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Earn­ing to give

TagLast edit: Jan 11, 2022, 9:46 PM by Pablo

Earning to give is the pursuit of a lucrative career with the purpose of donating a significant portion of the earnings to cost-effective organizations.

The value of earning to give may not be immediately obvious, since people tend to think of ethical jobs as those with a direct positive impact. A useful framing for comparing the social impact of earning to give with that of traditional careers in the nonprofit sector is to consider whether someone pursuing a lucrative career could earn enough to fund at least one nonprofit worker as competent as him- or herself. This will often be the case because there is considerable salary variation across career-types, because money is a fungible resource that can fund many different causes, and because the impact of a charity worker is usually only marginally higher than that of its counterfactual replacement.[1]

Although this approach has sometimes been represented as the highest impact type of career, 80,000 Hours currently believes that it is the best option for only a small proportion of members of the effective altruism community.[2] To a significant extent, this follows from the fact that the most promising causes tend to be talent-constrained rather than funding-constrained.[3]

The expression earning to save has been suggested for a type of earning to give where earnings are invested for later disbursement rather than donated immediately.[4][5] A “moderate” version of investing until the end of a person’s career may be contrasted with an “extreme” version of investing for as long as possible (potentially involving many generations, centuries or millennia).

Further reading

MacAskill, William (2014) Replaceability, career choice, and making a difference, Ethical theory and moral practice, vol. 17, pp. 269–283.

Shulman, Carl (2012) Salary or startup? How do-gooders can gain more from risky careers, 80,000 Hours, January 8.

Stafforini, Pablo (2014) Earning to give: an annotated bibliography, Pablo’s Miscellany, March 22 (updated 16 September 2016).

Tomasik, Brian (2006) Why activists should consider making lots of money, Essays on Reducing Suffering.

Wiblin, Robert (2017) Alex Gordon-Brown on making millions for charity each year by working in quant finance, 80,000 Hours, August 28.

Related entries

constraints on effective altruism | investing | patient altruism

  1. ^

    MacAskill, William (2014) Replaceability, career choice, and making a difference, Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, vol. 17, pp. 269–283.

  2. ^
  3. ^

    Todd, Benjamin (2015) Why you should focus more on talent gaps, not funding gaps, 80,000 Hours, November 27.

  4. ^

    Arnold, Raymond (2018) Earning to save (give 1%, save 10%), Effective Altruism Forum, November 26.

  5. ^

    Todd, Benjamin (2020) An argument for keeping open the option of earning to save, Effective Altruism Forum, August 31.

Earn To Give $1M/​year or Work Directly?

Yonatan CaleAug 29, 2022, 12:43 PM
60 points
44 comments1 min readEA link

What Is earn­ing to give?

Peter WildefordJun 26, 2013, 4:00 AM
10 points
0 comments3 min readEA link

Salary Ne­go­ti­a­tion for Earn­ing to Give

mulholioApr 3, 2019, 12:30 PM
57 points
28 comments2 min readEA link

The Priv­ilege of Earn­ing To Give

Jeff Kaufman 🔸Jan 14, 2015, 1:59 AM
96 points
38 comments1 min readEA link

In­tro­duc­ing High Im­pact Professionals

Devon Fritz 🔸Oct 19, 2021, 8:27 AM
152 points
12 comments9 min readEA link

Thoughts on earn­ing to give (MCF 2024 memo)

Sjir Hoeijmakers🔸Oct 2, 2024, 1:56 PM
48 points
13 comments6 min readEA link

Still donat­ing half

Julia_Wise🔸Dec 4, 2024, 2:54 PM
355 points
6 comments5 min readEA link

Money Can’t (Easily) Buy Talent

Mark XuJan 22, 2021, 2:56 AM
51 points
29 comments11 min readEA link
(markxu.com)

Ap­ply to Ne­go­ti­at­ing for Good [Feb 26 - Mar 12]

Cillian_Jan 20, 2022, 11:21 AM
44 points
2 comments3 min readEA link

Earn­ing to Save (Give 1%, Save 10%)

