The 10% Pledge is a public, non-binding commitment to donate at least 10% of one’s income each year to the most cost-effective charities or funding opportunities one can identify. It is administered by Giving What We Can (GWWC) and serves both as a personal commitment device and as a norm-setting tool within the effective altruism community.

The 10% figure is chosen as a meaningful yet tractable baseline—large enough to be morally significant, yet small enough to accommodate long-term adherence for most high-income earners. It also aligns loosely with historical norms such as religious tithing while emphasising impartial, evidence-driven cause prioritisation.

The pledge is not legally enforceable, but GWWC encourages public declaration for accountability and movement-building purposes. As of 2025, 10,000 individuals across ~100 countries have pledged, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars in aggregate to high-impact causes, particularly in global health and development, animal welfare, and existential risk mitigation.

Within EA, the 10% Pledge is often discussed alongside higher-commitment options such as Further Pledge or Earning to Give, and as an accessible entry point to sustained, impact-focused giving.

Further reading

Giving What We Can (n.d.) The 🔸10% pledge, Giving What We Can.

Giving What We Can (n.d.) Why is the 🔸10% Pledge 10%?, Giving What We Can.
Outlines the reasoning behind choosing 10% as the commitment baseline.

Alana HF (2024) We’ve renamed the Giving What We Can Pledge, Effective Altruism Forum, July 1.

Giving What We Can (2025) A big milestone: 10,000 10% pledgers!, Effective Altruism Forum, August 14.

Related entries

donation pledge | effective giving | Giving What We Can Newsletter | earning to give