I really like this idea! Personally, I am rather susceptible to gamification and tend to think of effective donations as a major “hobby”[1], so this is right up my alley.
One additional function that I believe would be really valuable is to be able to give gift vouchers to other app users. I like the general idea of donations-as-gifts, since it is often more valuable than the options and because it enables you to introduce friends and family to effective giving. However, merely donating in someone else’s name can be a bit tricky, since it sometimes feels like you are just doing whatever you wanted to do with the money, and sticking their name on it as an afterthought. I believe that giving gift vouchers for this type of project would give the gift receiver more autonomy in deciding how to use the funds, and thus feel more like a genuine gift. It would also give them an opportunity to read and learn about a few different effective projects and decide what is most closely in line with their values. Moreover, giving through this app would ensure that they are not only exposed to effective giving once but repeatedly, thereby having a larger chance of becoming habit-forming. So it would make it much easier for effective donors to also share these ideas with others, and might be an effective way to increase the pool of donors.
Building even more on this idea, one could perhaps also use donation matching to incentivize even further donations. So rather than giving you X dollars, I offer to automatically match any donations you make through the app up to X dollars.
Finally, the idea of giving many small donations to different organizations might also be useful to help people become less attached to a single cause area and more dedicated to effective giving generally.
I wish you the best of luck with the project and look forward to seeing how it progresses!
With “hobby” I do not mean something that is trivial or non-mandatory, but rather something that I really enjoy spending my free time thinking and reading and talking about. So being prompted to learn more about it once a day would be more enjoyable than annoying.
Thank you very much for the super helpful feedback. I love the idea of giving donation credit as a gift. I’ve felt the same conundrum when donating on behalf of others where you’re ultimately choosing for them where the money goes. Giving them the money then letting them choose the destination is a great fix.
Matching funds is also something I’d love to incorporate though the way I thought of it could be a corporate or larger donor could sponsor a challenge like when you hit 30 days of consistent giving your next five donations could be matched. Or to drive donations to a specific place: if 100 individuals give to this specific charity today then the sponsor will match the amount.
There’s loads of potential to find ways to motivate others through ‘bonus’ donations. I would want to target people to support this program at a larger level who might be able to back the 30 days of consistent giving unlocks $20 of extra money to be directed by the user.
Would be great to continue brainstorming.
I also feel that the app would benefit from being able to educate the users about the three prompted causes each day. That way the giving is less robotic and more investigative. People who perhaps had not been exposed to FGM or the impact of malaria or climate change adaptation have a resource to expand their connection to philanthropy
I am happy to continue brainstorming! Here are a handful of quick ideas:
I really liked the idea of getting a donation-matching award when reaching milestones!
Perhaps you could add this project itself as one of the donation options? These funds would be used for operation costs and milestone awards. Of course, it is a bit speculative how effective it will be, but once it has been in use for some time you might be able to estimate its multiplier. It also sounds like a good idea to seek some seed grants from a larger funder.
I know that Clearer Thinking has done some research on habit formation and daily rituals that might be useful in designing the app. They often discuss and promote EA ideas, so it could be a good idea to reach out to them directly for advice!
I also like the idea mentioned by Charlotte in another comment of building virtual rewards, similar to ‘Forest’. This could help people stay motivated over time, but could also be really useful for dramatically visualizing the differences in scope, and incentivize users to aim for more impact. If you are building your virtual chicken farm, you will be able to clearly see the difference between a charity that is 10x as effective as another, and be properly motivated to maximize the number of chickens per donation.
Also, feel free to reach out to me by direct message if you want to bounce ideas. This is not my area of expertise, but I am happy to help if there is something I can do!
I really like this idea! Personally, I am rather susceptible to gamification and tend to think of effective donations as a major “hobby”[1], so this is right up my alley.
One additional function that I believe would be really valuable is to be able to give gift vouchers to other app users. I like the general idea of donations-as-gifts, since it is often more valuable than the options and because it enables you to introduce friends and family to effective giving. However, merely donating in someone else’s name can be a bit tricky, since it sometimes feels like you are just doing whatever you wanted to do with the money, and sticking their name on it as an afterthought. I believe that giving gift vouchers for this type of project would give the gift receiver more autonomy in deciding how to use the funds, and thus feel more like a genuine gift. It would also give them an opportunity to read and learn about a few different effective projects and decide what is most closely in line with their values. Moreover, giving through this app would ensure that they are not only exposed to effective giving once but repeatedly, thereby having a larger chance of becoming habit-forming. So it would make it much easier for effective donors to also share these ideas with others, and might be an effective way to increase the pool of donors.
Building even more on this idea, one could perhaps also use donation matching to incentivize even further donations. So rather than giving you X dollars, I offer to automatically match any donations you make through the app up to X dollars.
Finally, the idea of giving many small donations to different organizations might also be useful to help people become less attached to a single cause area and more dedicated to effective giving generally.
I wish you the best of luck with the project and look forward to seeing how it progresses!
With “hobby” I do not mean something that is trivial or non-mandatory, but rather something that I really enjoy spending my free time thinking and reading and talking about. So being prompted to learn more about it once a day would be more enjoyable than annoying.
Thank you very much for the super helpful feedback. I love the idea of giving donation credit as a gift. I’ve felt the same conundrum when donating on behalf of others where you’re ultimately choosing for them where the money goes. Giving them the money then letting them choose the destination is a great fix.
Matching funds is also something I’d love to incorporate though the way I thought of it could be a corporate or larger donor could sponsor a challenge like when you hit 30 days of consistent giving your next five donations could be matched. Or to drive donations to a specific place: if 100 individuals give to this specific charity today then the sponsor will match the amount.
There’s loads of potential to find ways to motivate others through ‘bonus’ donations. I would want to target people to support this program at a larger level who might be able to back the 30 days of consistent giving unlocks $20 of extra money to be directed by the user.
Would be great to continue brainstorming.
I also feel that the app would benefit from being able to educate the users about the three prompted causes each day. That way the giving is less robotic and more investigative. People who perhaps had not been exposed to FGM or the impact of malaria or climate change adaptation have a resource to expand their connection to philanthropy
I am happy to continue brainstorming! Here are a handful of quick ideas:
I really liked the idea of getting a donation-matching award when reaching milestones!
Perhaps you could add this project itself as one of the donation options? These funds would be used for operation costs and milestone awards. Of course, it is a bit speculative how effective it will be, but once it has been in use for some time you might be able to estimate its multiplier. It also sounds like a good idea to seek some seed grants from a larger funder.
I know that Clearer Thinking has done some research on habit formation and daily rituals that might be useful in designing the app. They often discuss and promote EA ideas, so it could be a good idea to reach out to them directly for advice!
I also like the idea mentioned by Charlotte in another comment of building virtual rewards, similar to ‘Forest’. This could help people stay motivated over time, but could also be really useful for dramatically visualizing the differences in scope, and incentivize users to aim for more impact. If you are building your virtual chicken farm, you will be able to clearly see the difference between a charity that is 10x as effective as another, and be properly motivated to maximize the number of chickens per donation.
Also, feel free to reach out to me by direct message if you want to bounce ideas. This is not my area of expertise, but I am happy to help if there is something I can do!