I just saw the post, I guess because of your comment.
I don’t think that the EA Hotel is one of the most impactful and cost effective charities in the world. However, if you got personal value out of it and can afford it, perhaps you could consider donating to them out of your non-charity money?
I think it’s good for EAs to contribute to the local community centres, churches, hospices etc that benefit them or the people they care about. I try to contribute to some charities that have benefited me personally, but I don’t count that as part of my 10%. Hopefully that makes sense.
I think this is a useful mindset to have “on the menu”. It seems reminiscent of the idea that we can have different “buckets”: some of our time and money can be for ourselves, some can be for doing good in “common sense” or “warm and fuzzy” ways, and some can be for doing good in the way that seems genuinely most effective, from an impartial perspective (or something like that).
Personally, I do something like that in some ways. E.g., for friends or family who will appreciate charity gifts on their birthdays, I give to charities that match their interests, rather than shoe-horning some EA into their days. And I also give plasma regularly, without having really thought about whether that’s the most effective use of my time (though it also doesn’t “cost” much time given that I can still listen to audiobooks/podcasts as I donate).
But my long-term plans are closer to the “Further Pledge” than the 10% pledge, in that I aim to eventually give everything beyond perhaps $15-30,000 USD yearly. Though I haven’t taken the Further Plesge yet, because I’m still working out things like my long-term location and career path, and because of arguments that might favour investing for a while and giving more later. So for now, I basically give 10% per year, spend at a frugal though not incredibly ascetic level, and save the remainder—but with that remainder still mostly in a “for EA-aligned stuff eventually” bucket, rather than in a “for me or for ‘common sense’ good stuff” bucket. (The rough idea is that I’ll eventually “back-pay” what I “should’ve” paid during the years in which I hadn’t yet taken the Further Pledge.)
All that said, I ultimately did decide to donate to CEEALAR the amount that I would’ve paid for my stay if I’d had to pay, with the motivation partly being what you describe: They’d provided me a service, and I had the ability to help support them in return. And I don’t plan to donate more in the foreseeable future, as I think the argument for donating to ALLFED or GCRI is probably stronger. But I did count that CEEALAR donation as part of my 10%, as I do think there’s at least a decent EA argument for supporting them (coming from a longtermist perspective).
I just saw the post, I guess because of your comment.
I don’t think that the EA Hotel is one of the most impactful and cost effective charities in the world. However, if you got personal value out of it and can afford it, perhaps you could consider donating to them out of your non-charity money?
I think it’s good for EAs to contribute to the local community centres, churches, hospices etc that benefit them or the people they care about. I try to contribute to some charities that have benefited me personally, but I don’t count that as part of my 10%. Hopefully that makes sense.
I think this is a useful mindset to have “on the menu”. It seems reminiscent of the idea that we can have different “buckets”: some of our time and money can be for ourselves, some can be for doing good in “common sense” or “warm and fuzzy” ways, and some can be for doing good in the way that seems genuinely most effective, from an impartial perspective (or something like that).
Personally, I do something like that in some ways. E.g., for friends or family who will appreciate charity gifts on their birthdays, I give to charities that match their interests, rather than shoe-horning some EA into their days. And I also give plasma regularly, without having really thought about whether that’s the most effective use of my time (though it also doesn’t “cost” much time given that I can still listen to audiobooks/podcasts as I donate).
But my long-term plans are closer to the “Further Pledge” than the 10% pledge, in that I aim to eventually give everything beyond perhaps $15-30,000 USD yearly. Though I haven’t taken the Further Plesge yet, because I’m still working out things like my long-term location and career path, and because of arguments that might favour investing for a while and giving more later. So for now, I basically give 10% per year, spend at a frugal though not incredibly ascetic level, and save the remainder—but with that remainder still mostly in a “for EA-aligned stuff eventually” bucket, rather than in a “for me or for ‘common sense’ good stuff” bucket. (The rough idea is that I’ll eventually “back-pay” what I “should’ve” paid during the years in which I hadn’t yet taken the Further Pledge.)
All that said, I ultimately did decide to donate to CEEALAR the amount that I would’ve paid for my stay if I’d had to pay, with the motivation partly being what you describe: They’d provided me a service, and I had the ability to help support them in return. And I don’t plan to donate more in the foreseeable future, as I think the argument for donating to ALLFED or GCRI is probably stronger. But I did count that CEEALAR donation as part of my 10%, as I do think there’s at least a decent EA argument for supporting them (coming from a longtermist perspective).