RaemonNov 26, 2018, 11:47 PM
91 points
39 comments3 min readEA link

De­spite billions of ex­tra fund­ing, small donors can still have a sig­nifi­cant impact

Benjamin_ToddNov 23, 2021, 11:20 AM
166 points
47 comments12 min readEA link

Col­lege and Earn­ing to Give

Jeff Kaufman 🔸Dec 16, 2018, 8:23 PM
28 points
10 comments6 min readEA link

You Can Also Help An­i­mals By Earn­ing (More) in Other Ca­reer Paths and Donat­ing

Animal Advocacy CareersJul 31, 2023, 11:38 AM
78 points
4 comments16 min readEA link

Earn­ing to give may be the best op­tion for pa­tient EAs

JackMDec 26, 2021, 10:26 AM
31 points
5 comments6 min readEA link

AIM (CE) new pro­gram: Found­ing to Give. Ap­ply now to launch a high-growth com­pany!

CEMar 14, 2024, 12:13 PM
170 points
12 comments5 min readEA link

Show me the harm

Benjamin_ToddAug 6, 2013, 4:00 AM
7 points
1 comment7 min readEA link

Peter Hur­ford thinks that a large pro­por­tion of peo­ple should earn to give long term

Peter WildefordAug 17, 2015, 3:42 PM
53 points
77 comments6 min readEA link

‘I give away half to three-quar­ters of my in­come ev­ery year’ [The Guardian]

Henry Stanley 🔸Nov 9, 2019, 9:03 AM
58 points
1 comment1 min readEA link
(www.theguardian.com)

Earn­ing to give vs. al­tru­is­tic ca­reer choice revisited

Jonah_SinickMay 28, 2013, 4:00 AM
2 points
0 comments8 min readEA link

Should Earn­ers-to-Give Work at Star­tups In­stead of Big Com­pa­nies?

MichaelDickensNov 12, 2021, 10:55 PM
85 points
23 comments23 min readEA link

10 years of Earn­ing to Give

AGB 🔸Nov 7, 2023, 11:35 PM
699 points
29 comments9 min readEA link

Why You Should Earn to Give in Tulsa, OK, USA

NicoleJaneway 🔸May 29, 2022, 5:18 PM
59 points
7 comments3 min readEA link

A ro­bust earn­ing to give ecosys­tem is bet­ter for EA

abrahamroweNov 11, 2023, 10:17 PM
300 points
68 comments9 min readEA link

Re­place­abil­ity Con­cerns and Pos­si­ble Responses

sapphireAug 2, 2020, 6:19 PM
34 points
7 comments4 min readEA link

When Real­iz­ing Cap­i­tal Gains Re­duces Tax

ABlankJan 5, 2024, 12:18 AM
8 points
0 comments3 min readEA link

Con­sid­er­a­tions and ad­vice on en­ter­ing man­age­ment consulting

Vaidehi Agarwalla 🔸Aug 11, 2021, 1:06 PM
51 points
9 comments15 min readEA link

The Fu­ture of Earn­ing to Give

PeterMcCluskeyOct 13, 2019, 9:28 PM
70 points
34 comments10 min readEA link
(www.bayesianinvestor.com)

[Question] Is earn­ing to give more ad­van­ta­gious?

Glenn_VJan 17, 2022, 4:21 PM
3 points
1 comment2 min readEA link

Soft­ware en­g­ineer­ing—Ca­reer review

Benjamin HiltonFeb 8, 2022, 6:11 AM
93 points
19 comments8 min readEA link
(80000hours.org)

EA Fundrais­ing Through Ad­van­tage Sports Bet­ting: A Guide ($500/​Hour in Select States)

Sam AnschellJan 27, 2022, 8:57 AM
63 points
78 comments13 min readEA link

[Question] What’s the role of dona­tions now that the EA move­ment is richer than ever?

