Student giving

Become who your values say you are.

You don’t need a salary to make giving part of your life. Pledge 1% of your spending money now and start building a habit of generosity.

Take the pledgeSee how it works
Two students holding notebooks and textbooks

Join a global community that tackles the most pressing issues.

12,800+
members that took the pledge
$500m+
donated to high-impact charities since 2009
17+ Years
of independent research and recommendations

Don’t wait to be rich to be generous.

Most people choose to wait until they’re “earning enough” to start contributing to a better world, but they never quite get there. As a student, you can turn that idea around: pledge 1% of your spending money now, while the amounts are small and the habit is easy to build. By the time your first paycheque arrives, doing the morally ambitious thing won’t be a decision you need to make. It will simply be something you already do.

Quick maths

If you spend a month and donate $10 of that to charity, that’s only 1 pint of beer you’re giving up...

A pint of beer on a desk beside a laptop and a cap

Choose your pledge

The right time is right now.

🔸10% Pledge

Our most popular pledge

  • Give 1% of your expenses while studying.
  • Once you earn, give 10% of your income for life or until you retire.
  • Choose the charities you believe do the most good
Take the 10% Pledge

🔹Trial Pledge

A great place to start

  • Give 1% of your expenses while studying.
  • Once you earn, choose what percentage of income to give.
  • Set your own timeframe, from six months to five years
Take the Trial Pledge

You have more power than you think.

Your first salary will put you in the richest 5% of the world

In the global picture, an average post-graduate salary makes you part of the richest people in the world. This gives you an immense opportunity to create a fairer, better world. Especially if you start now.

Try the How Rich Am I Calculator

~$64,000

United States

~£28,500

United Kingdom

~A$77,000

Australia

~C$65,000

Canada

~€47,000

Germany

~€39,000

Netherlands

Typical starting or early-career pay, before tax: NACE 2024, HESA 2022/23, GOS 2025, NGS 2023, Stepstone H2 2024, OCW/CBS 2023.

There is no shortage of important causes that you can support

While our top minds are thinking about how to make people click ads and watch more reels. There are problems with known solutions just waiting to be solved, and often the missing piece is simply more funding.

  • Malaria

    Global malaria cases

    Rising

    A disease we know how to treat and prevent, in 2024 saw the highest number of cases in twenty years.

    Source: WHO World Malaria Report 2025

It's a rare community, a really special community of people dedicated to trying to make a difference, which is just hard to come across.

Ollie Base, member since 2017

Ollie Base | Giving What We Can member since 2017

Frequently Asked Questions

View all
As a student, your pledge commits you to 1% of your expenses, usually the price of a couple cups of coffees per month. We think that this is a good fit for most students. We believe that every little bit helps, and even a small donation can make a big difference in the lives of those who need it most. But we also understand that everyone has different financial circumstances, and encourage those considering pledging to reflect on what is right for you, and to start with an amount that is meaningful and sustainable.