Thanks for all the considered comments. Some of these are definitely questions that we wrestled with and we are open to adapt and change if we feel that’s right.
This is out core promotional video so please have a look and circulate
1% vs. 5% vs. 10%:
This is a very challenging but important question and everyone is likely to respond differently to this depending on their specific perspective. For hardcore EA people (probably anyone reading this post) it may seem very low. - N.B. The Pledge is at least 1% and in the promotional content we highlight the additive benefits of donating more.
We also will aim to reconsult our member base to invite them to review their Pledge and increase it over the years
10% I have found anecdotally to be a real turn-off for people. In the UK right now there are ongoing strikes regarding doctor’s pay which I think have a good basis, but people do not “feel” like they have surplus.
5% is a feasible alternative, but we wanted to reach out to this most unfamiliar with EA, for whom I think even 5% seems a lot in current culture.
The risk of people fulfilling their moral obligation with a lower amount is a real issue to consider, but hard to balance against other pros of a lower buy-in/threshold to click/read on
Outcomes of the Pledge
We hope that for many this kind of EA-lite Pledge will be a gateway for people to encounter EA ideas and learn more about the philosophy, which is a gain that’s hard to quantify
Healthcare Workers only
This is not an attempt to make it “exclusive”, but this may be perceived this way by some.
So far, having a healthcare community focus has made it much easier to reach out to various medical associations and training programmes to spread the message.
We are quite a new organisation, primarily having outreach in the UK so far and hoping to expand over the next few years. We are making links in the US and Australia too. Our primary limitation is that we 3 co-founders are all working doctors ourselves doing this entirely in our spare time.
A midpoint approach (working hypothesis) could be to offer a lower standard pledge for GiveHealth (1%-5%) to appeal to a wider audience, but also mentioning the GWWC 10% Pledge in a few places and provide a link to it, similar to what AAC has done.
Normalising the 10% pledge often involves showing that others are already doing it. Therefore, it is important to ensure that when people pledge 1%, they are aware that there is a community (GWWC) that they can join, which pledges a higher amount (10%). I am very excited about this project and the potential to encourage a large number of healthcare professionals to give effectively. However, I would like to note that in GWWC’s most recent impact evaluation, we found that a small but significant percentage of our Trial Pledgers have gone on to take the 10% Pledge. This likely represents the majority of the value we provide through the Trial Pledge. I believe this could also be true for people taking a GiveHealth pledge if you also were to promote a 10% pledge, although I am uncertain about this.
I also agree with Vaidehi Agarwalla’s suggestion to reach out to OFTW and learn from their experience with the 1% pledge, including churn rates and other factors.
Thanks for all the considered comments. Some of these are definitely questions that we wrestled with and we are open to adapt and change if we feel that’s right.
This is out core promotional video so please have a look and circulate
1% vs. 5% vs. 10%:
This is a very challenging but important question and everyone is likely to respond differently to this depending on their specific perspective. For hardcore EA people (probably anyone reading this post) it may seem very low. - N.B. The Pledge is at least 1% and in the promotional content we highlight the additive benefits of donating more.
We also will aim to reconsult our member base to invite them to review their Pledge and increase it over the years
10% I have found anecdotally to be a real turn-off for people. In the UK right now there are ongoing strikes regarding doctor’s pay which I think have a good basis, but people do not “feel” like they have surplus.
5% is a feasible alternative, but we wanted to reach out to this most unfamiliar with EA, for whom I think even 5% seems a lot in current culture.
The risk of people fulfilling their moral obligation with a lower amount is a real issue to consider, but hard to balance against other pros of a lower buy-in/threshold to click/read on
Outcomes of the Pledge
We hope that for many this kind of EA-lite Pledge will be a gateway for people to encounter EA ideas and learn more about the philosophy, which is a gain that’s hard to quantify
Healthcare Workers only
This is not an attempt to make it “exclusive”, but this may be perceived this way by some.
So far, having a healthcare community focus has made it much easier to reach out to various medical associations and training programmes to spread the message.
Nestling the Pledge within a professional body/community has precedent with other giving Pledges (https://reg-charity.org/ https://www.highimpactathletes.org/ ) and we think this has value
We are quite a new organisation, primarily having outreach in the UK so far and hoping to expand over the next few years. We are making links in the US and Australia too. Our primary limitation is that we 3 co-founders are all working doctors ourselves doing this entirely in our spare time.
Really appreciate all of your input and we’d be delighted to hear from anyone by email info@give-health.org or alastair.yeoh@give-health.org if you’d like to be involved.
Thanks,
Dr Alastair Yeoh
Co-founder GiveHealth
A midpoint approach (working hypothesis) could be to offer a lower standard pledge for GiveHealth (1%-5%) to appeal to a wider audience, but also mentioning the GWWC 10% Pledge in a few places and provide a link to it, similar to what AAC has done.
Normalising the 10% pledge often involves showing that others are already doing it. Therefore, it is important to ensure that when people pledge 1%, they are aware that there is a community (GWWC) that they can join, which pledges a higher amount (10%). I am very excited about this project and the potential to encourage a large number of healthcare professionals to give effectively. However, I would like to note that in GWWC’s most recent impact evaluation, we found that a small but significant percentage of our Trial Pledgers have gone on to take the 10% Pledge. This likely represents the majority of the value we provide through the Trial Pledge. I believe this could also be true for people taking a GiveHealth pledge if you also were to promote a 10% pledge, although I am uncertain about this.
I also agree with Vaidehi Agarwalla’s suggestion to reach out to OFTW and learn from their experience with the 1% pledge, including churn rates and other factors.