1) My employer gives £8k of matching funds, so I spent that on the GiveWell Maximum Impact Fund. I like this because: a) it gives me something obviously good to recommend to my colleagues to do with their matching. b) I like for some of my donations to go to things which are obviously good. c) I cannot give these funds to non-charities.
2) My other target this year was slightly different. I’ve been funding work around land use/housing policy reform in the UK. Nearing £30k given here so far. Primarily this is due to the arguments outlined in this excellent Founders Pledge report (this article is also a great summary) - so I won’t go over too many of the basic arguments here.
IMO housing policy reform:
Would address a huge problem for the UK economy
Is currently on the government’s agenda in a way that it hasn’t been in years
Is underfunded in the UK (in the US Open Phil funds a lot of work)
I’ve been donating to London YIMBY and PricedOutUK so far. Funds are largely being used to write policy papers, with a bit used for running costs/campaigning as well. Neither of these are charities, but I think that tax-deductibility isn’t a must.
I see this cause as an example of “Hits-based” giving. It isn’t at all certain that marginal donations will help get the proposed policy implemented, or that the policy will help once implemented. But the gains are such that a hit would be a big deal. I believe that donations here have the potential for large gains for relatively little money, and so probably meet the “x100″ bar for donations (and maybe the x1000).
I also see this as a case of being an “angel investor”, in that I am supporting very small organisations that may or may not scale up in the future. I’m also developing some connections such that I hopefully can recognise strong opportunities in this area in the future.
I intend to write up my thoughts on this as a cause area as a proper blog post at some point, but feel free to challenge me in the comments 🙂
Two main places this year:
1) My employer gives £8k of matching funds, so I spent that on the GiveWell Maximum Impact Fund. I like this because: a) it gives me something obviously good to recommend to my colleagues to do with their matching. b) I like for some of my donations to go to things which are obviously good. c) I cannot give these funds to non-charities.
2) My other target this year was slightly different. I’ve been funding work around land use/housing policy reform in the UK. Nearing £30k given here so far. Primarily this is due to the arguments outlined in this excellent Founders Pledge report (this article is also a great summary) - so I won’t go over too many of the basic arguments here.
IMO housing policy reform:
Would address a huge problem for the UK economy
Is currently on the government’s agenda in a way that it hasn’t been in years
Has a proposal with a real chance of success—Street Votes - (FAQ) - endorsed by the housing minister
Is underfunded in the UK (in the US Open Phil funds a lot of work)
I’ve been donating to London YIMBY and PricedOutUK so far. Funds are largely being used to write policy papers, with a bit used for running costs/campaigning as well. Neither of these are charities, but I think that tax-deductibility isn’t a must.
I see this cause as an example of “Hits-based” giving. It isn’t at all certain that marginal donations will help get the proposed policy implemented, or that the policy will help once implemented. But the gains are such that a hit would be a big deal. I believe that donations here have the potential for large gains for relatively little money, and so probably meet the “x100″ bar for donations (and maybe the x1000).
I also see this as a case of being an “angel investor”, in that I am supporting very small organisations that may or may not scale up in the future. I’m also developing some connections such that I hopefully can recognise strong opportunities in this area in the future.
I intend to write up my thoughts on this as a cause area as a proper blog post at some point, but feel free to challenge me in the comments 🙂
Edit to add: blog post