Whether you’d enjoy the book and benefit from it depends strongly on your background, I think.
To me, this was a good read because I learned about a broad range of interventions for helping people—graduation programs and child sponsorships being probably the most notable examples. The book really changed my mind on child sponsorships. I had thought of them as a rather high-overhead intervention that was popular because it appeals to emotion to get donors’ money… but now I think they can be cost-effective when done well.
That said, if your goal is to learn about various effective interventions (beyond the few that GiveWell writes about), then a good and free resource would be the life you can save book.
The second reason to recommend the book is its good discussion on “flourishing”, that is, a holistic view of health, wellbeing, and prosperity. Finally, a third reason to read it is to get a Christian perspective on the subject, or give the book to Christian friends.
Whether you’d enjoy the book and benefit from it depends strongly on your background, I think.
To me, this was a good read because I learned about a broad range of interventions for helping people—graduation programs and child sponsorships being probably the most notable examples. The book really changed my mind on child sponsorships. I had thought of them as a rather high-overhead intervention that was popular because it appeals to emotion to get donors’ money… but now I think they can be cost-effective when done well.
That said, if your goal is to learn about various effective interventions (beyond the few that GiveWell writes about), then a good and free resource would be the life you can save book.
The second reason to recommend the book is its good discussion on “flourishing”, that is, a holistic view of health, wellbeing, and prosperity. Finally, a third reason to read it is to get a Christian perspective on the subject, or give the book to Christian friends.