Richard AnniloNov 1, 2021, 5:00 PM
43 points
19 comments1 min readEA link

Seed fund­ing non­prof­its: a high-risk, high-re­ward ap­proach (Founders Pledge)

KarolinaSarek🔸Aug 31, 2020, 3:25 PM
49 points
1 comment5 min readEA link

Func­tions of a com­mu­nity stan­dard in the 2%/​8% fuzzies/​utilons debate

DirectedEvolutionJun 7, 2023, 5:23 AM
2 points
8 comments9 min readEA link

How im­por­tant is marginal earn­ing to give?

Ben KuhnMay 19, 2015, 8:41 PM
16 points
72 comments1 min readEA link

Com­mon re­sponses to earn­ing to give

Ben KuhnJun 10, 2013, 4:00 AM
1 point
1 comment5 min readEA link

Earn­ing To Give as a Doc­tor in Switzerland

Nadia MontazeriSep 11, 2021, 1:31 PM
43 points
5 comments6 min readEA link

A Sum­mary of Pro­fes­sion-Based Com­mu­nity Building

Sean LawrenceDec 20, 2022, 10:08 PM
67 points
0 comments11 min readEA link

The Bit­ter­sweet­ness of Re­place­abil­ity

LilaJul 11, 2015, 11:44 PM
18 points
22 comments6 min readEA link

How I missed my pledge and how I’m fix­ing it

Daniel_DeweyOct 10, 2016, 12:06 AM
21 points
9 comments2 min readEA link

Fi­nance Ca­reers for Earn­ing to Give

kbogMar 6, 2016, 5:15 AM
9 points
11 comments1 min readEA link

Gor­don Ir­lam: an effec­tive al­tru­ist ahead of his time

Louis_FranciniJun 10, 2020, 8:48 PM
97 points
4 comments2 min readEA link

Jeff Be­zos an­nounces dona­tion plans (in re­sponse to ques­tion)

david_reinsteinNov 14, 2022, 2:31 PM
113 points
12 comments1 min readEA link
(www.cnn.com)

Earn­ing to Give (EtG) Pledge Club

Luke Moore 🔸Dec 10, 2024, 4:36 PM
113 points
7 comments2 min readEA link

[Question] Con­fused about fund­ing short­ages and earn­ing to give

eric698Apr 26, 2022, 1:26 AM
2 points
3 comments1 min readEA link

Does it make sense for EA’s to be more risk-seek­ing in earn­ing to give?

Joey🔸May 20, 2022, 3:29 PM
63 points
4 comments2 min readEA link

Should you switch away from earn­ing to give? Some con­sid­er­a­tions.

William_MacAskillAug 25, 2016, 10:37 PM
15 points
78 comments6 min readEA link

A Model of Pa­tient Spend­ing and Move­ment Building

NunoSempereNov 8, 2021, 6:00 PM
92 points
27 comments4 min readEA link

Why earn to give? (tran­script)

TopherHallquistSep 19, 2014, 8:50 PM
6 points
5 comments13 min readEA link

How to have cost-effec­tive fun

Kat WoodsJun 30, 2018, 9:23 PM
53 points
22 comments7 min readEA link

Bring­ing back earn­ing to give

Vaishnav SunilDec 2, 2022, 9:24 PM
27 points
4 comments3 min readEA link

AMA: 10 years of Earn­ing To Give

AGB 🔸Dec 10, 2024, 10:12 PM
116 points
31 comments1 min readEA link

[Question] Direct work vs. earn-to-give

warrenjordanMay 4, 2020, 12:08 AM
5 points
2 comments1 min readEA link

Log-nor­mal lamentations

Gregory Lewis🔸May 19, 2015, 9:07 PM
28 points
11 comments8 min readEA link

[Question] What are peo­ple’s ob­jec­tions to earn­ing-to-give?

