I work as Software Tester in the Railway Industry and donate a part of my income.
I got into EA in 2012, took the 10 Percent pledge in 2015.
As of autumn 2024, I am also mentor at Giving For Animals. Feel free to reach out if youâd like to chat about donating or a giving pledge.
If animal welfare is a priority cause for you, the Animal Advocacy Careersâ Bottlenecks survey is helpful.
As another way of understanding this trade-off, we asked meta respondents the following question: âImagine an individual who is skilled and motivated enough to be a good (but not outstanding) candidate for roles in effective animal advocacy nonprofits. I.e., after a few applications, they are likely to secure a role, but they are not likely to be substantially better than the next best candidate, at least in their first paid role. How much money would you estimate that that person would have to be able to donate per year, on average, to effective animal advocacy nonprofits, to be indifferent (from an impact perspective) between focusing on a career âearning to giveâ vs. a career in animal advocacy nonprofits?â[28] The average answer given was $28,200, with a range from $100 to $90,000.[29]
Donât take these numbers literally. But it can give you some guidance.
It depends on the living costs, but my impression is that there are people earning (much!) less 100k/âyear for whom ETG is the best they can do.
For other cause areaâs I donât know, sorry.
Bay Area is one of GWWCâs priority areas to start a local group.
Someone knowledgeable about
Wild Animal Welfare (Please help me suggest a name)
Animal Sentience (Rethink Priorities? - please help me suggest a name)
Intersection between Animal Welfare and AI Alignment/âgovernance (Please help me suggest a name)
Someone from Doneer Effectief, Effektiv Spenden, De Tien Procent Club or another local Effective giving org
I avoid flying and travel by train instead (most of the time)=> even if it costs me a substantial part of my limited vacation time. I could compensate my extra emissions many times if I donated (my hourly salary)*(time saving) to a giving green top charityâbut I donât do it.
I donât think this is very inconsistent with EA values.
80k is not the only one who provides altruistic career advice. You can check out
There are probably a few more.
Welcome to the EA forum. Great to hear that you would like to donate :).
You can find information about charity selection and tax on the Doneer Effectief website. You can donate to GiveWell recommended charities via Doneer Effectief, but also to a few other charities. They also have a page with info about taxâbut you may want read the website of the Belastingdienst to double check. (I can try to find the info in English for you upon request).
If you are looking for a community where you can talk about giving and charity selection, see De Tien Procent Club which is specific for the Netherlands, and Giving What We Can which is international.
How important is it for (small-ish) donors to be knowledgeable about effective giving? They can just defer to charity evaluators.
Related question: what other initiatives might help here?
What is your view on frugality? Is it helpful is people are more frugal to donate (a bit) more?
To what extent can GWWC or similar communities help solve the problem that philanthropy is undemocratic (very wealthy people can have a lot of influence on society, but people have not elected them).
Does most of GWWCâs impact come from a very few wealthy or high-income members?
Should the idea of âeffective givingâ be discoupled from âeffective altruismâ? To what extent?
E.g. should I be able to be a highly engaged effective giver (letâs say, further pledge) without having to touch âeffective altruismâ at all?
What things can people in ânormalâ jobs do for the world, besides donating? What things are well worth their time?
Do you see different attitudes to donating in different countries or cultures? How do you accommodate to as many of them as possible?
What do regular donors need to stay committed to donating over the course of their lives?
Related: Should initatives like the â10 procent clubâ exist in more countries?
Note: 10 procent club organizes quarterly events about effective giving in the Netherlands. They are a separate initiative from âDoneer Effectiefâ which translates the charity recommendations and provides the giving platform.
I canât agree more. Iâve been to 5 in-person EAG(x) events in total and none of them without problems.
During the conference, I am usually fine. The emotional stuff hits me afterwards, on my way home or the day after.
What to do about it? My plan for the next EAGx is to take at least two days off afterwards, probably even three. Last time I went back to work too quickly, I was very distractable for more than a week. I donât want to repeat this mistakeâI have responsibilities outside of EA.
In the early years of my EA journey, I tried to live on a small budget so I could donate more. I learned that I could be productive on a small budget.
There were times I worked on an old laptop. Some actions might have taken a few seconds longer, and I did not have much screen space. It was fine. What matters most about productivity is to do the right things, not to do the things slightly faster.
I exercise to keep my mind fresh. I donât go to the gym or take sports classes. I just do a bodyweight workout at home. Completely free. I also cook my own meals. I can only spend so many hours working behind a computer screen. Ordering food delivery or buying pre-prepared food does not save me time.
The biggest problem with frugality is socializing. To meet people, I need to travel and participate in the activities that they do. Sometimes it may be better to not be too frugal.
For example, my team works in the office one day per week. We have lunch in a restaurantâwhich is quite expensive where I live. When I joined the team, I brought my own food and ate it alone in the office. I felt unhappy about this. After a while, I decided to join and spend a lot of money on the âunnecessary luxuryâ of not socially excluding myself.
I canât help smiling even though it s*cks. Donating is complicated.
A few years ago, I spent the last working day of the year rushing on a bicycle between 2 bank offices in order to get a donation through (successfully).
Always leave a few days of extra time before 31 December...