Toni Adleberg

Faiz Surani

GWWC Team

As individuals, we are not able to help everyone in need and so we must make difficult decisions about where we use our resources. One way of making such a decision might be to favour people who live locally. After all, there’s no shortage of people — even in the wealthiest countries — who need and deserve our help. We may be especially well-placed to attend to the needs of those near to us. Yet, while there may be some benefits to making local donations, it is in general vastly more cost-effective to support interventions in low-income countries.

Charity begins at home; shouldn't we solve our own problems before helping others?

This article is part of a series addressing 

As individuals, we are not able to help everyone in need and so we must make difficult decisions about where we use our resources. One way of making such a decision might be to favour people who live locally. After all, there’s no shortage of people --- even in the wealthiest countries --- who need and deserve our help. We may be especially well-placed to attend to the needs of those near to us. Yet, while there may be some benefits to making local donations, it is in general vastly more cost-effective to support interventions in low-income countries.

The proverb "charity begins at home" is often mistaken for scripture. The Bible 

 the importance of helping those nearest to us: "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever."

The phrase "charity begins at home" was popularised in the 17th century by Thomas Fuller, a British clergyman and historian. However, Fuller's meaning is often 

 today. He didn't mean that we should only help those near to us. His 

" (emphasis added). In other words, we should nurture a sense of compassion and generosity in our relationships with those around us, but we should then work to extend that compassion and generosity to the rest of the world.

Helping those near to us and helping those who are far away are not mutually exclusive. We can do both; it's just a matter of striking the right balance. We've not found that balance yet. For example, according to the 2023 

 report, only 6% of American donations went to international affairs organisations in 2022. This is consistent with cross-cultural research on generosity. A 

 conducted in Germany and China found that subjects in both countries were willing to forego greater sums of money to help those nearer to them than those farther away.

Figure 1. Subjects' generosity decreases as social distance increases.

In some cases, giving within your home country might make sense. If you live in a low- or middle-income country, there might be highly impactful giving opportunities in your community that you are well-suited to identify (see our 

). If you live in a high-income country like the U.S., it might make sense to give domestically depending on which cause you are interested in supporting. For example, if you are interested in advancing climate policy, it makes sense to work in a country where some of the largest corporations are located.

Most of the time however, if you live in a middle- or high-income country, you can maximise the impact of your dollar by sending it to a lower-income country. For $619, you can increase 

 in the U.S. by about 1%. For $547, you can 

 the income of a household in Kenya. In fact, for each dollar spent, those who live in wealthy countries can expect to do at least one hundred times more good for those in low-income countries than they could for themselves. Giving What We Can Co-Founder William MacAskill 

Charity might start at home, but it has a much greater impact when extended around the world.

You can direct your giving overseas by donating to one of our many 

that work internationally. You can also donate to EA Funds' 

, which aims to improve people's lives in the poorest regions of the world.

 of like-minded people who are working to make the world a better place.

Common Concerns About Donating to Charity

Surbhi Bharadwaj

The effects of foreign aid and international donations can feel distant and unknowable. However, a lot has been achieved through international charity, including the eradication of diseases and the lifting of billions out of extreme poverty.

Can foreign aid and international charity make a difference?

The effects of foreign aid and international donations can often feel distant and unknowable. However, a lot has been achieved through international charity, including the eradication of diseases and the lifting of billions out of extreme poverty.

People are often skeptical of foreign aid and international giving, perhaps because they have been aware of problems like global poverty for a long time and haven't observed much improvement. However, the lack of progress may not indicate that foreign aid doesn't work, but rather that there isn't enough of it. Foreign aid receives far less government funding than people think, 

. The funding that aid does receive is not always directed to the most effective interventions.

While not every single aid program works as intended, the widespread skepticism of aid isn't warranted. The truth is: foreign aid not only works, but is behind some of humanity's greatest successes. Foreign aid benefits all of us, but especially those in greatest need.

Despite being underfunded, a lot has been achieved by aid across the world. For example:

 following a World Health Organisation (WHO) 

 launched in 1966. A highly contagious disease, it accounted for nearly 

 in the 20th century. The international effort, which supplied endemic countries with vaccines and testing kits, 

 and eradicated smallpox from the entire world, with the last case being reported in 1977.

Guinea worm disease, a debilitating parasitic disease, is likely to be eradicated in the next few years thanks primarily to the efforts of the Carter Center, the WHO, and UNICEF. 

, the number of cases per year fell from 3.5 million to just 27. It is expected to be the first parasitic disease to be eradicated.

 against polio, an infectious disease that causes paralysis in children under the age of five, has led to a drastic fall in cases. There were 350,000 cases in 1988 and less than 175 in 2019. The 

 coordinates work across the WHO, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and UNICEF. It sources 

Research suggests that, from 2000--2015, aid in the form of anti-malarial interventions have prevented about 663 million malarial fevers. There were 262 million cases of malaria in 2000, and 

 in 2015. Long-lasting insecticide treated bed nets are particularly effective; they are responsible for about 68% of the malaria reduction, or about 450 million cases of malaria. The animated images below show the increase in bednets from 2000--2015, along with the associated decrease in malaria cases. Learn more on our 

How much is spent on foreign aid and international charity?

 to international charities in 2018. In relative terms, these are tiny amounts. Compare them to the median annual revenue of a Fortune 500 company ($5.6 billion USD) and the 2019 GDP of the U.S. (

). Even the U.S.'s miniscule spending on foreign aid has helped us make 

. Just think what we could achieve if we gave more, especially if we gave to the most effective programs!

Instead of pressuring governments to cut foreign aid spending, we should pressure them to be more transparent about their activities and impact, and to direct funds to the most effective programs. Just as we seek to fix problems that arise in domestic agencies instead of simply cutting their funding, we should seek to improve foreign aid, not end it.

You can help alleviate suffering around the world by donating to our 

Faiz Surani is a member of Giving What We Can. He's currently an undergraduate at University of California, Santa Barbara studying computer science. His interests include graph theory, constitutional law, and of course, effective altruism.

Faiz Surani is a member of Giving What We Can and currently an undergraduate at University of California, Santa Barbara studying computer science.

Faiz Surani

About

Articles

Charity begins at home; shouldn't we solve our own problems before helping others?

Can foreign aid and international charity make a difference?