DCApr 13, 2019, 8:16 PM
26 points
10 comments1 min readEA link

Earn­ing to Give as Costly Signalling

RaemonJun 24, 2017, 4:43 PM
11 points
5 comments1 min readEA link

Lawyer­ing to Give

Jeff Kaufman 🔸Sep 25, 2014, 12:19 PM
13 points
14 comments5 min readEA link

Why EA meta, and the top 3 char­ity ideas in the space

Joey🔸Jan 6, 2021, 3:47 PM
88 points
20 comments10 min readEA link

MacKen­zie Scott’s grant­mak­ing data

david_reinsteinDec 15, 2022, 9:19 PM
37 points
6 comments1 min readEA link
(yieldgiving.com)

Ded­i­cated Donors May Not Want to Sign the Giv­ing What We Can Pledge

MichaelDickensOct 30, 2016, 3:26 AM
17 points
20 comments4 min readEA link

[Question] Where should I donate?

Eevee🔹Nov 22, 2021, 8:56 PM
29 points
10 comments1 min readEA link

Con­tra Ap­piah Defend­ing Defend­ing “Cli­mate Villains”

Cullen 🔸Sep 12, 2022, 2:58 PM
27 points
7 comments4 min readEA link

Is effec­tive al­tru­ism grow­ing? An up­date on the stock of fund­ing vs. people

Benjamin_ToddJul 29, 2021, 11:47 AM
307 points
105 comments21 min readEA link

[Question] Should I donate my earn­ings when my ca­reer is just be­gin­ning?

BrianJul 15, 2022, 3:27 PM
8 points
5 comments1 min readEA link

Giv­ing now vs. later: a summary

Julia_Wise🔸Jul 23, 2013, 4:00 AM
43 points
7 comments1 min readEA link

Earn­ing to Give v. Pur­su­ing your Pas­sion/​Direct Work

cdc482Jul 30, 2016, 3:04 AM
0 points
9 comments1 min readEA link

Leav­ing Google, Join­ing the Nu­cleic Acid Observatory

Jeff Kaufman 🔸Jun 11, 2022, 1:37 AM
170 points
15 comments3 min readEA link

80,000 Hours: Ways to be suc­cess­ful that peo­ple don’t talk about enough

Aaron Gertler 🔸Jan 31, 2020, 9:59 AM
11 points
1 comment8 min readEA link
(80000hours.org)

Profit­ing-to-Give: har­ness­ing EA tal­ent with a new fund­ing model

andavargasMar 4, 2019, 9:22 AM
26 points
12 comments2 min readEA link

[Question] Re­sources on the ex­pected value of found­ing a for-profit start-up?

Matt PutzApr 5, 2021, 8:38 PM
6 points
5 comments1 min readEA link

An ar­gu­ment for keep­ing open the op­tion of earn­ing to save

Benjamin_ToddAug 31, 2020, 3:09 PM
34 points
13 comments3 min readEA link

Earn­ing to Give: Pro­gram­ming Lan­guage Choice

Ben_West🔸Apr 5, 2015, 3:45 PM
5 points
13 comments1 min readEA link

Vo­ca­tional Ca­reer Guide for Effec­tive Altruists

kbogJan 26, 2019, 11:16 AM
35 points
8 comments5 min readEA link

Pass­ing Up Pay

Jeff Kaufman 🔸Jul 13, 2022, 2:10 PM
129 points
25 comments5 min readEA link
(www.jefftk.com)

[Question] Should Founders Pledge fo­cus more on re­cruit­ing EAs to be­come en­trepreneurs?

Eevee🔹Dec 31, 2022, 6:28 AM
9 points
7 comments1 min readEA link

GWWC has am­bi­tious plans from 2022 on­wards (we’re hiring!)

Luke FreemanMar 16, 2022, 6:21 AM
133 points
4 comments13 min readEA link
(www.givingwhatwecan.org)

Why and how to earn to give (80,000 Hours)

Arden KoehlerNov 10, 2023, 11:30 AM
51 points
1 comment1 min readEA link
(80000hours.org)

EA Fi­nance NYC Meetup

Sydney FillerMar 21, 2023, 4:41 AM
2 points
0 comments1 min readEA link

[Question] How much should you be ex­pect­ing to earn in or­der to con­sider ETG?

jknowakNov 21, 2023, 11:29 AM
12 points
3 comments1 min readEA link

Align­ment Grant­mak­ing is Fund­ing-Limited Right Now [cross­post]

johnswentworthAug 2, 2023, 8:37 PM
82 points
13 comments1 min readEA link
(www.lesswrong.com)

Fi­nan­cial guidance for US-based donors

Rebecca HerbstOct 9, 2023, 11:57 PM
39 points
0 comments2 min readEA link

Is the 10% Giv­ing What We Can Pledge Core to EA’s Rep­u­ta­tion?

