Morally it is a very good thing to donate to highly-effective charities such as Against Malaria Foundation because the money will go very far to do a lot of good.
To elaborate:
Consider that in relatively-rich developed countries, many governments and people are willing to spend large amounts of money, in the range of $1,000,000-$10,000,000, to avert (prevent) a death. For example, the United States Department of Transportation put the value of a life at $9.2 million in 2014.
In comparison, according to estimates of researchers at the nonprofit GiveWell, which is dedicated to finding outstanding giving opportunities and publishing the full details of their analysis to help donors decide where to give, it only costs about $2,300 to save a life if that money is given to Against Malaria Foundation, one of GiveWell’s top charities.
Specifically, consider these four cost-effectiveness estimate results:
GiveWell’s 2019 median staff estimate of the “Cost per under-5 death averted” for Against Malaria Foundation is $3,710.
GiveWell’s 2019 median staff estimate of the “Cost per age 5+ death averted” for Against Malaria Foundation is $6,269.
GiveWell’s 2019 median staff estimate of the “Cost per death averted at any age” for Against Malaria Foundation is $2,331.
GiveWell’s 2019 median staff estimate of the “Cost per outcome as good as: averting the death of an individual under 5” for Against Malaria Foundation is $1,690.
These are bargain prices enabling people like you to make your money go very far to do a lot of good, regardless of how much money you give.
If these sound like unbelievably low prices to you given the hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars that it can cost to save a life in developed countries such as the United States, consider that the reality is that millions of people die of preventable diseases every year in very poor countries in Africa and elsewhere. As such, these very inexpensive ways of saving lives very cost-effectively do in fact exist.
Since money you give to Against Malaria Foundation will go very far to do a lot of good to save lives, you should strongly consider donating to Against Malaria Foundation or another highly-effective charity if given the opportunity. Even a donation of just $10 to Against Malaria Foundation or another highly-effective charity will do a lot of good.
Based on GiveWell’s cost-effectiveness estimates above, and assuming that averting a death saves about 30 years of life on average, your decision to donate even just $10 to the Against Malaria Foundation will prevent approximately 47 days of life from being lost in expectation.
In summary, it is a very morally good and morally praiseworthy thing to donate to highly-effective charities such as Against Malaria Foundation because the money will go very far to do a lot of good.
My entry is different than all five of the Top 5 entries in that my entry is the only one to not engage with the objection “but what about the value of $10 for myself?”
The primary reason why people don’t give presumably is because they’d rather have the money for their own uses.
All five of the Top 5 arguments engage with this idea by implying in one way or another that taking the money for your own use would make you a selfish or bad person.
My entry seems mediocre (in part) because it only highlights the benefits of effective giving to others. It does not attempt to make the reader feel guilty about turning down these bargain opportunities and taking the $10 for oneself.
My entry (475 words):
My entry is different than all five of the Top 5 entries in that my entry is the only one to not engage with the objection “but what about the value of $10 for myself?”
The primary reason why people don’t give presumably is because they’d rather have the money for their own uses.
All five of the Top 5 arguments engage with this idea by implying in one way or another that taking the money for your own use would make you a selfish or bad person.
My entry seems mediocre (in part) because it only highlights the benefits of effective giving to others. It does not attempt to make the reader feel guilty about turning down these bargain opportunities and taking the $10 for oneself.