Reflections On Giving 10% Of My Income To Effective Charities
As part of the Effective Giving Spotlight for the giving season campaign on the forum, I’ve written a blog post about my experiences of donating 10% of my income to effective charities for the last 3 years through Giving What We Can.
The 1-minute summary is:
Sometimes it takes one podcast or article to give you the clarity you need to donate
The most enjoyable part for me was selecting a portfolio of charities that complement my day-to-day work and reflect my preferences for near-term vs long-term impact
The hardest part was ending donations to less effective charities that I was already giving to (not in the post but I think a matching campaign by pairing effective and less effective charities could help people move from one to the other. For example, if I give to homeless charities in the UK, I may be more likely to donate to similar, more effective charities such as GiveDirectly if given a matching incentive)
Impact through donations compounds over time much like savings and investments, leading to quite unbelievable results
Putting in place foundational financial planning actions can help overcome nervousness about donating large sums, particularly with the current cost of living crisis. As an accredited money coach, I share 5 actions that I support my clients with
I hope the article is interesting and possibly useful!
Thanks for sharing this with the forum, and also with the audience on medium.
I especially liked this moment:
”Listening to that podcast was one of those moments in life where you achieve complete clarity and know what you have to do. I immediately signed up for the pledge and started researching the charities I wanted to give to.”
Thanks for sharing this. I think it’s good to talk about the experience of earning to give from diverse perspectives.
However, I didn’t read your blog post because I couldn’t do so anonymously and the requirement to log in seemed only designed to collect marketing data.
Thanks Ian—try this link to see if you can view it anonymously:
https://medium.com/a-smiling-world/reflections-on-giving-10-of-my-income-to-effective-charities-95d1ae7f8ef9?source=friends_link&sk=33542072edbbef6c83c38833e544b5c6
Hey Samie, if you have a minute, would you mind swapping the in-text link for this one? Up to you, but it would help more interested readers see your post.
Hey Toby I’ve just updated it now—thank you for your comments!
That link works!