10% Pledge

Five years ago, I took a Giving What We Can pledge to give 10% of my lifetime income to effective charities. This has been an important part of my identity, yet until this year, only a handful of people knew this about me. It usually felt a bit weird and uncommon, so I preferred to keep it private.

This year, however, several posts by people in my social circle or bloggers encouraged me to write about the pledge publicly. I appreciated these posts, as each one makes the pledge feel a bit less weird, so I wanted to write a short post of my own.

First off, 10% is definitely a non-trivial part of income, and I'm fully aware that I'm privileged to be able to live comfortably without it. Many people don't have this opportunity.

That said, I think that giving money is one of the best ways to do good in the world, and that it is underexplored. Many people want to make the world, in some sense, a better place -- perhaps even most of the people I know -- yet not many of them have considered or even heard about the possibility of donating a portion of their income to charities.

I think that's a pity! Giving money is, in some sense, very easy compared to other things you may consider doing to do good in the world. For example, many people who care about animal suffering find it challenging to stop using animal products for a variety of reasons. However, donating $1 to animal charities can spare ~10 years of chicken life in a cage. Subtracting a small amount of money from your paycheck may be easier than going vegan, but it can have an even greater impact on the lives of animals. This is also true for other areas where having a direct impact may be even more challenging, such as reducing poverty in the world's poorest countries.

As for my giving, the areas and organizations to which I've donated have been evolving each year, and I expect this trend to continue. This year, most of my giving was directed towards reducing risks from advanced AI, as I believe that today, this is the most important challenge facing humanity, one with great risks but also great potential. The rest was split between poverty reduction and improving animal welfare. I used Manifund and Effektiv Spenden funds.

If this all makes sense to you, consider reading through GWWC resources and research. There's also a Trial Pledge, where you can commit to giving between 1% and 10% for a limited period. This is a great opportunity to try effective giving, see if you can manage, and see how it feels. If you have any additional questions, feel free to ask (online or offline)!