DirectedEvolutionJun 6, 2023, 5:42 AM
16 points
15 comments8 min readEA link

AMA: Earn­ing to Give

Jeff Kaufman 🔸Nov 7, 2023, 4:20 PM
97 points
38 comments1 min readEA link

AMA: Ben West, former startup founder and EtGer

Ben_West🔸Nov 7, 2023, 10:04 PM
45 points
40 comments1 min readEA link

[Question] How does it feel to switch from earn-to-give?

Neil WarrenMar 31, 2024, 11:14 PM
8 points
0 comments1 min readEA link

We need 40,000h or maybe even 20,000h

martynaFeb 18, 2022, 10:02 AM
139 points
46 comments1 min readEA link

[Question] Where are the EA-al­igned fi­nan­cial ad­vi­sors for ma­jor donors?

Spencer R. Ericson 🔸Aug 11, 2023, 5:55 PM
18 points
7 comments1 min readEA link

Mak­ing large dona­tion de­ci­sions as a per­son fo­cused on di­rect work

Ben KuhnDec 27, 2021, 6:19 PM
37 points
16 comments3 min readEA link

Au­dio AMA: Allan Sal­danha, earn­ing to give since 2014.

Toby Tremlett🔹Dec 2, 2024, 11:48 AM
83 points
14 comments1 min readEA link

The Power­ball Lot­tery Is Now Pos­i­tive Ex­pected Value for Many Char­i­ta­ble Americans

ColdButtonIssuesNov 7, 2022, 12:03 AM
32 points
15 comments4 min readEA link

There’s a role for small EA donors in cam­paign finance

Rachel ShuNov 3, 2021, 7:28 AM
31 points
12 comments3 min readEA link

ESG in­vest­ing isn’t high-im­pact, but it could be

SanjayMar 18, 2021, 2:07 PM
92 points
6 comments29 min readEA link

Direct Work For-Profit En­trepreneur­ship is Underrated

Isaac BensonDec 31, 2022, 7:56 PM
38 points
10 comments4 min readEA link

Con­sider Fi­nan­cial In­de­pen­dence First

RiverDec 27, 2022, 2:04 AM
51 points
9 comments5 min readEA link

[Question] Any­one tried to mon­e­tize a hobby with the in­tent of ETG?

warrenjordanNov 1, 2023, 4:09 PM
21 points
5 comments1 min readEA link

My Mid-Ca­reer Tran­si­tion into Biosecurity

Jeff Kaufman 🔸Oct 2, 2023, 9:13 PM
64 points
22 comments2 min readEA link

Con­sider Earn­ing Less

ElliotJDaviesJul 1, 2023, 12:45 PM
129 points
11 comments2 min readEA link

How good it is to donate and how hard it is to get a job

Elijah WhippleApr 16, 2024, 9:45 PM
152 points
11 comments6 min readEA link

Be­ing a to­bacco CEO is not quite as bad as it might seem

LarksJan 28, 2016, 3:59 AM
13 points
19 comments7 min readEA link

To save the world, don’t get a job at a char­ity; go work on Wall Street

William_MacAskillFeb 27, 2013, 5:00 AM
3 points
5 comments3 min readEA link

[Question] How to give as you earn in the UK? GAYE vs. GiftAid

Anon-biosec-accountJul 14, 2020, 6:18 PM
2 points
2 comments1 min readEA link

Per­sonal Fi­nance Coach­ing for EAs: Call for Ap­pli­cants

Rebecca HerbstMar 22, 2023, 11:22 PM
32 points
1 comment3 min readEA link

The case for not pur­su­ing a ca­reer in an EA organization

MarcSernaApr 12, 2022, 6:54 PM
16 points
7 comments7 min readEA link

Pod­cast and Tran­script: Allan Sal­danha on earn­ing to give.

