Reading the GiveDirectly response highlighted important epistemic differences as a key differentiator for donors who may want to give directly—namely, whether or not you agree with GiveWell’s moral weights and whether or not you value empowering individual choice.
While many donors may be seeking to maximize “impact” from an outcomes perspective and agree with GiveWell’s approach for moral weights, I’ve found that individual empowerment resonates equally if not more with some groups. Even if GiveWell stops directing funds to GiveDirectly, it seems important to highlight these differences in values and approach elsewhere among donor facing materials in EA, such as this GWWC page.
I think the ‘resonating with individual empowerment’ point is important. While Give Directly may not be as effective as the top charities recommended by Give Well, in my experience it has a ‘low intellectual bar to entry’ for getting non-EAs to donate. I’ve had trouble convincing certain people to donate to charities like GW’s Top 4 (and existential risk initiatives are an even harder sell), but Give Directly seems to resonate quite easily — it’s still more effective than most of the charities out there, especially in the poverty alleviation space.
Thanks for posting these two together!
Reading the GiveDirectly response highlighted important epistemic differences as a key differentiator for donors who may want to give directly—namely, whether or not you agree with GiveWell’s moral weights and whether or not you value empowering individual choice.
While many donors may be seeking to maximize “impact” from an outcomes perspective and agree with GiveWell’s approach for moral weights, I’ve found that individual empowerment resonates equally if not more with some groups. Even if GiveWell stops directing funds to GiveDirectly, it seems important to highlight these differences in values and approach elsewhere among donor facing materials in EA, such as this GWWC page.
I think the ‘resonating with individual empowerment’ point is important. While Give Directly may not be as effective as the top charities recommended by Give Well, in my experience it has a ‘low intellectual bar to entry’ for getting non-EAs to donate. I’ve had trouble convincing certain people to donate to charities like GW’s Top 4 (and existential risk initiatives are an even harder sell), but Give Directly seems to resonate quite easily — it’s still more effective than most of the charities out there, especially in the poverty alleviation space.