Thanks in advance for any nudges! I’m a 52yr old with 25yrs experience as a veterinary specialist and have already experienced compassion fatigue/burn out/depression/physical exhaustion as many other ER vets have), and am now semi-retired by starting my own veterinary consulting company (myself and my spouse only, no other employees). I am now 5 years into earning to give (GWWC pledge signed, giving ~$40k USD/yr, expected to continue this for ~10-15yrs). My life goal is to end factory farming. My question: Is there a monetary amount that you would say is “enough” that it would justify continuing to earn to give, rather than investing time in skills development/training to start a not-for-profit or volunteer part or full time in an aligned field? Thanks for providing us (via Magda’s post) with the Probably Good’s profile on veterinary medicine. I am quite certain that from a mental health perspective, I do not want to spend my time fighting with US policy-makers who support the carnistic approach to our US food system, nor am I willing to immerse myself in research to improve slaughter methods, but possibly could help increase enrichment/happiness for animals who are trapped within the system. I am reluctant to become an employee again (unless for my own organization), but maybe this is just a cop-out, as I’m used to working relatively little (earing ~$400k/yr working ~20hrs/wk). I have extra time to give, but don’t want to spend it doing something less impactful (it feels risky making a transition). Since career advice is appropriately heavily focused on those finishing school and in their early career trajectory, advice focused on us oldies and even retired folks with loads of career capital to volunteer, and loads of cash to offload, your advice may be particularly impactful! Also, a big hello to other vets in this AMA :)
Hi Heather—thanks for messaging, and for all you’re doing.
Firstly, I’m really pro earning to give, and if that’s the path that best balances you having impact, using your skills, and having a lifestyle that isn’t burnout-inducing, that might be the best thing. Sounds to me like you’re crushing it! One fairly obvious way of having more impact would just be to share what you’re doing with other vets, and try to gently nudge them to consider some of the same things.
To actually tackle the question, it’s hard to put a fixed number on it, and I suspect you’d get different answers from different organisations as to whether they’d value your skills or your money higher (and the answers would likely change over time).[1]That said, if you were to found an effective organisation tackling factory farming, I’d bet that would be more valuable than your donations, perhaps significantly so. It would be more full-on and likely more stressful, but I’d consider applying for the Charity Entrepreneurship incubation programme in future if you’re more interested in founding something than being an employee (and assuming you could make time for the 2-month programme).
A less drastic move might be to explore serving on boards of some organisations in this space. I spotted a couple of opportunities from a quick scan here, and without knowing the ins and outs of the requirements, I’d bet there are a bunch of organisations that would benefit from your experience and expertise. The Hive community is also a great place for you to learn more about what’s going on in the space, connect with other likeminded people, and perhaps offer mentorship to those earlier in their careers.
I’d be happy to chat about this more if you’d find it valuable (our 1:1 advising page is here), and selfishly I’d also love to learn more about your journey. Thanks again!
You could try asking e.g. some of the organisations on the AAC jobs board, but I’m not sure you’d get answers, or how confident and accurate they’d be.
Hi Heather, thank you for everything that you do. I would say that there isn’t a “magic number” at which extra money stops being valuable and you should directly switch to direct work.
First of all, unfortunately the movement is still seriously under‑funded. The entire farmed‑animal‑advocacy sector spent only about US $200 million in 2020 (https://faunalytics.org/funding-dynamics-in-farmed-animal-advocacy/) That is orders of magnitude less than is spent on companion‑animal charities. Until that budget rises dramatically, every additional highly targeted dollar remains important.
Overall, I would say that earning‑to‑give is recommended so long as you 1) can earn unusually well and 2) do not have an alternative where your skills are clearly harder to replace.
Considering the above points, the “enough” threshold is not a money total, but rather the point where the next hour of consulting or the next dollar you donate does less good than an hour of direct work you that could sustainably perform.
I think that continuing to donate would be a good route for you that has likely already done a lot of good for farmed animals already. However, consider that board‑certified veterinarians are not easy to find and are generally scarce on farm‑animal welfare standard committees. If you were to join such a body, one hour of your time could unlock significant improvements; plus, you could still be donating as you’ve done in the past.
