to AMF. I offered to match all donations up to £5,000. After Charity Science's matching, this would be multiplied to £20,000. In the event, we had generous donations of £6,700 before I decided to close my chequebook (!), and Charity Science's matching as well as gift aid multiplied our fundraising to a total of £32,632- see 

 Based on Givewell’s estimates, our fundraiser saved 15 lives!

This year, I’m again taking advantage of Charity Science’s generous matching with a quadruple matching fundraiser for the 

 (SCI)- another of Giving What We Can’s 

. SCI works in sub-Saharan Africa to supply drugs and health education to protect against schistosomiasis (bilharzia) and other Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) caused by intestinal worms. NTDs are so-called because treatment is cheap and effective, but interventions in the area are chronically underfunded due to lack of publicity. Schistosomiasis is the most deadly NTD, killing an 

SCI has a strong track record, and its cost-effectiveness is so high that it has been designated a “best buy” in public health by the World Health Organisation. The cost per treatment is only 50p. Givewell's evaluators 

 that similarly to AMF, a life is saved for every £2,000 or so donated to SCI (estimates are subject to substantial uncertainty). So I’ve set up a 

 offering to quadruple donations- I’ll match all donations up to a total of £8,000 (capped at £1,000 per individual) made before 25th December, and with charity science's matching, all donations will be quadrupled (or more including gift aid). This page can only accept GBP donations and only offers UK Tax deductibility.

, and maybe consider setting up your own quadruple fundraiser page for SCI (with a carefully chosen maximum total of course) and publicise effective altruism to your friends, family and colleagues! If you’d like to discuss setting up your own quadruple fundraiser, please get in touch with me (

Many Thanks for your generosity! Allan Saldanha

Quadruple your donation to SCI!

 that allows you to have your donation to AMF quadrupled this Christmas. This is a great opportunity to increase the impact of your donation! Read on to learn more about Allan's motivation for matching donations.

I have also always been keen on match fundraising. Not only does it increase the amount of money raised, it also involves collaborating with other people and psychologically makes people feel better about the money they donate. I always look for donation matching appeals at christmas time (when they tend to occur) to increase the impact of my donation.

There are critics of donation matching who argue that it can distract donors and lead to a misallocation of donations, and that donors should focus on donating to the most effective charities. Research by Givewell and other charity evaluators clearly shows that some charities are many times more effective than others, and clearly this can dwarf the impact of matching.

However I think it's possible to have the best of both worlds, and since I joined Giving What We Can, I'm keen to maximise the impact of my donations by looking for matching opportunities for the most effective charities.

 has kindly offered to match all donations to the 

 up to 31st December 2014, so I've set up the below fundraising page offering to match all donations up to a total of £5,000. After Charity Science's matching, this then means that donations to the page will be quadrupled (to raise a total of up to £20,000).

Many thanks for your generosity- please donate before the 31st December 2014 deadline.

Allan Saldanha

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Quadruple your donation to SCI!

Quadruple your donation to AMF- in praise of donation matching