Thanks for sharing this post. I think it deserves a lot more thought and discussion. When I’ve asked this question in the past I’ve been encouraged to not go down this rabbit hole because it’s not effective, and I disagree.
I run a giving pledge and often encounter people who want to give with their heart. I never want to lead with the sentiment “The causes you care about aren’t an effective use of your resources” That’s just polarizing. So I’d rather meet them in the middle.
It makes me wonder if there’s a “loss leader” effect here: If people are encouraged to explore effectiveness in a cause area they care about (maybe a “normie” area like social justice or supporting victims of abuse), they might discover that either there’s not enough evidence of impact or that real change requires substantial research. That, in turn, could help them understand why effective organizations matter. It seems like an important part of the mindset shift.
I also notice organizations like GiveDirectly sometimes fund very visible causes, like emergency relief for widely publicized disasters (e.g., the LA wildfires). Clearly, that goes against the EA focus on highly-neglected problems. But perhaps it works as a kind of entry point: people who care about these high-profile issues can encounter GiveDirectly and then learn about other, highly effective but less-known opportunities. At least in the emergency relief space, we know GiveDirectly is doing effective work, which might help bridge that gap?
Here’s what else I’d want to know more about:
A list of questions one can ask directly of a charity with examples of what quality effective answers look like—it should quickly point to whether or not that charity has answers
Effective organizations that have some sort of focus on more popular issues—like climate change, emergency relief, women and children, etc—that way we can at least introduce more organizations than the few listed on GiveWell, The Life You Can Save, etc.
Thanks for sharing this post. I think it deserves a lot more thought and discussion. When I’ve asked this question in the past I’ve been encouraged to not go down this rabbit hole because it’s not effective, and I disagree.
I run a giving pledge and often encounter people who want to give with their heart. I never want to lead with the sentiment “The causes you care about aren’t an effective use of your resources” That’s just polarizing. So I’d rather meet them in the middle.
It makes me wonder if there’s a “loss leader” effect here: If people are encouraged to explore effectiveness in a cause area they care about (maybe a “normie” area like social justice or supporting victims of abuse), they might discover that either there’s not enough evidence of impact or that real change requires substantial research. That, in turn, could help them understand why effective organizations matter. It seems like an important part of the mindset shift.
I also notice organizations like GiveDirectly sometimes fund very visible causes, like emergency relief for widely publicized disasters (e.g., the LA wildfires). Clearly, that goes against the EA focus on highly-neglected problems. But perhaps it works as a kind of entry point: people who care about these high-profile issues can encounter GiveDirectly and then learn about other, highly effective but less-known opportunities. At least in the emergency relief space, we know GiveDirectly is doing effective work, which might help bridge that gap?
Here’s what else I’d want to know more about:
A list of questions one can ask directly of a charity with examples of what quality effective answers look like—it should quickly point to whether or not that charity has answers
Effective organizations that have some sort of focus on more popular issues—like climate change, emergency relief, women and children, etc—that way we can at least introduce more organizations than the few listed on GiveWell, The Life You Can Save, etc.
Update: I found this questionnaire from GiveWell to be very helpful
Do-It-Yourself Charity Evaluation Questions
https://www.givewell.org/charity-evaluation-questions?utm_source=chatgpt.com