Thanks in advance for any nudges! I’m a 52yr old with 25yrs experience as a veterinary specialist and have already experienced compassion fatigue/burn out/depression/physical exhaustion as many other ER vets have), and am now semi-retired by starting my own veterinary consulting company (myself and my spouse only, no other employees). I am now 5 years into earning to give (GWWC pledge signed, giving ~$40k USD/yr, expected to continue this for ~10-15yrs). My life goal is to end factory farming. My question: Is there a monetary amount that you would say is “enough” that it would justify continuing to earn to give, rather than investing time in skills development/training to start a not-for-profit or volunteer part or full time in an aligned field? Thanks for providing us (via Magda’s post) with the Probably Good’s profile on veterinary medicine. I am quite certain that from a mental health perspective, I do not want to spend my time fighting with US policy-makers who support the carnistic approach to our US food system, nor am I willing to immerse myself in research to improve slaughter methods, but possibly could help increase enrichment/happiness for animals who are trapped within the system. I am reluctant to become an employee again (unless for my own organization), but maybe this is just a cop-out, as I’m used to working relatively little (earing ~$400k/yr working ~20hrs/wk). I have extra time to give, but don’t want to spend it doing something less impactful (it feels risky making a transition). Since career advice is appropriately heavily focused on those finishing school and in their early career trajectory, advice focused on us oldies and even retired folks with loads of career capital to volunteer, and loads of cash to offload, your advice may be particularly impactful! Also, a big hello to other vets in this AMA :)
Hi Heather—thanks for messaging, and for all you’re doing.
Firstly, I’m really pro earning to give, and if that’s the path that best balances you having impact, using your skills, and having a lifestyle that isn’t burnout-inducing, that might be the best thing. Sounds to me like you’re crushing it! One fairly obvious way of having more impact would just be to share what you’re doing with other vets, and try to gently nudge them to consider some of the same things.
To actually tackle the question, it’s hard to put a fixed number on it, and I suspect you’d get different answers from different organisations as to whether they’d value your skills or your money higher (and the answers would likely change over time).[1]That said, if you were to found an effective organisation tackling factory farming, I’d bet that would be more valuable than your donations, perhaps significantly so. It would be more full-on and likely more stressful, but I’d consider applying for the Charity Entrepreneurship incubation programme in future if you’re more interested in founding something than being an employee (and assuming you could make time for the 2-month programme).
A less drastic move might be to explore serving on boards of some organisations in this space. I spotted a couple of opportunities from a quick scan here, and without knowing the ins and outs of the requirements, I’d bet there are a bunch of organisations that would benefit from your experience and expertise. The Hive community is also a great place for you to learn more about what’s going on in the space, connect with other likeminded people, and perhaps offer mentorship to those earlier in their careers.
I’d be happy to chat about this more if you’d find it valuable (our 1:1 advising page is here), and selfishly I’d also love to learn more about your journey. Thanks again!
You could try asking e.g. some of the organisations on the AAC jobs board, but I’m not sure you’d get answers, or how confident and accurate they’d be.
Hi Heather, thank you for everything that you do. I would say that there isn’t a “magic number” at which extra money stops being valuable and you should directly switch to direct work.
First of all, unfortunately the movement is still seriously under‑funded. The entire farmed‑animal‑advocacy sector spent only about US $200 million in 2020 (https://faunalytics.org/funding-dynamics-in-farmed-animal-advocacy/) That is orders of magnitude less than is spent on companion‑animal charities. Until that budget rises dramatically, every additional highly targeted dollar remains important.
Second of all, in general the best charities still produce large welfare gains per dollar. A recent synthesis of Animal Charity Evaluators’ data on cage‑free corporate campaigns estimated that each U.S. dollar affects 9 – 120 chicken‑years of life (https://animalcharityevaluators.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/what-is-the-effect-of-cage-free-corporate-outreach-on-egg-laying-hens-welfare.pdf) On such numbers, your current US $40 000 annual giving could be improving conditions for hundreds of thousands (and up to a few million) animals each year.
Overall, I would say that earning‑to‑give is recommended so long as you 1) can earn unusually well and 2) do not have an alternative where your skills are clearly harder to replace.
Considering the above points, the “enough” threshold is not a money total, but rather the point where the next hour of consulting or the next dollar you donate does less good than an hour of direct work you that could sustainably perform.
I think that continuing to donate would be a good route for you that has likely already done a lot of good for farmed animals already. However, consider that board‑certified veterinarians are not easy to find and are generally scarce on farm‑animal welfare standard committees. If you were to join such a body, one hour of your time could unlock significant improvements; plus, you could still be donating as you’ve done in the past.