I like the pledge in it’s current form and I think it strikes an excellent balance. However, I’m a little uncomfortable with the GWWC Pledge ‘Drive’ in it’s current form.
I like the analogy of marriage that you’ve used above Julia, but I this further clarifies to me something that the Pledge is a very serious, long-term decision. Such decisions require a lot of thought and planning and the specifics of an individual’s situation are important, and even then they don’t always work out, particularly if taken at a young age. As such, I worry it is inappropriate to actively encourage a person to take such a decision, particularly in a short time frame.
I would prefer to see advocacy focus initially on getting people excited about the concepts of EA, doing their own reading etc. Once they’ve decided they want to participate by donating, I think the GWWC website is a great resource and encouraging people to sign up for the ‘Try Giving’ section is good too because it seems like a really useful tool to track your giving and make sure you hold yourself accountable to the actions you believe to be correct. Hopefully, this will eventually lead to many of them making their own decision to take the Pledge in their own time.
Let’s say the focus of the Drive switched from new ‘Pledges’ to new ‘Try Givers’. It seems likely to me that each of these Try Givers will take the Pledge in their own time or they’ll realize the commitment was too much for them and not take it. In the case of the former, the outcome of switching is the same. In the case of the latter, it’s likely that these people would have regretted taking the Pledge pre-maturely and likely will default on it at some stage. Perhaps guilt will lead them to donate more or try harder to stick with it, but I’m not sure that’s really a winning outcome.
Thanks, this is a good point. I do think the balance between excitement/action and careful contemplation of a serious life choice is a tricky one, and we’ve probably made mistakes here at times.
I like the pledge in it’s current form and I think it strikes an excellent balance. However, I’m a little uncomfortable with the GWWC Pledge ‘Drive’ in it’s current form.
I like the analogy of marriage that you’ve used above Julia, but I this further clarifies to me something that the Pledge is a very serious, long-term decision. Such decisions require a lot of thought and planning and the specifics of an individual’s situation are important, and even then they don’t always work out, particularly if taken at a young age. As such, I worry it is inappropriate to actively encourage a person to take such a decision, particularly in a short time frame. I would prefer to see advocacy focus initially on getting people excited about the concepts of EA, doing their own reading etc. Once they’ve decided they want to participate by donating, I think the GWWC website is a great resource and encouraging people to sign up for the ‘Try Giving’ section is good too because it seems like a really useful tool to track your giving and make sure you hold yourself accountable to the actions you believe to be correct. Hopefully, this will eventually lead to many of them making their own decision to take the Pledge in their own time.
Let’s say the focus of the Drive switched from new ‘Pledges’ to new ‘Try Givers’. It seems likely to me that each of these Try Givers will take the Pledge in their own time or they’ll realize the commitment was too much for them and not take it. In the case of the former, the outcome of switching is the same. In the case of the latter, it’s likely that these people would have regretted taking the Pledge pre-maturely and likely will default on it at some stage. Perhaps guilt will lead them to donate more or try harder to stick with it, but I’m not sure that’s really a winning outcome.
Sorry I missed seeing this earlier.
Thanks, this is a good point. I do think the balance between excitement/action and careful contemplation of a serious life choice is a tricky one, and we’ve probably made mistakes here at times.