Tithing For the World’s Most Effective Causes
Why I took the Giving What We Can Pledge
I was recently asked what advice I would give to someone looking to give away a decent sum of money. It was a hypothetical question, similar to “What would you do if you had a million dollars?” yet understanding what your resources can do may be the most important realization of your life —because it could prompt you to save someone else’s. By supporting the most effective organizations, for around $2300 you can feel confident you have saved a person’s life.
Yes, — saved a life — Give someone the opportunity to grow up, fall in love, feel irate about the unjustness that exists, be a part of community, and take part in the countless other moments that grace our lives each day.
Let’s pause to let that sink in.
I don’t know what it would take for you to save up $2,300, but what would it be like to know that your generosity gave someone (and everyone they touched) the opportunity to live. This amount of money for some might mean a slight amount of frugality or a different number in their bank account. For others it may require a conscious, calculated effort over time. For me, it was sitting with the possibility, feeling the pull of this intriguing invitation to challenge myself; to question how this ‘sacrifice’ may not actually impact my life in a negative way once true value was weighed. So last week I made my first donation and committed to giving 10% of my income to effective charities. And then I had my own mini dance party.
This decision came about mostly through my involvement in the Effective Altruism movement which is something I increasingly feel centered in. It’s simultaneously a movement, a philosophy, and a community. At its core, Effective Altruism (EA) is the rigorous pursuit to support individuals answering the question: What is the most good I can do? That may mean using your career, wealth, skills, and/or your time to support the most pressing problems of our lives. While there are flaws in the strategy (which the EA community almost overly-eagerly points out) there is also so much beauty, wisdom, genuine care, and damn brilliance. I haven’t found a group as inspiring since I walked into an Ecoversities global gathering 5 years ago.
So if I’ve piqued your interest and you’re looking to learn more I’d suggest the 80,000 podcast, any of the core EA books (Doing Good Better by Will MacAskill, The Life You Can Save by Peter Singer, or The Precipice by Toby Ord), the ‘Learn’ section of Giving What We Can or if you’re a Sam Harris fan this is the episode that really sparked my interest. You can also scope GiveWell which specializes in assessing different cause areas.
I’m also invested in dialoguing with people who hold any view on the topic and would love to connect directly.
Finally a fun fact: Tithing comes from the word tenth. Throughout history people who belong to church communities regularly gave 10% of their income to their respective churches. My church is Nature and she mostly asks for my time so I’m trusting that supporting effective organizations is one thing we as a collective can do to better care for Earth and everything that’s a part of it. Plus by using GiveWell it was easy to mark half of my donated funds for the Climate Change Fund.
