Sometimes setting an amount to give that is high can be discouraging, and can lead people to not give at all, or spend time feeling bad about not meeting their standards, rather than focus on what they can do to help.
If you give more than 0.7% of your income, you are doing better than most governments around the world, many of which have promised to spend 0.7% of GDP on foreign aid, but do not meet that threshold.
I don’t think “How much money shall I give to charity?” is as important a question as “What change do I want to make in the world, and how will I achieve it?” I think that answering the second question can give some perspective on how to answer the first.
If you give more than 0.7% of your income, you are doing better than most governments around the world, many of which have promised to spend 0.7% of GDP on foreign aid, but do not meet that threshold.
Also, what money goverments do spend on foreign aid is definitely spent in a much much less efficient way than GiveWell’s top charities, and probably in certain cases even worse than not giving anything at all.
I think that something is better than nothing.
Sometimes setting an amount to give that is high can be discouraging, and can lead people to not give at all, or spend time feeling bad about not meeting their standards, rather than focus on what they can do to help.
If you give more than 0.7% of your income, you are doing better than most governments around the world, many of which have promised to spend 0.7% of GDP on foreign aid, but do not meet that threshold.
I don’t think “How much money shall I give to charity?” is as important a question as “What change do I want to make in the world, and how will I achieve it?” I think that answering the second question can give some perspective on how to answer the first.
Also, what money goverments do spend on foreign aid is definitely spent in a much much less efficient way than GiveWell’s top charities, and probably in certain cases even worse than not giving anything at all.