Toby Tremlett🔹Dec 12, 2024, 8:45 AM
44 points
2 comments10 min readEA link

[Question] Meta char­ity fo­cused on earn­ing to give?

defun 🔸Oct 24, 2024, 1:21 PM
16 points
6 comments1 min readEA link

The “Pro­gres­sive Pledge”

Philip PopienDec 21, 2024, 5:50 PM
22 points
4 comments3 min readEA link
(www.givingwhatwecan.org)

EA Sur­vey 2020 Series: Dona­tion Data

david_reinsteinOct 26, 2021, 3:31 PM
49 points
4 comments48 min readEA link

In­tro­duc­ing the EA Good Gover­nance Project

Grayden 🔸Oct 8, 2022, 7:42 PM
114 points
9 comments4 min readEA link

How Much to Give is a Prag­matic Question

Jeff Kaufman 🔸Dec 24, 2024, 4:23 AM
81 points
12 comments1 min readEA link

Giv­ing op­por­tu­nity: $50 ‘thank you’ notes

Aaron BergmanSep 26, 2022, 1:49 AM
17 points
5 comments1 min readEA link

In­dex In­vest­ing and EA

Mahendra PrasadJul 6, 2022, 6:23 PM
10 points
0 comments1 min readEA link
(bogleheads.podbean.com)

The $100trn op­por­tu­nity: ESG in­vest­ing should be a top pri­or­ity for EA careers

SanjayMar 18, 2021, 1:54 PM
72 points
5 comments7 min readEA link

Con­sider work­ing more hours and tak­ing more stimulants

Arjun PanicksseryDec 15, 2022, 8:38 PM
70 points
23 comments4 min readEA link

Si­mul­ta­neous Shortage and Oversupply

Jeff Kaufman 🔸Jan 26, 2019, 7:35 PM
41 points
10 comments2 min readEA link

Free money from New York gam­bling websites

Robi RahmanJan 24, 2022, 10:50 PM
74 points
46 comments2 min readEA link

How to op­ti­mize your taxes as a donor in the US: donate ap­pre­ci­ated se­cu­ri­ties, make a donor-ad­vised fund, and bunch your donations

sam_brennerApr 30, 2022, 10:19 AM
15 points
8 comments11 min readEA link
(www.sambrenner.xyz)

[Linkpost] John Wesley’s sur­pris­ingly EA-al­igned views on the use of money

EA for ChristiansSep 28, 2023, 4:09 PM
32 points
1 comment13 min readEA link
(christandcounterfactuals.substack.com)

Quick, High-EV Ad­van­tage Sports­bet­ting Op­por­tu­nity in 18 US States

Joseph B.Jun 4, 2023, 3:27 AM
−1 points
4 comments4 min readEA link

How much could a SWE at top com­pa­nies donate through­out their 20-year ca­reer?

SmallCatAug 8, 2022, 2:09 PM
9 points
0 comments3 min readEA link

EAs Should In­vest All Year, then Give only on Giv­ing Tuesday

Cullen 🔸Jan 10, 2019, 9:17 PM
54 points
24 comments2 min readEA link

EAs should ‘in­vest to give’. A per­spec­tive from Fin­tech founders

Marco VegaFeb 14, 2023, 3:51 PM
−57 points
11 comments21 min readEA link

Yascha Mounk has started a se­ries of es­says on effec­tive altruism

James HerbertNov 11, 2024, 4:16 PM
9 points
4 comments1 min readEA link
(yaschamounk.substack.com)

Dona­tion Mul­ti­plier Stack­ing: Direct­ing 1.27x to 6.6x More Funds

Tyler KolotaMay 18, 2022, 6:13 AM
12 points
1 comment3 min readEA link

UK In­come Tax & Donations

haraldApr 8, 2018, 11:40 AM
73 points
11 comments6 min readEA link
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