I think he donated £25 for that year, but I’m not sure how he picked that number and I have to admit I haven’t been very systematic since then. I think the following year I donated £100 to ACE, then missed a year, then for 2 years did 10% of my annual donations to the animal welfare EA fund (I’m a member of Giving What We Can, so that’s 1% of my salary).
I’m not sure I have a reasoned case for donating to animal welfare charities as offsets, since the animals that are helped are different to those I harm and consequentially it would surely be best to make all my donations to the organisation I think will help sentient beings most. But it seems pretty good to remember that I think it’s important and impactful to help various groups to whom I don’t give the lions share of my donations, and it seems plausibly good to show to others that I care about them by doing something concrete. With those considerations in mind it simply seems important for the donation to be an amount that feels non-negligible to me and others, rather than an amount exactly equal to the harm I’m doing. (That may simply be a rationalisation though, because I would rather not know exactly how much harm I’m causing and it would be a hassle to figure it out.)
I think he donated £25 for that year, but I’m not sure how he picked that number and I have to admit I haven’t been very systematic since then. I think the following year I donated £100 to ACE, then missed a year, then for 2 years did 10% of my annual donations to the animal welfare EA fund (I’m a member of Giving What We Can, so that’s 1% of my salary).
I’m not sure I have a reasoned case for donating to animal welfare charities as offsets, since the animals that are helped are different to those I harm and consequentially it would surely be best to make all my donations to the organisation I think will help sentient beings most. But it seems pretty good to remember that I think it’s important and impactful to help various groups to whom I don’t give the lions share of my donations, and it seems plausibly good to show to others that I care about them by doing something concrete. With those considerations in mind it simply seems important for the donation to be an amount that feels non-negligible to me and others, rather than an amount exactly equal to the harm I’m doing. (That may simply be a rationalisation though, because I would rather not know exactly how much harm I’m causing and it would be a hassle to figure it out.)