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.
Overall, would you recommend reading the book?
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.