When I first heard about the idea of pledging a percentage of your income to effective charities with Giving What We Can, I was sold. I knew I had more than I needed to get by, and I’ve always struggled with the enormous inequality in the world.
I originally settled on donating 3% of my income for my Trial Pledge. I chose 3% because it’s more than I had ever given before (I calculated that in previous years, I gave around 2% of my income) but it also felt like an achievable amount for me. I had just stopped working full-time, dropping down to 3 days a week because of some chronic health conditions, and also had to pay a few hundred dollars a month for the medication I was on. So 3% seem like a step up, but also one that wouldn’t stress me out. (As a side note, giving like this was possible thanks to my parents letting me live with them during that period, and having access to (mostly) free healthcare in Australia. I also knew I had both a personal, and government safety net to catch me.)
As 3% of my paychecks made their way to effective global health charities, I realised that I missed the money less than I thought I would – even though I had less at the end of the month than I had ever had since starting my career.
In combination with not missing the money, I also thought hard about what it really means to donate. I realised I was willing to spend several hundred dollars a month on medication to reduce my suffering, and that, for the same amount of money, I could deliver medication to prevent malaria (a disease that causes severe suffering and death) to a whole classroom of children every month. Understanding on a more visceral level how miserable I would be without my medication brought into sharp focus the meaning of providing something similar to others – especially when such a relatively small amount of money could go so far.
My health was improving thanks to the medication, and I was able to work more, which increased my budget. So I sat down and had an honest conversation with myself about whether I could afford to give 10% of my income over my lifetime. It would be a big sacrifice – it would mean not having as many savings, or not being able to take as many holidays – but if I really could prevent hundreds of people from suffering like I had, and what’s more, prevent tens of families from the grief of losing a loved one, then it was a sacrifice I was willing to make.
I’ve now donated over $30,000 to effective charities, about $20,000 more than I would have if I didn’t decide to step up my giving. It’s probably the single thing I’m proudest of in my life.
Of course, not everyone can realistically give 10% of their income, and we absolutely encourage people to look after themselves and their loved ones first (no-one is looking out for you as much as you!), but I’m sharing my own personal story to encourage you to think about whether you could increase your giving in 2025.
By slowly working your way up, you could end up giving much more than you thought you’d be able to. You might end up giving enough to prevent the death of several children over your lifetime. Imagine knowing that there are people who get to grow old, to laugh with their families, and to go on to help others in their communities, in part because of your donations. Wouldn’t that be a beautiful outcome?